Joseph Dollard Herve St. Laurent (May 12, 1929 – April 6, 2015) was a Canadian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

. Dollard started his

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

career with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

in 1951. He would spend eight years in Montreal before being traded to the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He won four

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

s with Montreal and one with Chicago. He started out with the Jr. Canadiens of the QJHL where he skated for two seasons from 1947 to 1949. There he demonstrated an offensive touch and an ability to play a tough game of defence at the other end of the ice. In 1949–50, St. Laurent started a three-year relationship with the

Royal Montreal Hockey Club The Royal Montreal Hockey Club, also known as the Montreal Royals, was a Canadian amateur ice hockey club formed in Montreal, Quebec, in 1932. It operated various teams in men's junior and senior leagues until 1961. The senior team of the club wo ...

of the QSHL. He spent most of his time sharpening the finer points of his game while putting them to the occasional test by joining the Habs for a couple of stints. Around 1952–53, however, the Canadiens began to introduce significant new blood in the form of Jacques Plante and Dickie Moore among others. Dollard helped Montreal win the Stanley Cup in 1953. One of the others included St. Laurent who settled onto the Habs' blueline corps as a stay-at-home regular for the next six seasons. His efforts contributed to three straight Stanley Cup victories between 1956, 1957, 1958. After the third championship, St. Laurent was sold to the Chicago Black Hawks who were gradually assembling a lineup bent on bringing the Cup to town after a lengthy absence. In 1960–61, the team finally ended the championship drought by ousting the Red Wings in the finals. St. Laurent played for the Hawks until the end of the 1961–62 campaign. The following year, he was dispatched to the

Quebec Aces The Quebec Aces, also known in French as Les As de Québec, were an amateur and later a professional men's ice hockey team from Quebec City, Quebec. History The Aces were founded in 1928 by Anglo-Canadian Pulp and Paper Mills, the name Aces stan ...

of the AHL, during which St. Laurent took a hard fall to the ice, breaking his leg and ending his aspirations to make it back to the NHL. At the end of the season, he announced his retirement. On May 17, 1952, he was married to Jessie FitzPatrick (1929-1993). St. Laurent died on April 6, 2015, aged 85.

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* 1929 births 2015 deaths Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chicago Blackhawks players Montreal Canadiens players People from Verdun, Quebec Stanley Cup champions Ice hockey people from Montreal {{Canada-icehockey-defenceman-1920s-stub