Marcel Dionne

Marcel "Little Beaver" Dionne was born on August 3, 1951 in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada. He blazed through the minor leagues and was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings as the second overall draft pick. Dionne was quick off the mark in Detroit, setting a rookie record for scoring with 77 points in his first NHL season. Though he stood at a diminutive 5'8, Marcel Dionne was a remarkable talent and by the mid-1970s he had emerged as one of the premier scorers in the National Hockey League. In 1975 he left the Detroit Red Wings and signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings. The Los Angeles Kings were not the most talented hockey team and they signed him with a $1.5 million contract over 5 years. Dionne flourished in California, recording six straight 50+ goal seasons as the centerpiece of the "Triple Crown Line" with Dave Taylor and Charlie Simmer.

Marcel would win his only Art Ross trophy in 1979 as he edged out Wayne Gretzky by scoring one more goal. He was also named as the center on the NHL's First All-Star team that season. After 12 very successful years in Los Angeles, Dionne was traded along with Jeff Crossman and a draft pick to the New York Rangers for Bob Carpenter and Tom Laidlaw. Dionne spent parts of the next three seasons with the New York Rangers before retiring in 1988-89. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992 and remains the Los Angeles Kings all-time leader in goals (550), assists (757) and points (1,307). Many experts consider Marcel Dionne to be the best NHL player, never to have won a Stanley Cup championship.

Here is a summary of Marcel Dionne's NHL career statistics;

Year    Team                 GP   G   A   Pts   Pim
1971-72 Detroit Red Wings    78  28  49    77    14 
1972-73 Detroit Red Wings    77  40  50    90    21  
1973-74 Detroit Red Wings    74  24  54    78    10 
1974-75 Detroit Red Wings    80  47  74   121    14 
1975-76 Los Angeles Kings    80  40  54    94    38
1976-77 Los Angeles Kings    80  53  69   122    12
1977-78 Los Angeles Kings    70  36  43    79    37 
1978-79 Los Angeles Kings    80  59  71   130    30 
1979-80 Los Angeles Kings    80  53  84   137    32  
1980-81 Los Angeles Kings    80  58  77   135    70 
1981-82 Los Angeles Kings    78  50  67   117    50 
1982-83 Los Angeles Kings    80  56  51   107    22 
1983-84 Los Angeles Kings    66  39  53    92    28  
1984-85 Los Angeles Kings    80  46  80   126    46 
1985-86 Los Angeles Kings    80  36  58    94    42 
1986-87 Los Angeles Kings    67  24  50    74    54  
1986-87 New York Rangers     14   4   6    10     6  
1987-88 New York Rangers     67  31  34    65    54       
1988-89 New York Rangers     37   7  16    23    20 
NHL Totals                 1348 731 1040 1771   600



Trophies
Art Ross Trophy - 1 (1980)
Lady Byng Trophy - 2 (1975, 1977)
Lester B. Pearson Trophy - 2 (1979, 1980)


Championships
Stanley Cup - 0

Team Pages:
Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers

Other Marcel Dionne Resources
The NHL Domestic Violence Policy and Domestic Violence Legal Charges:
Los Angeles Kings Player Slava Voynov Suspended for Domestic Violence
Cincinnati Domestic Violence Lawyer Discusses Types of Offenses
Why the NHL Needs to Address Its Own Domestic Violence Policy