Rick Lessard

Rick Lessard (born January 9, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 15 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks. He was a seventh round selection by Calgary, 142nd overall, at the 1986 NHL Entry Draft. Lessard's six-year professional career was spent primarily in the minor leagues; he was a member of the Kansas City Blades' Turner Cup championship team in 1991–92.

Rick Lessard
Born (1968-01-09) January 9, 1968
Timmins, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Calgary Flames
San Jose Sharks
NHL Draft 142nd overall, 1986
Calgary Flames
Playing career 1988–1994

Playing career

A native of Timmins, Ontario, Lessard played four seasons of junior hockey with the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) between 1984 and 1988.[1] A rugged defenceman who was willing to fight,[2] he scored only 13 goals in his 248-game junior career, but recorded 757 penalty minutes.[3] In his final OHL season, 1987–88, Lessard served as team captain as the 67's reached the OHL final.[4]

The Calgary Flames selected Lessard with their seventh round selection, 142nd overall, at the 1986 NHL Entry Draft.[1] When he turned professional in 1988–89, the Flames assigned him to their International Hockey League (IHL) affiliate, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles.[4] Lessard played the majority of the season with Salt Lake where, as was one of the IHL's leading defensive scorers, he earned a brief call-up to Calgary.[5] He played his first six NHL contests, recording one assist, and was named to the IHL First All-Star Team after scoring 10 goals and 52 points in 76 games with the Golden Eagles.[1]

Lessard played the following two seasons with Salt Lake, though he appeared in NHL one game with Calgary in 1989–90.[3] His rights were transferred to the newly formed San Jose Sharks in 1991 after they selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 1991 NHL Expansion Draft.[6] Lessard appeared in eight games with the Sharks in 1991–92 but spent the majority of the season with the IHL's Kansas City Blades.[1] He recorded 19 points in 41 games for the Blades who won the Turner Cup championship.[3][7]

The following two seasons had Lessard take on a nomadic existence as he played for several minor league teams. He began the 1992–93 season in Kansas City before the Sharks loaned him to the Boston Bruins, who assigned him to the Providence Bruins, their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate.[8] After six games with Providence, Lessard was transferred to the Hamilton Canucks after the Sharks dealt him to the Vancouver Canucks organization in exchange for Robin Bawa on December 15, 1992.[1] He returned to Salt Lake City in the summer of 1993 to play with the Utah Rollerbees of Roller Hockey International,[9] He parlayed that into a return to the Salt Lake Golden Eagles to begin the 1993–94 season.[10] Lessard also played with the South Carolina Stingrays of the East Coast Hockey League and the AHL's Rochester Americans that season before retiring after six professional seasons.[2][3]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
1984–85 Ottawa 67's OHL 6021315128 514510
1985–86 Ottawa 67's OHL 6412021231 —————
1986–87 Ottawa 67's OHL 6653641188 1117830
1987–88 Ottawa 67's OHL 5853439210 161101131
1988–89 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 76104252239 1416735
1988–89 Calgary Flames NHL 60112 —————
1989–90 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 6631821169 1012364
1990–91 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 8082735272 401112
1990–91 Calgary Flames NHL 10110 —————
1991–92 San Jose Sharks NHL 802216 —————
1991–92 Kansas City Blades IHL 4631619117 30002
1992–93 Hamilton Canucks AHL 520171751 —————
1992–93 Providence Bruins AHL 60006 —————
1992–93 Kansas City Blades IHL 10000 —————
1993–94 Rochester Americans AHL 81232 40002
1993–94 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 31123110 —————
1993–94 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 510110 302214
IHL totals 30025105130907 312911113
NHL totals 1504418 —————

References
  1. "Rick Lessard biography". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  2. Podnieks, Andrew (2003). Players: The ultimate A–Z guide of everyone who has ever played in the NHL. Toronto: Doubleday Canada. p. 497. ISBN 0-385-25999-9.
  3. "Rick Lessard player card". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  4. Hamilton, Linda (1988-09-25). "Eagles will have plenty of talent". Deseret News. p. 6D. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  5. "Flames return Rick Lessard to the Golden Eagles". Deseret News. 1989-02-07. p. 2D. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  6. "Sharks draft Kerr, trade him to Rangers". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 1991-05-31. p. 11. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  7. Hartsock, Andrew (1993-01-05). "Finally, KC finds hockey team". Lawrence Journal-World. p. 1B. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  8. Marrapese, Nancy L. (1992-11-12). "Oates left reeling from Wood check". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 2014-09-21. Retrieved 2014-09-08. – via Highbeam (subscription required)
  9. Hamilton, Linda (1993-07-02). "Utah's roller hockey era starts rolling tonight". Deseret News. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  10. Hamilton, Linda (1993-08-27). "Defenseman Lessard signs free agent deal with Eagles". Deseret News. p. D2. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
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