André Lacroix (ice hockey)

André Lacroix
Born (1945-06-05) June 5, 1945
Lauzon, Quebec, Canada
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for NHL
Philadelphia Flyers
Chicago Black Hawks
Hartford Whalers
WHA
Philadelphia Blazers
New York Golden Blades
Jersey Knights
San Diego Mariners
Houston Aeros
New England Whalers
AHL
Quebec Aces
National team  Canada
Playing career 1964–1980

André Joseph Lacroix (born June 5, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association. As a youth, Lacroix excelled as a centre for the minor league Peterborough Petes and Quebec Aces before finding his way into the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers in the middle of the 1967-68 season. He recorded 14 points in 18 games to close out the season before becoming part of a forward line that saw him lead the team in points in the next two seasons with 50 points each. He closed out his tenure in Philadelphia with his third straight 20-goal season before being traded to the Chicago Black Hawks, where he struggled for one season.

In 1972, with the advent of the newly created World Hockey Association, Lacroix joined the Philadelphia Blazers and immediately had his best season as a professional at the time with 50 goals and 74 assists to win the scoring trophy. Refusing to move with the team to Vancouver, they traded him after one season to the New York Golden Blades. Despite organizational troubles that saw the team move multiple times to Jersey and San Diego, Lacroix had a 100-point season in each of the four seasons he played with the franchise, which included a historic 1974-75 season where he had 106 assists to make him the only WHA player with 100 assists for a season and win the scoring title once again. Lacroix played with the Houston Aeros in 1977-78 before the team folded and had his sixth and final 100-point season. In the final season of the WHA, Lacroix played for the New England Whalers and had 88 points. In 1979, the team joined the NHL, and he played one more season with them, recording 17 points in 29 games to close his career out at the age of 34. As the only player in WHA history with six 100-point seasons, Lacroix was the all-time WHA leader in points with 798 in 551 games and is often referred to as one of the best players in the history of the WHA.[1] He was inducted into the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in 2010 as an inaugural member.

Playing career

Lacroix was born in a "big Catholic family", with one of his brothers serving as a priest.[2] A centre notable for his playmaking, penalty-killing, and faceoff skill, Lacroix played junior hockey for the Peterborough Petes, leading the league in assists in both the 1964–65 and 1965–66 seasons and in points the latter season. He then played two seasons for the minor-league Quebec Aces of the AHL, playing brilliantly in the 1968 season before being recalled by the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL in the spring of 1968. Paired on a forward line with fellow ex-Quebec wingers Jean-Guy Gendron and Simon Nolet, he was an immediate star, leading the Flyers in scoring in both 1969 and 1970.

After the 1971 season, Lacroix was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks and was dismayed at the change of scenery, playing poorly the next year. However, in the fall of 1972, the upstart World Hockey Association began play, and he wasted no time returning to Philadelphia and signing with the league's Philadelphia Blazers franchise. Despite the team going through much tumult and controversy, Lacroix was an immediate star for the squad, leading the WHA in points that season with a 50–74–124 mark.

However, in the offseason, the franchise was transferred to Vancouver, and Lacroix refused to move with the team. Thus, he was traded to an even shakier team, the New York Golden Blades for the 1974 season. Again, despite payrolls being missed, ownership folding, and the league moving the team to New Jersey on November 21, as the Jersey Knights,[3] he was a standout, leading the WHA in assists with 80. That fall, Lacroix was named to Team Canada for the 1974 Summit Series against the Soviet Union, scoring one goal and six assists for seven points in eight games to be the team's fourth-leading scorer.[4] His lone goal was the game-winner in Canada's only win of the series, Game 2 at Maple Leaf Gardens.[5]

The New York-New Jersey team moved yet again for the 1975 to California to become the San Diego Mariners, and Lacroix continued his success. In that first season in San Diego, he achieved two feats. From January 4 to March 19, 1975, Lacroix had a point in each game he played during that span, which was 32 consecutive games that saw him score sixteen goals and record 53 assists for a total of 69 points.[6][7] He achieved his second league scoring title and racked up 106 assists, the professional record at the time and the only player other than Bobby Orr (who scored 102 assists in 1970 - 71) who had ever reached 100 assists in a single season of professional hockey. This professional record would stand until Wayne Gretzky scored 109 assists in 1980 - 81. As of 2024, only Orr, Lacroix, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid have accumulated 100 assists in a season. Lacroix scored over 100 points the next two seasons with the Mariners as well, before the franchise folded.

It was during this time that Lacroix began to be referred to in broadcasts of the games, as "The Magician". This was in reference to his ability to make the puck disappear --- and then reappear, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat. The opposing goalie would lose track of the puck, only to have it reappear in his net.

He continued to star in two more seasons before the end of the WHA, for the Houston Aeros in 1978 and the New England Whalers in 1979. His skills diminishing at last, Lacroix played briefly and respectably for the Whalers after their move to the NHL in the 1980 season (with Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull) before retiring.

Retirement

Lacroix has been involved with hockey since retiring, creating the André Lacroix Power Hockey Academy, and he was the Director of hockey programs at the Oakland Ice Centre until 2005. He also coached youth hockey in Cleveland.[8] He provided color commentary for the official Hartford Whalers radio broadcasts for several seasons.

Lacroix currently owns and operates The Pond ice rink in Bainbridge/Auburn Township, Ohio. The Pond is notable for deriving part of its electrical power from wind turbines located at the rink.

On May 28, 2014, Lacroix was named the head coach of the University School varsity hockey team.[9]

Despite his accomplishments, Lacroix has not been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, a fact he reflected on in 2020 when asked about his new book: “Here's the problem I have with the Hockey Hall of Fame. ... They put people from Russia in the Hockey Hall of Fame that never played the game in the United States or Canada, and they don't want anybody that played in the WHA. That doesn't make sense to me. I'm not the type that would go sell myself on that, to be honest with you. I could sell a book. With the Flyers, I led the team in scoring. Then, I'm only one of four players that ever had 100 assists in one season—Bobby Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux and I. Then I'm the all-time leading scorer in the WHA. So, my point is, how can they put someone like Tretiak, from Russia, in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and they don't even think about someone like me that has accomplished a lot in hockey?”

In 2020, he self-published his autobiography After the Second Snowfall: My Life On and Off the Ice.[10]

Career records and achievements

  • 79 goals and 119 assists for 198 points in 325 games in the NHL.
  • 251 goals and 547 assists for 798 points in 551 games in the WHA.
  • Named to the WHA's First Team All-Star Team in 1973, 1974 and 1975.
  • Won the Bill Hunter Trophy as the WHA's leading scorer in 1973 and 1975.
  • Scored one hundred points or more in six consecutive seasons, a mark achieved by only six other major professional players.
  • The WHA's all-time leader in games played, assists (by nearly two hundred) and points (by over a hundred).
  • Fourth all-time in WHA history in goals scored.

Awards

Red Tilson Trophy

  • In 1965 and 1966 with the Peterborough Petes (OHL)

Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy (MVP):

  • In 1966 with the Peterborough Petes (OHL)

W.D. (Bill) Hunter Trophy:

  • In 1973 with the Philadelphia Blazers (WHA)
  • In 1975 with the San Diego Mariners (WHA)

In 2010, he was elected as an inaugural inductee into the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame.[11]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1961–62 Quebec Citadelles QJHL — — — — — 3 0 0 0 16
1961–62 Quebec Citadelles M-Cup — — — — — 2 0 0 0 4
1962–63 Quebec Citadelles QJHL 50 45 50 95 — 12 10 13 23 8
1963–64 Montreal Junior Canadiens OHA-Jr. 34 12 18 30 13 17 8 13 21 8
1964–65 Peterborough Petes OHA-Jr. 49 45 74 119 24 12 8 12 20 4
1964–65 Quebec Aces AHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1965–66 Peterborough Petes OHA-Jr. 48 40 80 120 20 6 4 8 12 6
1965–66 Quebec Aces AHL 2 1 3 4 0 — — — — —
1966–67 Quebec Aces AHL 67 25 24 49 14 5 3 2 5 2
1967–68 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 18 6 8 14 6 7 2 3 5 0
1967–68 Quebec Aces AHL 54 41 46 87 18 — — — — —
1968–69 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 75 24 32 56 4 4 0 0 0 0
1969–70 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 74 22 36 58 14 — — — — —
1970–71 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 78 20 22 42 12 4 0 2 2 0
1971–72 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 51 4 7 11 6 1 0 0 0 0
1972–73 Philadelphia Blazers WHA 78 50 74 124 83 4 0 2 2 18
1973–74 New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights WHA 71 31 80 111 54 — — — — —
1974–75 San Diego Mariners WHA 78 41 106 147 63 10 3 9 12 2
1975–76 San Diego Mariners WHA 80 29 72 101 42 11 4 6 10 4
1976–77 San Diego Mariners WHA 81 32 82 114 79 7 1 6 7 6
1977–78 Houston Aeros WHA 78 36 77 113 57 6 2 2 4 0
1978–79 New England Whalers WHA 78 32 56 88 34 10 4 4 8 0
1979–80 Hartford Whalers NHL 29 3 14 17 2 — — — — —
NHL totals 325 79 119 198 44 16 2 5 7 0
WHA totals 551 251 547 798 412 48 14 29 43 30

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1974 Canada SS 8 1 6 7 6

References

  1. ^ "WHA 30th Anniversary". courant.com. Hartford Courant. March 2, 2003. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
  2. ^ Kilgannon, Corey (October 26, 2012). "A Pro Hockey Team in the Early '70s Was Golden in Name Only". The New York Times.
  3. ^ "N.Y. Blades Now Jersey Knights". The Montreal Gazette. 1973-11-21. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  4. ^ 1974 Summit Series statistics
  5. ^ 1974 Summit Series Game 2 summary
  6. ^ Surgent, Scott (1990). The Complete World Hockey Association 11th Edition. Surgent. p. 217. ISBN 978-1727753424.
  7. ^ https://www.surgent.net/wha/year/197273/playoffs.html
  8. ^ https://www.prohockeyalumni.org/pro-hockey-alumni-news/coach-lacroixs-dynamic-dozen
  9. ^ https://www.us.edu/news-detail?pk=733075
  10. ^ https://sihrhockey.org/2020/columns/article.cfm?aid=618
  11. ^ "WHA Hall of Fame Members". Archived from the original on 2018-10-17. Retrieved 2013-09-13.

See also

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