Normand "Norm" Léveillé (born January 10, 1963) 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 A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He played one season and one month 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 ...

for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

, before his career was cut short at age 19 by a

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a cerebral aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder characterized by a localized dilation or ballooning of a blood vessel in the brain due to a weakness in the vessel wall. These aneurysms can occur in an ...

suffered during a game at the

Pacific Coliseum Pacific Coliseum, locally known as The Coliseum or the Rink on Renfrew, is an indoor arena located at Hastings Park in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its main use has been for ice hockey and the arena has been the home for several ice hockey tea ...

, which left him unable to walk. After he recovered, Léveillé devoted his energies to therapy for others with disabling conditions. He is the founder and president of the Centre Normand-Léveillé at

Drummondville Drummondville () is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville ...

in the

Centre-du-Québec Centre-du-Québec (, ''Central Quebec'') is a region of Quebec, Canada. The main centres are Drummondville, Victoriaville, and Bécancour. It has a land area of and a 2016 census population of 242,399 inhabitants. Description The Centre-du- ...

region of Quebec. His story is told in ''Un arrêt en plein vol'' by Thérèse Desjardins (2005).

Playing career

Léveillé was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. As a youth, he played in the 1975 and 1976

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

s with a

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

team from Montreal. He was drafted in the first round, 14th overall in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by the

. He was a highly touted prospect coming out of the

QMJHL The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

after a 101-point season in his last year with the

Chicoutimi Saguenéens The Chicoutimi Saguenéens are a Canadian junior ice hockey team which plays in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The team is based in Chicoutimi, Quebec, and owned by the City of Saguenay. The team plays its home games at th ...

. In his rookie year with the Bruins, he scored 33 points in 60 games. On October 23, 1982, after the first period in a game against the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

during his second season with the Bruins, Léveillé complained of feeling dizzy and having pains in his shoulder. As the trainers began tending to him, he lost consciousness. He was rushed to a local hospital, where doctors diagnosed a brain

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward :wikt:bulge, bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also b ...

. Léveillé was rushed into emergency surgery in an effort to save his life. After surgery, he was comatose for three weeks and remained hospitalized for an additional three weeks. He eventually recovered enough to walk again, but at the age of 19, his promising career as an NHL player was over. Doctors confirmed that his aneurysm was caused by a congenital condition and was not triggered by an on-ice incident. In 1995, the Boston Bruins invited Léveillé to the closing ceremonies of the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (later ...

, where he was allowed to skate on the Garden ice one last time. Bruins captain

Ray Bourque Raymond Jean Bourque (born December 28, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He holds records for most career goals, assists, and points by a defenceman in the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the James Norris Memorial ...

helped escort Léveillé around the ice surface.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leveille, Normand 1963 births Living people Boston Bruins draft picks Boston Bruins players Canadian disability rights activists Canadian ice hockey left wingers Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL) players Ice hockey people from Montreal NHL first-round draft picks 20th-century Canadian sportsmen