François Lacombe (born February 24, 1948) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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 l ...

, who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) and

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

(WHA) between 1968 and 1980. He spent parts of three seasons in the NHL with the

Oakland Seals The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 to 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The ...

and

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

before moving to the WHA and playing for the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

and

Calgary Cowboys The Calgary Cowboys were an ice hockey team that played two seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1975 to 1977. The Cowboys played at the Stampede Corral in Calgary. The franchise was founded in 1972 as the Miami Screaming Eagles ...

, playing briefly for the Nordiques again when they joined the NHL.

Professional hockey career

In 1970 Lacombe was traded to the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

along with California's first draft pick in 1971 (the Canadiens chose

Guy Lafleur Guy Damien Lafleur (September 20, 1951 – April 22, 2022), nicknamed "the Flower" and "Le Démon Blond", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was the first player in National Hockey League (NHL) history to score 50 goals in six c ...

) for Ernie Hicke and Montreal's first round pick. The trade is considered one of the worst of all time. After short stints in the NHL with the

and

, Lacombe spent the majority of his career, in the WHA, with the

, plus a single season with the

. He played 3 games for Quebec in the NHL following the

NHL–WHA merger The 1979 NHL expansion, popularly referred to as the NHL–WHA merger, was the culmination of several years of negotiations between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the World Hockey Association (WHA). The negotiations led to the dissolution o ...

. Lacombe played a total of 78 regular-season NHL games, scoring two goals and adding 17 assists. He also appeared in 3 playoff games with Oakland in the 1969 Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring one goal. Meanwhile, Lacombe played in 440 WHA games, scoring 38 goals and adding 139 assists. He appeared in 54

Avco Cup The Avco World Trophy, also known as the Avco Cup, is the playoff championship trophy of the defunct World Hockey Association, which operated from 1972 until 1979. The trophy's naming rights were sold to the former Avco Corporation (a name origin ...

playoff games in the WHA, scoring five goals and tallying ten assists. So desperate was Lacombe to win a championship that he was quoted after Game 4 of the 1977 Avco Cup Final as willing to "give my life and my wife to win this series." His only goal scored in the series was in Game 4 when he tied it in the second period of a game the Nordiques later won, but he also provided three assists in the series, which included two in the 8-2 victory in Game 7. https://newspaperarchive.com/winnipeg-free-press-may-21-1977-p-72/

Minor hockey

Lacombe is now coaching in

Châteauguay Châteauguay ( , , ) is an off-island suburbs, off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, located on both the Châteauguay River and Lake Saint-Louis, Lac St-Louis, which is a section of the St. Lawrence River. The population of the ...

with the

Midget AAA Patriotes. He was arrested on March 12, 2008, after allegedly throwing a garbage can at a player on an opposing team sparking a bench clearing brawl. The charges were later dropped.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lacombe, Francois 1948 births Living people Buffalo Sabres players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Calgary Cowboys players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Cincinnati Swords players Fort Worth Wings players Ice hockey people from Montreal Laval Titan coaches Maine Nordiques players Montreal Junior Canadiens players National Hockey League broadcasters Oakland Seals players People from Lachine, Quebec Providence Reds players Quebec Nordiques (WHA) players Quebec Nordiques announcers Quebec Nordiques players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Syracuse Firebirds players Canadian ice hockey coaches