Norm Beaudin

Norman Joseph Andrew Beaudin (born November 28, 1941) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. Between 1962 and 1979, he played two short stints in the National Hockey League and spent most of his major league career in the World Hockey Association with the Winnipeg Jets. He spent the rest of his career in the minor leagues and the Swiss Nationalliga A. He owned two hockey stores in Florida.

Minor leagues In four years in the junior leagues, Beaudin played twice for the Memorial Cup: in 1961 with the Regina Pats of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, and in 1962 with the Edmonton Oil Kings. In 1962, Beaudin signed with the Montreal Canadiens and played with their farm team in Hull-Ottawa. It is there that he accomplished the rare feat of scoring a goal in the same game that he served as an emergency goaltender. In 1963 he was claimed in the waiver draft by the Detroit Red Wings and played the next four seasons with their farm clubs, the Pittsburgh Hornets and the Memphis Wings. In 1967, he was claimed by the St. Louis Blues in the expansion draft, and made his NHL debut that year; he spent most of the season with the Blues' Kansas City affiliate. He was loaned to the American Hockey League Buffalo Bisons in 1968, and then played three seasons for the Cleveland Barons of the AHL. At that time, his rights were traded to the Minnesota North Stars, for whom he played 12 games in 1970-71.

WHA career Beaudin was the first player signed by the Winnipeg Jets of the newly established World Hockey Association, and he played on a line nicknamed the Luxury Line with superstar left winger Bobby Hull and centre Christian Bordeleau in the Jets' inaugural season. He had his best pro season by far, scoring 38 goals and 65 assists for 103 points, and was named to play in the WHA's first All-Star Game in 1973. He led the WHA playoffs in scoring that year with 13 goals and 15 assists, including seven points in one game against the Minnesota Fighting Saints.

Beaudin's production dropped sharply the next season, and in 1974 he and Bordeleau were replaced as Hull's linemates by Swedish stars Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson. After the Jets won the AVCO World Trophy in 1976, Beaudin signed with Swiss team SC Langnau, with whom he played for two seasons before retiring.

Biography A biography of his career, The Original: Living Life Through Hockey, was published in 2022.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1959–60 Regina Pats SJHL 58 25 32 57 18 13 7 2 9 4 1960–61 Regina Pats SJHL 60 39 40 79 23 16 12 6 18 6 1960–61 Regina Pats M-Cup — — — — — 6 3 0 3 0 1961–62 Regina Pats SJHL 54 58 30 88 22 16 14 6 20 2 1961–62 Spokane Comets WHL — — — — — 4 1 3 4 0 1961–62 Edmonton Oil Kings M-Cup — — — — — 4 3 2 5 4 1962–63 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens EPHL 72 19 22 41 16 3 1 0 1 2 1963–64 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL 13 4 2 6 2 5 1 3 4 4 1964–65 Memphis Wings CHL 53 42 24 66 28 — — — — — 1964–65 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL 13 4 2 6 2 2 1 0 1 0 1965–66 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL 70 29 29 58 35 3 1 1 2 0 1966–67 Memphis Wings CHL 65 39 37 76 32 7 4 3 7 0 1967–68 St. Louis Blues NHL 13 1 1 2 4 — — — — — 1967–68 Kansas City Blues CHL 59 22 23 45 26 7 5 7 12 5 1968–69 Buffalo Bisons AHL 74 32 39 71 10 6 1 3 4 7 1969–70 Cleveland Barons AHL 70 34 44 81 10 — — — — — 1970–71 Minnesota North Stars NHL 12 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 1970–71 Cleveland Barons AHL 59 27 48 75 39 8 2 2 4 4 1971–72 Cleveland Barons AHL 75 33 33 66 16 5 2 1 3 4 1972–73 Winnipeg Jets WHA 78 38 65 103 15 14 13 15 28 2 1973–74 Winnipeg Jets WHA 74 27 28 55 8 4 3 1 4 2 1974–75 Winnipeg Jets WHA 79 16 31 47 8 — — — — — 1975–76 Winnipeg Jets WHA 80 16 31 47 38 13 2 3 5 10 1976–77 SC Langnau NLA 27 27 11 38 — — — — — — 1977–78 SC Langnau NLA 28 20 11 31 — — — — — — 1978–79 HC Sierre NLA — — — — — — — — — — WHA totals 311 97 155 252 69 31 18 19 37 14 NHL totals 25 1 2 3 4 — — — — —