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.

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. A rugged defenceman who was willing to fight, he scored only 13 goals in his 248-game junior career, but recorded 757 penalty minutes. In his final OHL season, 1987–88, Lessard served as team captain as the 67's reached the OHL final.

The Calgary Flames selected Lessard with their seventh round selection, 142nd overall, at the 1986 NHL entry draft. 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. 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.

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. 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. He parlayed that into a return to the Salt Lake Golden Eagles to begin the 1993–94 season. 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.

Career statistics Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1984–85 Ottawa 67's OHL 60 2 13 15 128 5 1 4 5 10 1985–86 Ottawa 67's OHL 64 1 20 21 231 — — — — — 1986–87 Ottawa 67's OHL 66 5 36 41 188 11 1 7 8 30 1987–88 Ottawa 67's OHL 58 5 34 39 210 16 1 10 11 31 1988–89 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 76 10 42 52 239 14 1 6 7 35 1988–89 Calgary Flames NHL 6 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 1989–90 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 66 3 18 21 169 10 1 2 3 64 1990–91 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 80 8 27 35 272 4 0 1 1 12 1990–91 Calgary Flames NHL 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 1991–92 San Jose Sharks NHL 8 0 2 2 16 — — — — — 1991–92 Kansas City Blades IHL 46 3 16 19 117 3 0 0 0 2 1992–93 Hamilton Canucks AHL 52 0 17 17 51 — — — — — 1992–93 Providence Bruins AHL 6 0 0 0 6 — — — — — 1992–93 Kansas City Blades IHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1993–94 Rochester Americans AHL 8 1 2 3 2 4 0 0 0 2 1993–94 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 31 1 2 3 110 — — — — — 1993–94 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 5 1 0 1 10 3 0 2 2 14 IHL totals 300 25 105 130 907 31 2 9 11 113 NHL totals 15 0 4 4 18 — — — — —