Stéphane Provost (May 5, 1967 – April 22, 2005) was a French Canadian

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

(NHL) linesman.

Career

Provost played as a

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

prior to his officiating career, playing two seasons in the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

(QMJHL) for the Verdun Junior Canadiens and the Saint-Jean Castors between 1985 and 1987. He then worked as an official in the QMJHL from 1989 to 1994. Provost was hired by the NHL in September 1994 and officiated his first

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability ...

game on January 25, 1995 between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning; his career included 695

games.

Death

Provost was killed at 37 years of age in a road accident at approximately 3:30 a.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

while travelling on his

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruisin ...

west on State Road 84 after hitting a

tractor trailer A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer a ...

. The motorcycle burst into flames, falling onto Provost, who was not wearing a

motorcycle helmet A motorcycle helmet is a type of helmet used by motorcycle riders. Motorcycle helmets contribute to motorcycle safety by protecting the rider's head in the event of an impact. They reduce the risk of head injury by 69% and the risk of death by 42% ...

. Police reports indicate Provost was leaving a bar at the

Hard Rock Hotel Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and r ...

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is no ...

. The driver of the tractor trailer was uninjured. Provost was survived by his wife, Sandra, and two daughters, Ashley and Reily.

Tributes

Following his death, officials in the QMJHL wore his officials uniform number 72 on their helmet for the remainder of the

2004–05 QMJHL season The 2004–05 QMJHL season was the 36th season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The QMJHL inaugurates the Guy Carbonneau Trophy, awarded to the league's "Best Defensive Forward," and the Kevin Lowe Trophy, awarded to the le ...

. Provost died during the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

and was followed in death only five weeks later by Hall of Fame official John D'Amico; both were honoured by their colleagues when games in the NHL resumed, including wearing a patch on their uniforms with his number. Provost's uniform number of 72 is now retired in his memory and no longer issued to NHL linesmen. Provost was also close friends with

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

Alfonso Márquez Alfonso Márquez (born April 12, 1972) is a Mexican umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB) who worked in the National League in 1999 and has worked throughout both major leagues since 2000. He was promoted to crew chief for the 2020 season, becom ...

, who also wears #72 and hung out with Provost on the night of his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Provost, Stephane 1967 births 2005 deaths Ice hockey people from Montreal Motorcycle road incident deaths National Hockey League officials Road incident deaths in Florida