Marcel Elphege "Little Beaver" Dionne (born August 3, 1951) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers. Marcel Dionne was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.
Playing career
Dionne was drafted in the first Round (second overall) by the
Detroit Red Wings in the
1971 NHL Entry Draft. Before joining the NHL, he played for three years in the
Ontario Hockey Association with the
St. Catharines Black Hawks. His team was involved in one of the most infamous events in Canadian junior hockey during the
1971 Richardson Cup.
The Black Hawks and Quebec Remparts faced off in a Richardson Trophy series that was intense on many levels. Besides the strong rivalry between Anglophone and Francophone hockey teams and Canadian citizens in general, there was unfinished business between Marcel Dionne and the Remparts' coach Maurice Filion. Dionne had been coached by Filion in 1968 as a member of the Drummondville Rangers of the former Quebec Junior Hockey League. When the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League formed in 1969, Dionne departed to play in the OHA, which was seen as a higher-calibre level of competition, to hone his skills. Filion vowed revenge against Dionne's OHA team. This rivalry was further fueled by the desire of Francophone nationalists to have a Canadian champion from a Quebec team in a Quebec-based league.
The series, which featured future NHL stars Guy Lafleur and Dionne, never lived up to the potential on ice brilliance that could have been. Disputes off the ice and erupting violence dramatically shortened the series. The Eastern Canadian championship of 1971 would be the last Eastern Canadian championship to be played before the Memorial Cup tournament began in 1972. With St. Catharines forfeiting the series due to the threats of violence, the Eastern Canadian championship did not end to the fans' satisfaction.
After the series, Lafleur went first overall to the Montreal Canadiens in the 1971 NHL Entry Draft and was part of a Stanley Cup contender. Dionne played his first four seasons with the Red Wings, where he was one of the few stars on an otherwise stagnant team that failed to make the playoffs.
Despite having legendary teammates such as Alex Delvecchio and Mickey Redmond, Dionne's frustrations with losing were evident. His agent, Alan Eagleson pushed for more money and found it in an unlikely place. The owner of the Los Angeles Kings, Jack Kent Cooke, offered Dionne $300,000 per year. A deal was struck with the Red Wings for compensation, and Dionne signed with the Kings and became its franchise player. At the time, it was the richest deal in hockey history.
During his time with the Los Angeles Kings, he played 11 and a half seasons and formed the famed "Triple Crown Line", centreing Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor. Despite his high scoring production during the regular season he was frustrated with the Kings' lack of playoff success; they made the postseason from 1976–82 but only advanced to the second round three times for a total of 43 playoff games. During the 1986–87 season, Dionne would mentor the rookies of the Kings as Mickey Redmond mentored him during his rookie years in Detroit. He took eventual Calder Trophy winner Luc Robitaille, Jimmy Carson and Steve Duchesne under his wing.
Despite the strong rapport with the rookies, there was also a falling out with Coach Pat Quinn. With the Kings on track to miss the playoffs, he demanded a trade. Dionne had hoped that his threat would get General Manager Rogie Vachon to make some major moves to rejuvenate the stagnating team, and he was surprised and disappointed when Vachon actually traded him to the New York Rangers. He played his remaining two and a half seasons there, where the Rangers lost in the first round of the playoffs and missed the next two. He retired in 1989. One consolation was that he would finally have Guy Lafleur as his teammate to mark the beginning of the 1988–89 NHL season. In January 2004, Dionne was featured on a Canadian postage stamp. As part of the NHL All-Stars Collection, Dionne was immortalized along with five other All-Stars.
Achievements
During his first season for Detroit in
1972, he set an NHL record for scoring by a rookie with 77 points. This record has since been surpassed.
His best season was 1979–80 when he had 137 points. That season, he was tied for the league lead in points with Wayne Gretzky. Though Gretzky played in one less game than Dionne, Dionne was awarded the Art Ross Trophy for scoring two more goals than Gretzky. (Interestingly, from 1969 to 2001, Dionne and Bryan Trottier were the only single-time winners of the scoring title, while Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr had won it on multiple occasions.) Dionne also won the Lester B. Pearson Award in 1979 and 1980, and the Lady Byng Trophy in 1975 and 1977.
Dionne was the third of six men to reach the 700-goal plateau, and currently ranks fourth among all-time goal scorers, with 731. He is ranked fifth in points, with 1771. He is ninth in career assists with 1,040. He was second in assists, goals, and points when he retired in 1989 (he is 70 goals, 9 assists, and 79 points behind Gordie Howe in all categories).
He was also the last active player in the NHL that participated in the 1972 Summit Series. Despite not playing in the 1972 Summit Series, he did play for Team Canada in the 1976 Canada Cup and the 1981 Canada Cup. For the 1976 Canada Cup, his linesmates were Bobby Hull and Phil Esposito. He was also on a line with Lanny McDonald and Darryl Sittler and they were on the ice when the tournament winning goal was scored. While on the 1981 team, he was on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Guy Lafleur.
Dionne currently resides in Niagara Falls, Canada and owns Marcel Dionne enterprises. He is an occasional member of the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team despite never playing, or living there as a player. He is also a Royal Ambassador for the Kings organization.
Career statistics
{| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" width="75%"
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! ALIGN="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! ALIGN="center" rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! ALIGN="center" colspan="5" |
Regular season
! ALIGN="center" rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! ALIGN="center" colspan="5" |
Playoffs
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! ALIGN="center" |
Season
! ALIGN="center" | Team
! ALIGN="center" | League
! ALIGN="center" | GP
! ALIGN="center" |
G
! ALIGN="center" |
A
! ALIGN="center" |
Pts
! ALIGN="center" |
PIM
! ALIGN="center" | GP
! ALIGN="center" | G
! ALIGN="center" | A
! ALIGN="center" | Pts
! ALIGN="center" | PIM
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" |
1968–69
| ALIGN="center" |
St. Catharines Black Hawks
| ALIGN="center" |
OHA
| ALIGN="center" | 48
| ALIGN="center" | 37
| ALIGN="center" | 63
| ALIGN="center" | 100
| ALIGN="center" | 38
| ALIGN="center" | 18
| ALIGN="center" | 15
| ALIGN="center" | 20
| ALIGN="center" | 35
| ALIGN="center" | 8
|- ALIGN="center"
| ALIGN="center" |
1969–70
| ALIGN="center" | St. Catharines Black Hawks
| ALIGN="center" | OHA
| ALIGN="center" | 54
| ALIGN="center" | 55
| ALIGN="center" | 77
| ALIGN="center" | 132
| ALIGN="center" | 46
| ALIGN="center" | 10
| ALIGN="center" | 12
| ALIGN="center" | 20
| ALIGN="center" | 32
| ALIGN="center" | 10
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" |
1970–71
| ALIGN="center" | St. Catharines Black Hawks
| ALIGN="center" | OHA
| ALIGN="center" | 46
| ALIGN="center" | 62
| ALIGN="center" | 81
| ALIGN="center" | 143
| ALIGN="center" | 20
| ALIGN="center" | 15
| ALIGN="center" | 29
| ALIGN="center" | 26
| ALIGN="center" | 55
| ALIGN="center" | 11
|- ALIGN="center"
| ALIGN="center" |
1971–72
| ALIGN="center" |
Detroit Red Wings
| ALIGN="center" |
NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 78
| ALIGN="center" | 28
| ALIGN="center" | 49
| ALIGN="center" | 77
| ALIGN="center" | 14
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" |
1972–73
| ALIGN="center" | Detroit Red Wings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 77
| ALIGN="center" | 40
| ALIGN="center" | 50
| ALIGN="center" | 90
| ALIGN="center" | 21
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
|- ALIGN="center"
| ALIGN="center" |
1973–74
| ALIGN="center" | Detroit Red Wings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 74
| ALIGN="center" | 24
| ALIGN="center" | 54
| ALIGN="center" | 78
| ALIGN="center" | 10
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" |
1974–75
| ALIGN="center" | Detroit Red Wings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 80
| ALIGN="center" | 47
| ALIGN="center" | 74
| ALIGN="center" | 121
| ALIGN="center" | 14
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
|- ALIGN="center"
| ALIGN="center" |
1975–76
| ALIGN="center" |
Los Angeles Kings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 80
| ALIGN="center" | 40
| ALIGN="center" | 54
| ALIGN="center" | 94
| ALIGN="center" | 38
| ALIGN="center" | 9
| ALIGN="center" | 6
| ALIGN="center" | 1
| ALIGN="center" | 7
| ALIGN="center" | 0
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" |
1976–77
| ALIGN="center" | Los Angeles Kings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 80
| ALIGN="center" | 53
| ALIGN="center" | 69
| ALIGN="center" | 122
| ALIGN="center" | 12
| ALIGN="center" | 9
| ALIGN="center" | 5
| ALIGN="center" | 9
| ALIGN="center" | 14
| ALIGN="center" | 2
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
|- ALIGN="center"
| ALIGN="center" |
1977–78
| ALIGN="center" | Los Angeles Kings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 70
| ALIGN="center" | 36
| ALIGN="center" | 43
| ALIGN="center" | 79
| ALIGN="center" | 37
| ALIGN="center" | 2
| ALIGN="center" | 0
| ALIGN="center" | 0
| ALIGN="center" | 0
| ALIGN="center" | 0
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" |
1978–79
| ALIGN="center" | Los Angeles Kings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 80
| ALIGN="center" | 59
| ALIGN="center" | 71
| ALIGN="center" | 130
| ALIGN="center" | 30
| ALIGN="center" | 2
| ALIGN="center" | 0
| ALIGN="center" | 1
| ALIGN="center" | 1
| ALIGN="center" | 0
|- ALIGN="center"
| ALIGN="center" |
1979–80
| ALIGN="center" | Los Angeles Kings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 80
| ALIGN="center" | 53
| ALIGN="center" | 84
| ALIGN="center" | 137
| ALIGN="center" | 32
| ALIGN="center" | 4
| ALIGN="center" | 0
| ALIGN="center" | 3
| ALIGN="center" | 3
| ALIGN="center" | 4
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" |
1980–81
| ALIGN="center" | Los Angeles Kings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 80
| ALIGN="center" | 58
| ALIGN="center" | 77
| ALIGN="center" | 135
| ALIGN="center" | 70
| ALIGN="center" | 4
| ALIGN="center" | 1
| ALIGN="center" | 3
| ALIGN="center" | 4
| ALIGN="center" | 7
|- ALIGN="center"
| ALIGN="center" |
1981–82
| ALIGN="center" | Los Angeles Kings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 78
| ALIGN="center" | 50
| ALIGN="center" | 67
| ALIGN="center" | 117
| ALIGN="center" | 50
| ALIGN="center" | 10
| ALIGN="center" | 7
| ALIGN="center" | 4
| ALIGN="center" | 11
| ALIGN="center" | 0
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" |
1982–83
| ALIGN="center" | Los Angeles Kings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 80
| ALIGN="center" | 56
| ALIGN="center" | 51
| ALIGN="center" | 107
| ALIGN="center" | 22
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
|- ALIGN="center"
| ALIGN="center" |
1983–84
| ALIGN="center" | Los Angeles Kings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 66
| ALIGN="center" | 39
| ALIGN="center" | 53
| ALIGN="center" | 92
| ALIGN="center" | 28
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" |
1984–85
| ALIGN="center" | Los Angeles Kings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 80
| ALIGN="center" | 46
| ALIGN="center" | 80
| ALIGN="center" | 126
| ALIGN="center" | 46
| ALIGN="center" | 3
| ALIGN="center" | 1
| ALIGN="center" | 2
| ALIGN="center" | 3
| ALIGN="center" | 2
|- ALIGN="center"
| ALIGN="center" |
1985–86
| ALIGN="center" | Los Angeles Kings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 80
| ALIGN="center" | 36
| ALIGN="center" | 58
| ALIGN="center" | 94
| ALIGN="center" | 42
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" |
1986–87
| ALIGN="center" | Los Angeles Kings
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 67
| ALIGN="center" | 24
| ALIGN="center" | 50
| ALIGN="center" | 74
| ALIGN="center" | 54
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" | 1986–87
| ALIGN="center" |
New York Rangers
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 14
| ALIGN="center" | 4
| ALIGN="center" | 6
| ALIGN="center" | 10
| ALIGN="center" | 6
| ALIGN="center" | 6
| ALIGN="center" | 1
| ALIGN="center" | 1
| ALIGN="center" | 2
| ALIGN="center" | 2
|- ALIGN="center"
| ALIGN="center" |
1987–88
| ALIGN="center" | New York Rangers
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 67
| ALIGN="center" | 31
| ALIGN="center" | 34
| ALIGN="center" | 65
| ALIGN="center" | 54
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" |
1988–89
| ALIGN="center" | New York Rangers
| ALIGN="center" | NHL
| ALIGN="center" | 37
| ALIGN="center" | 7
| ALIGN="center" | 16
| ALIGN="center" | 23
| ALIGN="center" | 20
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" | 1988–89
| ALIGN="center" |
Denver Rangers
| ALIGN="center" |
IHL
| ALIGN="center" | 9
| ALIGN="center" | 0
| ALIGN="center" | 13
| ALIGN="center" | 13
| ALIGN="center" | 0
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
| ALIGN="center" | —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | OHA totals
! ALIGN="center" | 148
! ALIGN="center" | 154
! ALIGN="center" | 221
! ALIGN="center" | 375
! ALIGN="center" | 104
! ALIGN="center" | 43
! ALIGN="center" | 56
! ALIGN="center" | 66
! ALIGN="center" | 122
! ALIGN="center" | 29
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals
! ALIGN="center" | 1348
! ALIGN="center" | 731
! ALIGN="center" | 1040
! ALIGN="center" | 1771
! ALIGN="center" | 600
! ALIGN="center" | 49
! ALIGN="center" | 21
! ALIGN="center" | 24
! ALIGN="center" | 45
! ALIGN="center" | 17
|}
International play
{| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="3" CELLSPACING="0"
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! ALIGN="center" | Year
! ALIGN="center" | Team
! ALIGN="center" | Event
! ALIGN="center" | GP
! ALIGN="center" | G
! ALIGN="center" | A
! ALIGN="center" | Pts
! ALIGN="center" | PIM
|- ALIGN="center"
| ALIGN="center" | 1972
| ALIGN="center" |
Team Canada
| ALIGN="center" |
SS
| ALIGN="center" | 0
| ALIGN="center" | 0
| ALIGN="center" | 0
| ALIGN="center" | 0
| ALIGN="center" | 0
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" | 1976
| ALIGN="center" | Team Canada
| ALIGN="center" |
CC
| ALIGN="center" | 7
| ALIGN="center" | 1
| ALIGN="center" | 5
| ALIGN="center" | 6
| ALIGN="center" | 0
|- ALIGN="centre
| ALIGN="center" | 1978
| ALIGN="center" | Team Canada
| ALIGN="center" |
WCh
| ALIGN="center" | 10
| ALIGN="center" | 9
| ALIGN="center" | 3
| ALIGN="center" | 12
| ALIGN="center" | 0
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" | 1979
| ALIGN="center" | Team Canada
| ALIGN="center" | WCh
| ALIGN="center" | 7
| ALIGN="center" | 2
| ALIGN="center" | 1
| ALIGN="center" | 3
| ALIGN="center" | 0
|- ALIGN="centre
| ALIGN="center" | 1981
| ALIGN="center" | Team Canada
| ALIGN="center" | CC
| ALIGN="center" | 6
| ALIGN="center" | 4
| ALIGN="center" | 1
| ALIGN="center" | 5
| ALIGN="center" | 0
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| ALIGN="center" | 1983
| ALIGN="center" | Team Canada
| ALIGN="center" | WCh
| ALIGN="center" | 10
| ALIGN="center" | 6
| ALIGN="center" | 3
| ALIGN="center" | 9
| ALIGN="center" | 0
|- ALIGN="centre
| ALIGN="center" | 1986
| ALIGN="center" | Team Canada
| ALIGN="center" | WCh
| ALIGN="center" | 10
| ALIGN="center" | 4
| ALIGN="center" | 4
| ALIGN="center" | 8
| ALIGN="center" | 0
|- ALIGN="centre
|}
Achievements
OHA
1969–70 - Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy Winner
1969–70 - OHA Second All-Star Team
1970–71 - OHA First All-Star Team
1970–71 - Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy Winner
NHL
1974–75 - Lady Byng Trophy Winner
1974–75 - Played in NHL All-Star Game
1975–76 - Played in NHL All-Star Game
1976–77 - Lady Byng Trophy Winner
1976–77 - NHL First Team All-Star
1976–77 - Played in NHL All-Star Game
1977–78 - Named Best Forward at the World Hockey Championships
1977–78 - Played in NHL All-Star Game
1978–79 - NHL Second Team All-Star
1978–79 - Lester B. Pearson Award Winner
1979–80 - NHL First Team All-Star
1979–80 - Lester B. Pearson Award Winner
1979–80 - Art Ross Trophy Winner
1979–80 - Played in NHL All-Star Game
1980–81 - NHL Second Team All-Star
1980–81 - Played in NHL All-Star Game
1982–83 - Played in NHL All-Star Game
1984–85 - Played in NHL All-Star Game
1992 - Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Trade history
Traded to Los Angeles Kings by Detroit with Bart Crashley for Terry Harper, Dan Maloney, and Los Angeles' 2nd Round Pick in 1976 (The Draft Pick was later dealt to the Minnesota North Stars and they drafted Jim Roberts)
Traded to the
New York Rangers by Los Angeles with Jeff Crossman and Los Angeles' 3rd Round Pick in
1989 (The Draft Pick was later dealt to the
Minnesota North Stars and they drafted Murray Garboutt) for
Bobby Carpenter and
Tom Laidlaw.
See also
List of NHL statistical leaders
Notable families in the NHL
List of NHL players with 1000 points
List of NHL players with 500 goals
References
External links
Marcel Dionne's Official Homepage
Category:1951 births
Category:Art Ross Trophy winners
Category:Canada's Sports Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Canadian ice hockey centres
Category:Denver Rangers players
Category:Detroit Red Wings draft picks
Category:Detroit Red Wings players
Category:Drummondville Rangers alumni
Category:French Quebecers
Category:Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Ice hockey personnel from Quebec
Category:Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winners
Category:Lester B. Pearson Award winners
Category:Lester Patrick Trophy recipients
Category:Living people
Category:Los Angeles Kings players
Category:National Hockey League All-Stars
Category:National Hockey League players with 50 goal seasons
Category:National Hockey League players with 100 point seasons
Category:National Hockey League first round draft picks
Category:National Hockey League players with retired numbers
Category:New York Rangers players
Category:People from Drummondville
Category:St. Catharines Black Hawks alumni