By Graeme McNaughton/Active Senior’s Digest
Hockey is an evolving sport – just ask legend of the sport Marcel Dionne.
The hall of famer, the sixth highest scoring player in NHL history, has seen the sport change into a game that is dissected and picked apart.
“They’re into more details like videos. We had some, but now it’s absolutely incredible. It’s almost like trying to do basketball and some set plays,” he says. “Then again, I saw (Alexander) Ovechkin score two goals from the same spot, and he scores all of his goals from there. I’m surprised nobody stays close to him.”
Those video breakdowns weren’t part of the league when Dionne joined four decades ago.
The Drummondville-born Dionne first got his start in the NHL in 1971 with the Detroit Red Wings, coming fresh out of the draft that saw him picked second. The man picked in front of him? Montreal Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur.
The two had played against one another before, dating back to their junior days, Dionne with the St. Catharines Black Hawks, Lafleur with the Quebec Remparts. The two teams met in the 1971 finals of the Richardson Cup. That series would be a violent one.
The fourth game, which took place in Quebec, was filled with penalties. The rough game was followed up by riots in the streets of the city, including Dionne’s team bus getting attacked by the angry mob. The Black Hawks chose to forfeit the series, handing the win to the Remparts, preferring that to returning to Quebec.
Despite the rough go in his final games as a junior player, Dionne says he enjoyed his days playing as an amateur.
“There were some tough guys, but it was a lot of fun to play against these guys. We had some pretty good teams in those three years,” he says. “Then again, we were able to play against one another again in the NHL.”
Big break
The shortened Richardson Cup finals were among the last junior games both Dionne and Lafleur would play. Both would go on to play in the NHL that year, both netting just shy of 30 goals.
Lafleur, however, would go on to win a Stanley Cup in his second season– something Dionne would never have the chance to do in his years on the ice.
There was, however, something Dionne did that Lafleur could not lay claim to: being a member of Team Canada for one of the most famous hockey tournaments in history, The Summit Series.
“It was a great time in our lives. The way you see junior hockey, it was created by this rivalry. Canada and Russia,” he says.
Dionne would go on to don the maple leaf once again in 1976, when the Canada Cup was created, which saw the best of the hockey world face off. The finals would see Canada victorious over Czechoslovakia.
That series’ format, however, didn’t give the world a chance to see who the best players really were, Dionne says, as one bad game could put you out of the tournament.
“The thing with (the Summit Series) was that it was eight games. The other format, you only play (one another in) one game,” he says. “You can’t really decide on one game, not like the Super Bowl.”
King of Los Angeles
Unlike teams of the past two decades, the Detroit Red Wings that Dionne played for were among the worst in the team’s history. In a period since dubbed the “Dead Wings” era, the team only made the playoffs twice between the NHL’s expansion in 1967 and 1983.
Dionne, a burgeoning young star who set a record for most points in a rookie season, wanted to make a change. After four seasons in Detroit, Dionne was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in the summer of 1975, a team that was on the move and becoming one of the top teams in the league.
It wasn’t until his fourth season in LA that Dionne would find himself playing alongside Dave Taylor and Charlie Simmer – the Triple Crown Line was born. This combination made the Kings a force to be reckoned with, making regular appearances in the postseason. The line also saw the first time in the league’s history that all three players put away more than 100 points each in one season.
It was in his first full season, 1979/80, playing on the Triple Crown line that Dionne had his best season ever – 137 points with 53 goals and 84 assists. The points total was good enough for the best in the league, tying him with a young Brantford boy making his start in the league with the pesky Edmonton Oilers: Wayne Gretzky.
Dionne would serve as a mentor in his later years with the Kings, helping out young rookies such as another future hall of famer, Luc Robitaille.
The man nicknamed Little Beaver wouldn’t stay a King forever though, eventually being traded to the New York Rangers where he would play out the last two and a half seasons of his career.
His time with the Rangers did give him one opportunity he hadn’t had to that point: he got to play alongside former rival Guy Lafleur.
The game today
Sitting and watching the Whitby Dunlops – a team in the Ontario Junior Hockey League – net a dominating win over the Norwood Vipers, Dionne reflected on how the game has changed since the days when he was lacing up the skates.
“From watching some of my videos, there’s no advertising on the boards. There was nothing in the building,” he said. “And on television, we had no TSN or ESPN, you name it. Plus there’s the Internet and all that stuff. It’s created an incredible amount of money.”
The growing use of technology to help improve teams’ efforts on the ice is also something that wasn’t used as widely in Dionne’s NHL days.
These days, Dionne makes his home in Niagara Falls where he runs Marcel Dionne Inc., a store that deals sports memorabilia.
However, Dionne hasn’t stayed out of the game completely, still keeping an eye on former teams of his such as the Red Wings and Kings. He also watches the Buffalo Sabres, the team closest to his home.
There is, however, one team that Dionne still has a soft spot for.
“I still like Montreal. They have a way to do things.”
