Dollard St. Laurent

Joseph Dollard Herve St. Laurent (May 12, 1929 – April 6, 2015) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman.

Pro career

Dollard started his National Hockey League career with the Montreal Canadiens in 1951. He would spend eight years in Montreal before being traded to the Chicago Black Hawks. He won four Stanley Cups with Montreal and one with Chicago.

He started out with the Jr. Canadiens of the QJHL, where he skated for two seasons from 1947 to 1949. There, he demonstrated an offensive touch and an ability to play a tough game of defence at the other end of the ice. In 1949–50, St. Laurent started a three-year relationship with the Royal Montreal Hockey Club of the QSHL. He spent most of his time sharpening the finer points of his game while putting them to the occasional test by joining the Habs for a couple of stints.

Around 1952–53, however, the Canadiens began to introduce significant new blood in the form of Jacques Plante and Dickie Moore among others. Dollard helped Montreal win the Stanley Cup in 1953. One of the others included St. Laurent, who settled onto the Habs' blueline corps as a stay-at-home regular for the next six seasons. His efforts contributed to three straight Stanley Cup victories in 1956, 1957, and 1958.

After the third championship, St. Laurent was sold to the Chicago Black Hawks, who were gradually assembling a lineup bent on bringing the Cup to town after a lengthy absence. In 1960–61, the team finally ended the championship drought by ousting the Red Wings in the finals.

St. Laurent played for the Hawks until the end of the 1961–62 campaign. The following year, he was dispatched to the Quebec Aces of the AHL, during which St. Laurent took a hard fall to the ice, breaking his leg and ending his aspirations to make it back to the NHL. At the end of the season, he announced his retirement.

On May 17, 1952, he was married to Jessie FitzPatrick (1929-1993).

St. Laurent died on April 6, 2015, aged 85.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1947–48 Montreal Jr. Canadiens QJHL 15 3 10 13 12 — — — — — 1948–49 Montreal Jr. Canadiens QJHL 44 15 27 42 77 4 0 4 4 8 1949–50 Montreal Royals QSHL 45 7 15 22 66 — — — — — 1950–51 Montreal Canadiens NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1950–51 Montreal Royals QMHL 57 12 30 42 69 7 3 2 5 14 1951–52 Montreal Canadiens NHL 40 3 10 13 30 9 0 3 3 6 1951–52 Montreal Royals QMHL 27 10 16 26 22 — — — — — 1952–53 Montreal Canadiens NHL 54 2 6 8 34 12 0 3 3 4 1953–54 Montreal Canadiens NHL 53 3 12 15 43 10 1 2 3 8 1954–55 Montreal Canadiens NHL 58 3 14 17 24 12 0 5 5 12 1955–56 Montreal Canadiens NHL 46 4 9 13 58 4 0 0 0 2 1956–57 Montreal Canadiens NHL 64 1 11 12 49 7 0 1 1 13 1957–58 Montreal Canadiens NHL 65 3 20 23 68 5 0 0 0 10 1958–59 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 70 4 8 12 28 6 0 1 1 2 1959–60 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 68 4 13 17 60 4 0 1 1 0 1960–61 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 67 2 17 19 58 11 1 2 3 12 1961–62 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 64 0 13 13 44 12 0 4 4 18 1962–63 Québec Aces AHL 54 3 14 17 34 — — — — — NHL totals 652 29 133 162 496 92 2 22 24 87