Gary "Crow" Croteau is a retired Canadian ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 forward

Forward (ice hockey)

In ice hockey, a forward is a player position on the ice whose primary responsibility is to score goals. Generally, the forwards try to stay in three different lanes, also known as thirds, of the ice going from goal to goal. It is not mandatory however, to stay in a lane. Staying in a lane aids in...

, most notably with the Colorado Rockies

Colorado Rockies (NHL)

The Colorado Rockies were an American professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League that played in Denver, Colorado, from 1976 to 1982. They were a relocation of the Kansas City Scouts, a 1974 expansion team. The franchise moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1982 and was...

 of the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

.

Playing career

After a dominant collegiate hockey career at St. Lawrence University

St. Lawrence University

St. Lawrence University is a four-year liberal arts college located in the village of Canton in Saint Lawrence County, New York, United States. It has roughly 2300 undergraduate and 100 graduate students, about equally split between male and female....

, capped by being selected to the ECAC

Eastern College Athletic Conference

The Eastern College Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 21 sports . It has 317 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from Maine to North Carolina and west to Illinois...

 First All-Star Team in 1968, Croteau was signed as a free agent by the Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 in 1968, which promptly dealt him to the Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...

. He played two sound seasons with LA's American Hockey League

American Hockey League

The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...

 Springfield Kings

Springfield Indians

The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existence for a total of 60 seasons from 1926 to 1994, with...

 farm team, and in limited action with Los Angeles in 1968 scored a fine five goals in eleven games. On the strength of that performance, he played with the Kings in the playoffs that year, scoring five goals in eleven games as Los Angeles went to the semifinals. Before he could play further for the Kings, he was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...

 February 1970, seeing only limited action with Detroit before being claimed by the California Golden Seals

California Golden Seals

The California Golden Seals were a team in the National Hockey League from 1967–76. Initially named California Seals, the team was renamed Oakland Seals part-way through the 1967–68 season, and then to California Golden Seals in 1970. The Seals were one of six teams added to the league as part of...

 in the 1970 waiver draft. With the talent-thin Golden Seals, he became a regular for four seasons, finishing among the team's leading scorers in his first and final seasons with the squad.

When the NHL expanded to Kansas City

Kansas City Scouts

The Kansas City Scouts was a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League from 1974–76. In 1976, the franchise relocated to Denver, Colorado and became the Colorado Rockies...

 and Washington

Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...

 in 1974, Croteau was the seventh pick of the Scouts and a key player for the weak franchise from the beginning. After a modest 1975 season, Croteau was one of the team's leading scorers and few decent players for four years thereafter, even after the franchise moved to Denver and became the Colorado Rockies in 1976. His best season came in 1977, when he scored 24 goals and 27 assists for 51 points, all career highs.

After an injury that cost him most of the 1980 season, Croteau retired from hockey, save for a brief stint in the minor leagues the following year.

Croteau finished his career with 144 goals and 175 assists in 688 games for 319 points, adding 143 penalty minutes.

External links