Marcel Dionne
Marcel Elphège Dionne is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers between 1971 and 1989. A prolific scorer, he won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer in 1979–80, and recorded 50 goals or more in a season six times, and 100 points or more in a season 8 times during his career. Internationally Dionne played for the Canadian national team at two Canada Cups and three World Championships. Dionne was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992. In 2017 Dionne was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Early life
Dionne was born on August 3, 1951, in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada to Gilbert Sr. and Laurette Dionne. He was the oldest of eight children, and his youngest brother Gilbert was 19 years his junior. Growing up, his father worked as a foreman at a steel plant while his mother ran a corner store and beauty salon with her children's help. Due to limited finances, Dionne's extended family pitched in to help cover the costs of his hockey equipment. He played baseball as a youth as well, but chose to focus solely on hockey due to lack of prospects for Canadian baseball players.Playing career
Junior career
Dionne played in the 1962, 1963 and 1964 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with his Drummondville youth team. During his pee-wee career, Dionne garnered widespread attention from hockey teams and fans. He would often find dollar bills stuffed in his gloves from fans, and his parents received a letter from the Montreal Canadiens informing them to "take special care of young Marcel." His short stature earned him the nickname "little beaver," a reference to a popular midget wrestler. At the age of 14, Dionne was voted the first star of the 1966 Cornwall International Bantam "A" Tournament after scoring 21 points in four games.While playing with the Drummondville Rangers, Dionne earned the attention of scouts from the St. Catharines Black Hawks of the Ontario Hockey Association. While the Montreal Canadiens invited him to attend one of their junior camps, Dionne chose to move to St. Catharines and learn English in 1968. This sparked outrage among locals who threatened legal action if Dionne tried to move leagues. On advice from a lawyer, Dionne's parents pretended to separate, and Dionne moved to St. Catharines with his mother, brother, and three sisters. While he played in six of the Black Hawks' seven exhibition games, he was still ineligible to play in the OHA regular season without permission from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The CAHA executive and branch presidents voted "by a narrow margin" to allow Dionne to play in the OHA. One of the Black Hawks' compelling arguments was that Dionne was already enrolled in Grade 13, which was not available in Quebec. He made his OHA regular season debut on October 18, 1968 against the Niagara Falls Flyers. Dionne finished his rookie season second in league scoring with 37 goals and 63 assists for 100 points. His points total set a new rookie scoring record, and he received the league's Rookie of the Year award.
When Dionne returned to the Black Hawks for his sophomore season, he won the league's scoring title and was named to the OHA's 1969–70 Second All-Star Team. He finished the regular season with 55 goals and 77 assists for 132 points. Dionne was named team captain in his final season with the Black Hawks before the start of the 1970–71 season. Despite missing 14 games, he improved upon his previous two seasons and finished with 62 goals and 81 assists. During the 1971 Richardson Cup finals against the Quebec Remparts, Dionne's Black Hawks' team bus was attacked by a mob after Game 4. The team laid on the floor of the bus as the mob outside lobbed bottles at the bus's windows. As such, the fifth game was played at a neutral site and the Black Hawks forfeited the remainder of the series due to fears of further violence.
Dionne was drafted in the first round, second overall, by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1971 NHL amateur draft.
Professional career
Detroit Red Wings (1971–1975)
Following the draft, Dionne signed a rookie contract with the Red Wings for a record-breaking amount with various bonuses. While the exact terms were not released, his bargaining agent Alan Eagleson said: "If Marcel gets as many goals as I think he can, he'll be paid like a super-star...No matter what he does, he's got the best contract in the history of the league for a rookie." It was speculated that the amount was $50,000 with incentive clauses which could add another $15,000 to $20,000. Despite having a self-proclaimed "poor training camp," Dionne was named to the Red Wings opening roster for the 1971–72 season. He made his NHL debut on October 9, 1971, in the teams season opener against the Minnesota North Stars. He recorded his first career NHL goal on October 16, 1971, in a 9–2 loss to the St. Louis Blues. While the Red Wings began the season with a losing 2–5-0 record, Dionne scored three goals and two assists. Dionne spent the majority of his rookie season playing on a line with Bill Collins and Nick Libett. By January, he had earned more on ice responsibility and was part of the Red Wings' power-play and penalty kill unit. While playing in this dual role, Dionne ranked third on the team in scoring and 22nd in the league. He also set numerous personal and league-wide milestones in March. He recorded his first career NHL hat-trick on March 19, 1972, in a 7–6 win over the Montreal Canadiens. He then assisted on four goals the following game to tie with Rick Martin of Buffalo Sabres for 13th place on the NHL scoring list. Dionne added two goals and two assists in his next game to break the NHL record for most points by a rookie. He finished the regular season as the Red Wings' leading scorer with 28 goals and 49 assists and finished third in Calder Memorial Trophy voting as the NHL's top rookie. During the offseason, Dionne signed a three-year contract extension with the Red Wings and was the youngest player on Team Canada at the Summit Series.Due to the Summit Series, Dionne missed the entire training camp and returned to Detroit three days before the 1972–73 season opener. The Red Wings began the season with a six-game win streak before losing four straight games. Following the fourth consecutive loss, head coach Johnny Wilson mandated a two-hour bag skate. However, both Wilson and general manager Ned Harkness felt that Dionne was not giving enough effort. Following the skate, Harkness told the media, "If he keeps it up and doesn't start working, he might find himself playing in the minors." While Harkness later said he was misquoted, Dionne expressed his frustration that he spoke to the media instead of having a conversation with him. On December 2, Dionne scored one goal and three assists in his 100th career NHL game. This tied him with Richard Martin and Fred Stanfield for seventh place in league scoring. However, his earlier conflicts with management continued into December and resulted in a suspension. Following a 7–0 loss to the Minnesota North Stars on December 9, Wilson mandated a morning practice before their game against the Vancouver Canucks. After Wilson called out Dionne for a perceived lack of effort, he told him to "go home and stay there until he felt he could come back and make a contribution to the team." Due to a miscommunication as to the meaning of that order, Dionne assumed he had been suspended and missed their game that night. However, the Red Wings claimed he had not been suspended until he failed to show for that evening's game. Immediately following their game against the Canucks, Harkness handed out a press released that said that Dionne was “suspended indefinitely for failing to report for the game.” Despite this statement, Dionne was reinstated the following day after a discussion with the coaching staff. After rejoining the team, Dionne scored his second career hat-trick against the Canadiens on February 22, 1973. By the end of February, he had amassed 36 goals and 76 points. Dionne finished the regular season tied with Dennis Hull for 11th in league scoring with 90 points. His 167 total career points were the most ever collected by an NHL player through their first two seasons.
While Dionne arrived at the Red Wings' 1973 training camp eight pounds overweight, head coach Ted Garvin said he was more concerned about his moodiness. His attitude and poor start to the 1973–74 season resulted in a temporary suspension before his 11th game. At the time, he had collected seven assists and no goals. After he was reinstated, Dionne told members of the media that he asked to be traded "for the benefit of the team...and for the good of the other players." Despite Dionne verbalising his unhappiness in Detroit, the Red Wings were hesitant to trade him due to the poor results of their trade of centreman Garry Unger. In between the trade talks, Dionne broke his 22-game goalless streak on November 29 against the St. Louis Blues. The Red Wings also fired Garvin and replaced him with Alex Delvecchio. In December 1973, Eagleson warned the Red Wings that they could lose Dionne to the World Hockey Association if they did not trade him. However, Dionne denied asking for a trade and finished the season with the Red Wings. Dionne's offensive output improved in the second half of the season and he ended January with 13 goals and 26 assists over 15 games. By the end of February, he had amassed 61 points through 59 games. However, Dionne suffered a knee injury in March during a game against the New York Rangers and missed several games to recover.
During the 1974 offseason, Delvecchio spoke to Dionne about returning to training camp at a healthy weight, and was disappointed when Dionne arrived at camp 15 pounds overweight. Despite this, Dionne was appointed captain of the Red Wings at the start of the 1974–75 season, and he changed his jersey number to 12. At the age of 23, he was the second-youngest captain in the NHL that season, behind 22-year-old Jim Schoenfeld. Delvecchio gave Dionne the captaincy in an effort "to give him more responsibility." In this new role, he was praised by both teammates and management for his positive attitude while also leading the league with 12 points over his first five games. However, his lack of goals worried fans and he was sent medallions and jewelry to try and help him break the streak. Dionne scored seven goals and 20 assists through November, and tied with Bobby Clarke for seventh place in league scoring by mid-December. He finished the season ranked third in league scoring and became the first player in NHL history to score 10 short-handed goals in one season. He was also fifth in voting for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most gentlemanly player.
In his final season with the Red Wings, Dionne scored 47 goals and 74 assists through 80 games. He received the 1975 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy after only accumulating 14 penalty minutes all season.