Yvan Cournoyer
Encyclopedia
Yvan Serge "The Roadrunner" Cournoyer (born November 22, 1943) is a retired Canadian
hockey
right winger who played in the National Hockey League
for the Montreal Canadiens
from 1963 to 1979. Cournoyer was born in Drummondville, Quebec
. He was nicknamed "The Roadrunner" due to his small size and blazing speed, which he credited to longer blades on his skates. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
in 1982.
. By the time he was eighteen years old, his legs had become so muscular that he required specially tailored pants. Cournoyer made his NHL debut in 1963 with the Montreal Canadiens
and earned a full-time spot with the club in 1964 after just seven games with the American Hockey League
's Quebec Aces
.
Cournoyer was initially regarded by Canadiens head coach Toe Blake
as a defensive liability and undeserving of a regular shift, though he was still frequently used on the power play
. That changed after Blake's departure following the 1968 Stanley Cup Championship, when incoming coach Claude Ruel
granted Cournoyer a full-time shift. Cournoyer went on to have his first forty-goal season in 1968–69 and was named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team.
Cournoyer scored a career high 47 goals in the 1971–72 season. In 1973, he had his best postseason ever, scoring 15 goals and tallying 10 assists in 17 games, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy
following the Canadiens' defeat of the Chicago Black Hawks
in the Stanley Cup
Finals.
Cournoyer was named captain of the Canadiens in 1975 following the retirement of Henri Richard
, pushing him to play harder in his new leadership role. Cournoyer would become only one of the Habs' two captains to win Stanley Cups throughout his entire (2+ year) tenure as captain, the other one being Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Henri's older brother. The speedy Cournoyer's ability to stay true to his form in his older age was a favorite topic of discussion of the Montreal fans and hockey media, however, and he did slow down due to a disc in his back that was pressing on a nerve and causing him great pain. Cournoyer eventually had to have surgery on his back and missed the entire 1977 postseason.
Cournoyer returned for the 1978 season and played in 68 games, scoring 24 goals and collecting 29 assists to match his previous season's total of 53 points, though it was evident his back still bothered him. He managed to perform in the playoffs again, however, with seven goals and four assists in fifteen games en route to Montreal's third consecutive Cup. However, he was forced to retire in 1978 after playing in fifteen games. When he retired, he only trailed Guy Lafleur
, Maurice Richard
, and Jean Beliveau
on the Canadiens' all-time scoring list. Cournoyer won a total of 10 Stanley Cups as player, second only to Henri Richard
. His name was engraved on the cup in 1965-66-68-69-71-73-76-77-78-79.
Cournoyer played for Canada in the 1972 Summit Series
, scoring three goals (including one in the final game), and is part of the famous picture wherein Paul Henderson
jumps into his arms after scoring the game (and series) winner.
Cournoyer coached the Montreal Roadrunners
during the 1994–95 season and was an assistant coach to the Canadiens during the 1996–97 season. He currently serves as an official ambassador to the Montreal Canadiens.
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...
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...
right winger who played 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 ...
from 1963 to 1979. Cournoyer was born in Drummondville, 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....
. He was nicknamed "The Roadrunner" due to his small size and blazing speed, which he credited to longer blades on his skates. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
in 1982.
Professional career
Cournoyer's professional hockey career began in 1961 with the Montreal Junior Canadiens of the Ontario Hockey AssociationOntario Hockey Association
The Ontario Hockey Association is the governing body for the majority of Junior and Senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. Other Ontario sanctioning bodies along with the...
. By the time he was eighteen years old, his legs had become so muscular that he required specially tailored pants. Cournoyer made his NHL debut in 1963 with 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 earned a full-time spot with the club in 1964 after just seven games with the 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...
's Quebec Aces
Quebec Aces
The Quebec Aces, also known in French as Les As de Québec, were an amateur and later a professional men's ice hockey team from Quebec City, Quebec. The Aces were founded in 1928, and played until 1971. The team played home games at the Quebec Coliseum from 1930 to 1971.The Aces were Allan Cup...
.
Cournoyer was initially regarded by Canadiens head coach Toe Blake
Toe Blake
Hector "Toe" Blake, CM was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach in the National Hockey League .-Nickname:His nickname came out of his childhood for his younger sister was unable to pronounce his name...
as a defensive liability and undeserving of a regular shift, though he was still frequently used on the power play
Powerplay
"Power play" is a sporting term used in various games.*In ice hockey, a team is said to be on a power play when at least one opposing player is serving a penalty, and the team has a numerical advantage on the ice...
. That changed after Blake's departure following the 1968 Stanley Cup Championship, when incoming coach Claude Ruel
Claude Ruel
Claude Ruel was a head coach for the National Hockey League Montreal Canadiens. Claude was a two-time coach for the Habs. He coached the team from 1968 to 1970 and later from 1979 to 1981. He led the team to the 1969 Stanley Cup Championship...
granted Cournoyer a full-time shift. Cournoyer went on to have his first forty-goal season in 1968–69 and was named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team.
Cournoyer scored a career high 47 goals in the 1971–72 season. In 1973, he had his best postseason ever, scoring 15 goals and tallying 10 assists in 17 games, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy
Conn Smythe Trophy
The Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the player judged most valuable to his team during the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup playoffs. The Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded 46 times to 40 players since the 1964–65 NHL season...
following the Canadiens' defeat of the 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...
in the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
Finals.
Cournoyer was named captain of the Canadiens in 1975 following the retirement of Henri Richard
Henri Richard
Joseph Henri Richard is a former professional ice hockey player who played centre with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League from 1955 to 1975...
, pushing him to play harder in his new leadership role. Cournoyer would become only one of the Habs' two captains to win Stanley Cups throughout his entire (2+ year) tenure as captain, the other one being Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Henri's older brother. The speedy Cournoyer's ability to stay true to his form in his older age was a favorite topic of discussion of the Montreal fans and hockey media, however, and he did slow down due to a disc in his back that was pressing on a nerve and causing him great pain. Cournoyer eventually had to have surgery on his back and missed the entire 1977 postseason.
Cournoyer returned for the 1978 season and played in 68 games, scoring 24 goals and collecting 29 assists to match his previous season's total of 53 points, though it was evident his back still bothered him. He managed to perform in the playoffs again, however, with seven goals and four assists in fifteen games en route to Montreal's third consecutive Cup. However, he was forced to retire in 1978 after playing in fifteen games. When he retired, he only trailed Guy Lafleur
Guy Lafleur
Guy Damien "The Flower" / "Le Démon Blond" Lafleur, OC, CQ is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player who is widely regarded as one of the most naturally gifted and popular players ever to play professional ice hockey...
, Maurice Richard
Maurice Richard
Joseph Henri Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, Sr., was a French-Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League from 1942 to 1960. The "Rocket" was the most prolific goal-scorer of his era, the first to achieve the feat of 50 goals in 50...
, and Jean Beliveau
Jean Béliveau
Jean Arthur "Le Gros Bill" Béliveau, is a former professional ice hockey player who played parts of 20 seasons with the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens. As a player, he won the Stanley Cup 10 times, and as an executive he was part of another seven championship teams, the most Stanley...
on the Canadiens' all-time scoring list. Cournoyer won a total of 10 Stanley Cups as player, second only to Henri Richard
Henri Richard
Joseph Henri Richard is a former professional ice hockey player who played centre with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League from 1955 to 1975...
. His name was engraved on the cup in 1965-66-68-69-71-73-76-77-78-79.
Cournoyer played for Canada in the 1972 Summit Series
Summit Series
The Summit Series was the first competition between the Soviet and an NHL-inclusive Canadian national ice hockey teams, an eight-game series held in September 1972...
, scoring three goals (including one in the final game), and is part of the famous picture wherein Paul Henderson
Paul Henderson
Paul Henderson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flames...
jumps into his arms after scoring the game (and series) winner.
Cournoyer coached the Montreal Roadrunners
Montreal Roadrunners
The Montreal Roadrunners played from 1994 to 1997 in the Roller Hockey International. Their home games were at the Montreal Forum and the Molson Centre...
during the 1994–95 season and was an assistant coach to the Canadiens during the 1996–97 season. He currently serves as an official ambassador to the Montreal Canadiens.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season Season (sports) In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an... |
Team | League | GP | G Goal (ice hockey) In ice hockey, a goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line between the two goal posts and below the goal crossbar. A goal awards one point to the team attacking the goal scored upon, regardless of which team the player who actually deflected the puck into the goal belongs to... |
A Assist (ice hockey) In ice hockey, an assist is attributed to up to two players of the scoring team who shot, passed or deflected the puck towards the scoring teammate, or touched it in any other way which enabled the goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the goal. There can be a maximum of two assists per goal... |
Pts Point (ice hockey) Point in ice hockey has three official meanings:* A point is awarded to a player for each goal scored or assist earned. The total number of goals plus assists equals total points. In some European leagues, a goal counts as two points, and an assist counts as one... |
PIM Penalty (ice hockey) A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes, during which, the player can not participate in play. The offending team usually may not replace the player on the ice,... |
GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1961–62 | Montreal Junior Canadiens | OHA Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League is one of the three Major Junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 15-20.The OHL also operates under the Ontario Hockey Federation of Hockey Canada.... |
32 | 15 | 16 | 31 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1962–63 | Montreal Junior Canadiens | OHA | 36 | 37 | 27 | 64 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1963–64 | Montreal Junior Canadiens | OHA | 53 | 63 | 48 | 111 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1963–64 | 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 ... |
NHL | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1964–65 1964–65 AHL season The 1964–65 AHL season was the 29th season of the American Hockey League. The league inaugurates the James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding media coverage of the AHL.Nine teams played 72 games each in the schedule... |
Quebec Aces Quebec Aces The Quebec Aces, also known in French as Les As de Québec, were an amateur and later a professional men's ice hockey team from Quebec City, Quebec. The Aces were founded in 1928, and played until 1971. The team played home games at the Quebec Coliseum from 1930 to 1971.The Aces were Allan Cup... |
AHL 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... |
7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1964–65 | 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 ... |
NHL | 55 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1965–66 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 65 | 18 | 11 | 29 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1966–67 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 69 | 25 | 15 | 40 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 1967–68 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 64 | 28 | 32 | 60 | 23 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 4 | ||
| 1968–69 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 76 | 43 | 44 | 87 | 31 | 14 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 5 | ||
| 1969–70 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 72 | 27 | 36 | 63 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1970–71 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 65 | 37 | 36 | 73 | 21 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 6 | ||
| 1971–72 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 73 | 47 | 36 | 83 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 1972–73 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 67 | 40 | 39 | 79 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 25 | 2 | ||
| 1973–74 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 67 | 40 | 33 | 73 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 1974–75 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 76 | 29 | 45 | 74 | 32 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 4 | ||
| 1975–76 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 71 | 32 | 36 | 68 | 20 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 4 | ||
| 1976–77 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 60 | 25 | 28 | 53 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977–78 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 68 | 24 | 29 | 53 | 12 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 10 | ||
| 1978–79 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 15 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 968 | 428 | 435 | 863 | 255 | 147 | 64 | 63 | 127 | 74 | ||||
See also
- Stanley CupStanley CupThe Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
- List of Stanley Cup champions
- List of players with 5 or more goals in an NHL game