Leonard Joseph LaFrance (November 3, 1902 – April 7, 1993) was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 professional 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...

 who played 31 games in 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...

 for the Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

 and Chicago Black Hawks

Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...

. He was born in L'Isle-aux-Allumettes

L'Isle-aux-Allumettes, Quebec

L'Isle-aux-Allumettes is a municipality in the Outaouais region, part of the Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The municipality consists primarily of Allumette Island , and also includes Morrison Island, Marcotte Island, and some minor islets, all in the Ottawa River north of...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. His nickname was "The Flying Frenchman"

LaFrance played the position of Left Wing for the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens from 1927 to 1928, and the Chicago Black Hawks from 1927 to 1928. His total NHL career consisted of 33 games played, 2 assists, and 2 goals scored. Prior to joining the NHL, LaFrance was noted as a decent goal scorer with several minor league teams including the Sudbury Cub Wolves of the NOJHA, Iroquois Falls Papermakers of the NOHA, and the Duluth Hornets of the USAHA and CHL. His best year in hockey was from 1930 to 1931 when as a member of the AHA's Tulsa Oilers he scored a total of 27 points.

He retired from playing hockey following the 1935 to 1936 season with the Seattle Seahawks of the NWHL. His honors include being a member of the CHL Second All-Star Team in 1935. LaFrance later took a job as an electrician and estimator for the Universal Electric Company, in Duluth, Minnesota. He retired in 1969. He spent the rest of his life living quietly in Duluth, and spending time with friends and family, dying peacefully in 1993 at the age of 90.

External links

• http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=13275 Legends of Hockey - Leo LaFrance