The Summit in 1974




Club 1974:
San Diego Mariners

 
Andre Lacroix
# 7, Team CANADA 1974

Club: San Diego Mariners
Position: C  Shoots: Left
Height: 5-08 Weight: 175
Born: 6/5/1945 in Lauzon, Quebec

Andre Lacroix was one of the finest junior players in Canada during the mid 1960's. He joined the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers late in the 1967-68 season and over the next 3 seasons was their best offensive player. Andre, was a superb playmaker, solid oal scorer, and fine defensive player. He was also considered one of the best face-off men in the game. He was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks just before the 1971-72 season and never got "untracked" with them. He was considered a solid NHL center, however many felt he was too small, and lacked the speed to ever be an elite player.

He jumped to the WHA in 1972-73 and promptly "lit up" the scoreboard. The more offensive oriented play of the WHA was perfect for Andre and he thrived there. He led the league in scoring in both 1972-73, and 1974-75. In 1974-75 he set a WHA record with 106 assists and is the career point leader in WHA history. There was only one WHA season where Andre failed to score at least 100 points. He retired in 1979-80 after playing 29 games back in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers.

Andre was being counted on heavily by Team Canada. He had an outstanding training camp and during the Summit he centered Team Canada's big line of Bobby Hull, and John McKenzie. He started the series off quickly with 1 goal and 4 assists in the first two games. After that, the Soviets began to pay close attention to him and his offensive numbers plummeted. During the final 6 games he was held to only 2 assists. Andre never quit trying, and may have been among Team Canada's hardest working players, yet his lack of great speed, and small size hurt him against the quick Soviets. While his offensive numbers dropped his defensive play remained strong, and the Soviets rarely, if ever, won a face-off from him.

 


  Career Statistics
Competitions GP G A PTS PIM
NHL Reg. Season 325 79 119 198 44
NHL Playoffs 16 2 5 7 0
WHA Reg. Season 551 251 547 798 412
WHA Playoffs 48 14 29 43 30

CAREER HIGHLIGTS:

- Played in the professional hockey leagues: 1967-80
- Pro hockey clubs:
NHL: Philadelphia, Chicago; Hartford; WHA: Philadelphia, New York, San Diego, Houston, New England
- WHA awards:
Bill Hunter Trophy (Scoring Leader) 1973, 1975
WHA All Star (1st Team) 1973, 1974

PERFORMANCE IN THE 1974 SUMMIT

 Statistics
GP Goals Assists Points PIM
8 1 6 7 6

  Scoring History
GamePeriodTimeScoringNotes
Game 1112:13Assist 
Game 1302:18AssistGTG
Game 2110:49GoalGWG, PPG
Game 2202:50Assist 
Game 2305:03AssistPPG
Game 4105:45Assist 

  Penalties History
GamePeriodTimeDescription
Game 2203:39highsticking
Game 3105:02slashing
Game 5302:46slashing

 

 

 

The Summit in 1974