Pierre Pilote

Pierre Pilote
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1975
Born (1931-12-11)December 11, 1931
Kenogami, Quebec, Canada
Died September 9, 2017(2017-09-09) (aged 85)
Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 178 lb (81 kg; 12 st 10 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for NHL
Chicago Black Hawks
Toronto Maple Leafs
AHL
Buffalo Bisons
Playing career 19551969

Joseph Albert Pierre Paul Pilote (December 11, 1931 – September 9, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and perennial All-Star, most notably for the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), for which he served as team captain for seven seasons.

Early life

Born in Kenogami, Quebec, Pilote's family moved to Fort Erie, Ontario, when he was 14 years old. Because the local rink collapsed in a storm, Pilote did not play his first organized hockey game until he was 17.[1] He tried out with a Niagara Falls junior B team as a centre, but was turned down because the club needed a defenceman instead. Pilote practiced as a defenceman and joined the team the following season.

Rudy Pilous recruited Pilote to the St. Catharines Teepees of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA); he made the team out of training camp in 1950.[2] Pilote played four full seasons for the minor professional club the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League (AHL). During his fifth season, he was signed by the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), starting his professional career.[1]

NHL defenceman

Pilote became a preeminent star for the Black Hawks, winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most outstanding defenceman three straight seasons in 1963, 1964 and 1965 — a feat matched or surpassed only by Doug Harvey, Bobby Orr and Nicklas Lidström in NHL history — as well as runner-up in 1962, 1966 and 1967. He was on the First or Second All-Star Team every year from 1960 to 1967.[2] Pilote had an iron man streak of playing 376 consecutive games over more than five seasons.[1] He was often paired with Elmer "Moose" Vasko on the Chicago blue line.[3]

In 1961, the Black Hawks won the Stanley Cup. During the off-season, team captain Ed Litzenberger was traded and Pilote was named the new captain.[3] He held this role with the team until traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1968 for forward Jim Pappin; his seven-season tenure as captain was, until surpassed by current team captain Jonathan Toews in the 2016–17 NHL season, the longest in franchise history.

Pilote played one season with the Leafs before retiring. He played his last game on April 6, 1969, finishing his career with 80 goals and 418 assists in 890 games.[2]

Post-NHL career

At the time of his retirement, Pilote was the second leading defence scorer in NHL history (behind Harvey), as well as the sixth leading career scorer for the Black Hawks and second in all-time assists behind Stan Mikita. He remains eighth in all-time assists for the Hawks.

Pilote was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975.[1] In 1997, he was ranked number 59 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 greatest hockey players.[4]

On July 18, 2008, the Blackhawks announced that the #3 jersey worn by Pilote and Keith Magnuson would be retired in a joint ceremony, the sixth number so honoured by the club.[5] The ceremony was held on November 12, 2008, before the Blackhawks' game against the Boston Bruins at the United Center.[6] In January 2012, Pilote was honoured with a bronze statue in front of the Jonquière Sports Palace.[7] In the fall of 2013, ECW Press published his biography Heart of the Blackhawks: The Pierre Pilote Story, co-written with L. "Waxy" Gregoire and David M. Dupuis. Pilote died of cancer on September 9, 2017.[3][8]

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1950–51St. Catharines TeepeesOHA-Jr.54131326230922423
1951–52St. Catharines TeepeesOHA-Jr.52213253139143121550
1951–52Buffalo BisonsAHL20114
1952–53Buffalo BisonsAHL612141685
1953–54Buffalo BisonsAHL672283010830006
1954–55Buffalo BisonsAHL631028381201004418
1955–56Chicago Black HawksNHL2035834
1955–56Buffalo BisonsAHL430111111850224
1956–57Chicago Black HawksNHL7031417117
1957–58Chicago Black HawksNHL706243091
1958–59Chicago Black HawksNHL707303779602210
1959–60Chicago Black HawksNHL707384510040118
1960–61Chicago Black HawksNHL706293516512312158
1961–62Chicago Black HawksNHL597354297120778
1962–63Chicago Black HawksNHL59818265760888
1963–64Chicago Black HawksNHL70746538472686
1964–65Chicago Black HawksNHL681445591621207722
1965–66Chicago Black HawksNHL512343660602210
1966–67Chicago Black HawksNHL70646529062466
1967–68Chicago Black HawksNHL7413637691113412
1968–69Toronto Maple LeafsNHL69318214640114
NHL totals 890 80 418 498 1251 86 8 53 61 102

Sources:[2][9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Legends of Hockey:Pierre Pilote". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Spotlight: One on One with Pierre Pilote". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Hine, Chris (September 11, 2017). "Blackhawks great Pierre Pilote dies at 85". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  4. Kay, Jason (April 2, 2015). "The Top 100 NHL Players of All-Time, Throwback Style". The Hockey News. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  5. "Blackhawks To Retire #3 In Honor of Magnuson and Pilote". Chicago Blackhawks. July 18, 2008. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  6. Kuc, Chris (November 12, 2008). "3 Keith Magnuson, Pierre Pilote". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  7. Gregoire, L. Waxy; Dupuis, David M.; Pilote, Pierre (2013). Heart of the Blackhawks: The Pierre Pilote Story. ECW Press. p. 2.
  8. Hawthorn, Tom (September 30, 2017). "Defenceman threw bone-rattling checks". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  9. "Pierre Pilote's profile". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
Preceded by
Ed Litzenberger
Chicago Black Hawks captain
196168
Succeeded by
Pat Stapleton
Preceded by
Doug Harvey
Winner of the Norris Trophy
1963, 1964, 1965
Succeeded by
Jacques Laperrière
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.