Marcel Dionne

Marcel Elphège "Little Beaver" Dionne (born August 3, 1951) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers between 1971 and 1989.

Dionne played in the 1962, 1963 and 1964 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with his Drummondville youth team.

Dionne's first junior season was in 1968 for the Drummondville Rangers of the former Quebec Junior Hockey League, in which he scored over two goals a game in Drummondville's losing effort in the Memorial Cup playoffs.

When the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League formed in 1969, Dionne departed to play in the Ontario Hockey Association, then regarded as a higher-calibre level of competition, spending the next three seasons with the St. Catharines Black Hawks.

He became the league's preeminent star, winning scoring titles in 1970 and 1971 and adding a record 122 points in 43 playoff games.

Dionne's scoring feats were marred by one of the most infamous events in Canadian junior hockey during the 1971 Richardson Cup finals against the Quebec Remparts.

Following a riot in Quebec City after the penalty-filled fourth game of the series in which Dionne's Black Hawks' team bus was attacked by the mob, the fifth game was played at a neutral site, and the remainder of the series was not played due to fears of further violence.

He was subsequently drafted in the first round (second overall, behind Rempart rival Guy Lafleur) by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1971 NHL Entry Draft.

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 teammates such as Alex Delvecchio and Mickey Redmond, Dionne's frustrations with losing were evident.

His agent, Alan Eagleson pushed for more money.

The owner of the Los Angeles Kings, Jack Kent Cooke, offered Dionne $300,000 per year.

During Dionne's 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.

A deal was struck with the Red Wings and Dionne was traded for Terry Harper, Dan Maloney, cash, and draft picks; Dionne then signed with the Kings on June 23, 1975, and became their franchise player.

At the time, it was the richest deal in hockey history.

During Dionne's time with the Los Angeles Kings, he played eleven and a half seasons and formed the famed "Triple Crown Line", centring Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor.

Despite Dionne's production during the regular season, he was frustrated with the Kings' lack of playoff success; they made the postseason from 1976 to 1982 but only advanced to the second round three times for a total of 43 playoff games.

Dionne finished his junior career by shattering the OHA's career scoring record, which was not broken until Dale McCourt did so in the 1977 season.

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.

As a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in 1979, Dionne, Simmer, and Taylor recorded a song written by Alan Thicke, "Please Forgive My Misconduct Last Night," which appeared as the B side of "Hockey Sock Rock" by Phil Esposito and some of the New York Rangers.

Despite the rapport with the rookies, there was also a falling out with coach Pat Quinn; moreover, the aging Kings were on track to miss the playoffs.

Dionne did not want to be part of a rebuilding project and either wanted an immediate upgrade to the roster or a trade to a contender.

Dionne's best season was 1979–80 when he had 137 points.

That season, he was tied for the league lead in points with Wayne Gretzky.

He was awarded the Art Ross Trophy for scoring two more goals than Gretzky, the only time he won the award.

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 eight men to reach the 700-goal plateau, and currently ranks sixth among all-time goal scorers, with 731.

During the 1986–87 season, Dionne mentored the rookies of the Kings as Mickey Redmond had mentored him during his rookie years in Detroit.

He took eventual Calder Trophy winner Luc Robitaille, Jimmy Carson and Steve Duchesne under his wing.

He was traded to the New York Rangers on March 10, 1987; the Kings did reach the playoffs in the season he was traded.

Dionne played his remaining two and a half seasons there, where the Rangers lost in the first round of the playoffs twice and missed the playoffs once.

He retired in 1989.

Dionne was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.

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.

Dionne has homes in Niagara Falls, Ontario and Clarence Center, New York.

He has maintained a large business and investment portfolio since his playing days, owning the Blue Line Diner in Niagara Falls, operating a sports memorabilia store in Buffalo and buying and selling real estate.

In 2017 Dionne was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.