Lonnie Loach

Lonnie Temple Loach (April 14, 1968 – September 1, 2025) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Loach spent the majority of his career in the International Hockey League (IHL) but also played briefly in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings, and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He played left wing and shot left-handed. He appeared in 1,000 professional hockey games and won the Memorial Cup of the Canadian Hockey League, the Calder Cup of the American Hockey League and was on the runner up teams for both the Turner Cup of the IHL and Stanley Cup and the NHL.

Playing career Junior career Loach was selected by the Guelph Platers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in the first round, third overall, in the 1985 OHL Priority Draft. He joined the Platers for the 1985–86 season, playing in 65 games, scoring 45 goals and 83 points. He was named the OHL's Rookie of the Year. Coached by Jacques Martin, the Platers made the OHL playoffs and Loach played in 20 games tallying seven goals and 15 points as Guelph went all to the way to the final, The Platers made the playoffs again that season and Loach appeared in five games, marking two goals and one assist for three points. On January 6, 1988, he scored his 100th and 101st career goals for the Platers in a loss to the Hamilton Steelhawks. Loach was the first player to score 100 goals for the team. However, the Platers failed to make the playoffs.

Professional career Chicago Blackhawks Loach was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the fifth round, 98th overall in the 1986 NHL entry draft. He joined the Blackhawks after his junior career was finished and was assigned to Chicago's International Hockey League (IHL) affiliate, the Saginaw Hawks coached by Darryl Sutter, to begin the 1988–89 season. In January 1989 his assignment was swapped to the Flint Spirits of the IHL in exchange for goaltender Ray LeBlanc, with Loach returning to Saginaw at the end of the season. He played in 32 games with Saginaw, scoring seven goals and 13 points. The following season, the Blackhawks assigned Loach to their new IHL affiliate team, the Indianapolis Ice, coached by Darryl Sutter. He played three games with the Ice, registering one assist. during which he appeared in nine games, scoring three goals and four points. He played in 54 games with the Komets, scoring 15 goals and 48 points. he returned to Fort Wayne for the 1990–91 season. While playing on a line with Bruce Boudreau and John Anderson, Loach led the IHL with 131 points in 81 games.

In the 1991 offseason Loach signed as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings and was assigned to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Adirondack Red Wings in September. He spent one year with Adirondack scoring 86 points in 67 games during the 1991–92 season. He returned to the lineup on January 8, 1992, after missing 13 games. Loach was one of the players selected as part of the Senators' strategy of picking young, talented players who had not succeeded with their original teams. The 1992–93 NHL season saw Loach finally make his NHL debut. On October 12, 1992, Loach made his first NHL appearance in a 6–3 loss to the Boston Bruins. He appeared in three games with the Senators early in the season. However, after going scoreless, the Senators attempted to send him to their AHL affiliate, the New Haven Senators, exposing him to waivers in late October. Loach was quickly picked up by the Los Angeles Kings however, and earned a spot on the Kings roster. He had a connection to coach Barry Melrose, for whom he played for in Adirondack. He made his Los Angeles debut on October 31 in a 7–1 victory over the Hartford Whalers, inserted into the lineup along with forward Robert Lang and defenceman Peter Ahola, replacing the scratched forwards Dave Taylor, Pat Conacher, and Bob Kudelski. Loach earned his first NHL point in the game, an assist on Tomas Sandström's goal in the third period. He scored his first NHL goal on November 14 against Ron Tugnutt, assisted by defenceman Charlie Huddy and forward Tony Granato, in the third period of an 6–2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. He registered his first multi-point NHL game on December 5, assisting on Huddy's first period goal and scoring his own in the third period in a 7–3 win over the Whalers.

Loach played in 50 games with the Kings, scoring ten goals and 23 points, He played in four games with the Roadrunners, scoring two goals and five points. The Kings made 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals, but Loach did not see any playing time. After injuries to Huddy and Taylor, Loach and Jimmy Carson were inserted into the lineup for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals versus the Montreal Canadiens, his only NHL playoff game.

In the 1993 offseason, the NHL expanded again, and Loach was exposed in the 1993 NHL expansion draft by Los Angeles. He was claimed again, this time by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He was unable to crack the Mighty Ducks roster for the 1993–94 season, and was assigned to Anaheim's IHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. He spent the majority of the year with the Gulls, playing in 74 games, scoring 42 goals and 91 points. and made his NHL season debut on February 16 against the Philadelphia Flyers, centering the fourth line between Todd Ewen and Stu Grimson. He played in three games with the Mighty Ducks, going scoreless, with his last game being a 4–1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on February 20. He was replaced in the lineup for the newly acquired Stéphan Lebeau. Loach was returned to San Diego in March. This would be the last time he would play in the NHL.

Minor leagues Having played out his option with the Mighty Ducks, Anaheim's general manager Jack Ferreira declined to offer Loach another contract at the end of the 1993–94 season. A free agent, he signed a three-year contract to return to San Diego in August 1994. He finished the season with 32 goals and 75 points in 64 games with Detroit, He was selected to play in the 1995 IHL All-Star Game for Detroit along with teammates Jason Woolley, Gord Hynes and Rick Knickle. He also added three points in nine playoff games for the Vipers. He played in eleven playoff games, adding one goal and six points. In the 1996–97 season, Loach played in 70 games for the Dragons, registering 24 goals and 61 points. Loach scored a pair of goals during the All-Star Game as the Western Conference won it 6–4. Loach appeared in nine playoff games for the Dragons, scoring one goal and four points. He played in 15 games with Zurich, registering two goals and seven points He played in 52 games with the Dragons, scoring seven goals and 36 points. He finished the season with nine goals and 14 points in 22 games with the Blades and added one goal in three playoff games. Loach came out of retirement for the 2005–06 season with the River Otters, skating in 21 games with the team before retiring again in 2006.

Coaching career For the 2003–04 season Loach was hired as the head coach of the River Otters in July. During the season, he underwent emergency brain surgery in December 2003. He coached the team for the majority of the year, but departed for personal reasons after 70 games and a 16–47–7 record, during which the team set a new record for the worst start in league history, going 0–11–2. He was replaced by his assistant, John Wensink.

Personal life and death After leaving coaching, Loach worked in the auto industry in the St. Louis, Missouri area. He was married with two sons. He had his jersey retired by the River Otters, the only player to have his number retired by the team.

For several years during the mid-1990s, Loach ran his own hockey school for children in Northern Ontario. He started this while playing for the Detroit Vipers and Red Wing Keith Primeau would participate. Loach's ran for three years and even spawned one professional NHL hockey player, fellow Hockey Heritage North Alumni, Kurtis McLean. Loach also helped raise money for local charities in Northern Ontario by lending his services to charity hockey tournaments. One in particular is the Canadian Tire Rino Robazza Memorial Hockey tournament.

Loach died from cancer at his home in Ontario, on September 1, 2025, at the age of 57.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1982–83 New Liskeard Cubs U18 AAA GNML 1 1 0 1 2 — — — — — 1983–84 New Liskeard Cubs U18 AAA GNML 30 17 26 43 39 — — — — — 1983–84 Haileybury 54's NOJHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1984–85 St. Marys Lincolns WOHL 44 26 36 62 113 — — — — — 1985–86 Guelph Platers OHL 65 41 42 83 63 20 7 8 15 16 1986–87 Guelph Platers OHL 56 31 24 55 42 5 2 1 3 2 1987–88 Guelph Platers OHL 66 43 49 92 75 — — — — — 1988–89 Saginaw Hawks IHL 32 7 6 13 27 — — — — — 1988–89 Flint Spirits IHL 42 22 26 48 30 — — — — — 1989–90 Indianapolis Ice IHL 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 1989–90 Fort Wayne Komets IHL 54 15 33 48 40 5 4 2 6 15 1989–90 Canadian National Team Intl 9 3 1 4 2 — — — — — 1990–91 Fort Wayne Komets IHL 81 55 76 131 45 19 5 11 16 13 1991–92 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 67 37 49 86 69 19 13 4 17 10 1992–93 Ottawa Senators NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1992–93 Los Angeles Kings NHL 50 10 13 23 27 1 0 0 0 0 1992–93 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 4 2 3 5 10 — — — — — 1993–94 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1993–94 San Diego Gulls IHL 74 42 49 91 65 9 4 10 14 6 1994–95 San Diego Gulls IHL 13 3 10 13 21 — — — — — 1994–95 Detroit Vipers IHL 64 32 43 75 45 3 2 1 3 2 1995–96 Detroit Vipers IHL 79 35 51 86 75 11 1 5 6 8 1996–97 San Antonio Dragons IHL 70 24 37 61 45 9 1 3 4 10 1997–98 ZSC Lions NLA 15 1 5 6 6 — — — — — 1997–98 San Antonio Dragons IHL 52 7 29 36 22 — — — — — 1998–99 Long Beach Ice Dogs IHL 30 12 9 21 18 — — — — — 1998–99 Kansas City Blades IHL 22 9 5 14 6 3 1 0 1 0 1998–99 Olimpija Ljubljana SLO 11 4 10 14 12 — — — — — 1999–00 Missouri River Otters UHL 58 29 56 85 20 3 3 2 5 2 1999–00 Chicago Wolves IHL 1 0 0 0 0 8 0 3 3 0 2000–01 Missouri River Otters UHL 56 27 37 64 29 4 2 6 8 2 2000–01 Chicago Wolves IHL — — — — — 2 0 0 0 0 2001–02 Missouri River Otters UHL 56 35 49 84 26 4 3 2 5 2 2002–03 Missouri River Otters UHL 69 29 48 77 48 3 0 1 1 0 2002–03 Manchester Monarchs AHL 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — — IHL totals 621 265 378 643 449 69 18 35 53 54 NHL totals 56 10 13 23 29 1 0 0 0 0

Coaching statistics Year Team Regular season Postseason G W L T Pts Win % W L Result 2003–04 Missouri River Otters 70 16 47 7 42 0.279 Did not make playoffs

Awards and honours Award Year OHL Rookie of the Year 1986 IHL Second All-Star Team 1991 Leo P. Lamoureux Memorial Trophy 1991