Carol Vadnais

Carol Marcel Vadnais (September 25, 1945 – August 31, 2014) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1966–67 until 1982–83. Vadnais won the Stanley Cup twice during his career, in 1968 with the Montreal Canadiens and again in 1972 with the Boston Bruins.

Playing career Originally a forward, Vadnais was shifted to defence in his final year of junior hockey with the Montreal Jr. Canadiens. In his first NHL training camp, he made the Montreal Canadiens lineup for the 1966-67 season. While the Canadiens were initially successful in not exposing Vadnais to the 1967 expansion draft, he was left unprotected after the 1967–68 season and would be claimed by the expansion Oakland Seals in the 1968 NHL Intra-League Draft. He became the Seals' captain at the beginning of the 1971-72 season but was traded mid-season.

On February 23, 1972, Vadnais was acquired by the Boston Bruins in an attempt to bolster their blueline for a Stanley Cup run. The Bruins outbid Vadnais' old club, the Canadiens, to secure his services. The move paid off and Vadnais headed the Bruins' second defence pairing behind Bobby Orr's first unit, which helped the Bruins capture the 1972 Stanley Cup.

In 1972 Vadnais was arrested in a case of mistaken identity while the Boston Bruins were on a road trip in Philadelphia. FBI agents were convinced that they had found their suspect from a bank robbery that had happened earlier that afternoon, indicating Vadnais looked very similar to the robber. Eventually, Vadnais was let out of custody and given an apology.

Vadnais was involved in the November 7, 1975 blockbuster trade that sent him along with star forward Phil Esposito to the New York Rangers for Jean Ratelle and Brad Park. Along with Wayne Cashman of the Bruins and Serge Savard of the Winnipeg Jets, he was one of players from the NHL's pre-expansion Original Six era whose NHL career lasted the longest; the Bruins and Jets both made the 1983 playoffs, extending Cashman's and Savard's careers into that post-season.

Vadnais played 1,087 career NHL games, scoring 169 goals and 418 assists for 587 points, as well as adding 1,813 penalty minutes. In his best statistical season (1974–75), he scored 18 goals and set career highs with 56 assists and 74 points. Vadnais participated in six NHL All-Star Games and was a member of Team Canada at the 1976 Canada Cup (but didn't play in the tournament) and 1977 World Ice Hockey Championships.

Personal After hockey, Vadnais worked as a real estate agent in the Montreal area. His wife, Raymonde, died of cancer in 2004; they had one daughter, Michele.

Vadnais died of cancer on August 31, 2014, at the age of 68.

Achievements In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, was ranked No. 52 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons Stanley Cup champion (1968, 1972) Selected to National Hockey League All-Star Game (1969, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1978) In 2023, he was named one of the top 100 Bruins players of all time.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1963–64 Montreal NDG Monarchs MMJHL 44 39 49 88 90 17 7 15 22 34 1963–64 Montreal NDG Monarchs M-Cup — — — — — 13 13 11 24 12 1964–65 Montreal Jr. Canadiens OHA 56 9 16 25 74 7 1 0 1 13 1965–66 Montreal Jr. Canadiens OHA 48 9 14 23 184 10 1 4 5 24 1966–67 Montreal Canadiens NHL 11 0 3 3 35 1 0 0 0 2 1966–67 Houston Apollos CPHL 21 5 5 10 45 — — — — — 1967–68 Montreal Canadiens NHL 31 1 1 2 31 1 0 0 0 0 1967–68 Houston Apollos CPHL 36 5 21 26 178 — — — — — 1968–69 Oakland Seals NHL 76 15 27 42 151 7 1 4 5 10 1969–70 Oakland Seals NHL 76 24 20 44 212 4 2 1 3 15 1970–71 California Golden Seals NHL 42 10 16 26 91 — — — — — 1971–72 California Golden Seals NHL 52 14 20 34 106 — — — — — 1971–72 Boston Bruins NHL 16 4 6 10 37 15 0 2 2 43 1972–73 Boston Bruins NHL 78 7 24 31 127 5 0 0 0 8 1973–74 Boston Bruins NHL 78 16 43 59 123 16 1 12 13 42 1974–75 Boston Bruins NHL 79 18 56 74 129 3 5 6 0 1975–76 Boston Bruins NHL 12 2 5 7 17 — — — — — 1975–76 New York Rangers NHL 64 20 30 50 104 — — — — — 1976–77 New York Rangers NHL 74 11 37 48 131 — — — — — 1977–78 New York Rangers NHL 80 6 40 46 115 3 0 2 2 16 1978–79 New York Rangers NHL 77 8 37 45 86 18 2 9 11 13 1979–80 New York Rangers NHL 66 3 20 23 118 9 1 2 3 6 1980–81 New York Rangers NHL 74 3 20 23 91 14 1 3 4 26 1981–82 New York Rangers NHL 50 5 6 11 45 10 1 0 1 4 1982–83 New Jersey Devils NHL 51 2 7 9 64 — — — — — NHL totals 1,087 169 418 587 1,813 106 10 40 50 185

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1977 Canada WC 10 1 3 4 33 Senior totals 10 1 3 4 33