Rogatien Vachon

Rogatien Rosaire Vachon (; born September 8, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 16 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League from 1967 to 1982.

Nicknamed "Rogie the Goalie", Vachon was called up to the Canadiens in February of the season, which saw him 11 of 19 starts. He became the primary starting goaltender for all but one game of the 1967 Stanley Cup playoffs run, which saw the team lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Final. Sharing the duties with Gump Worsley the following season, which saw the two allow the fewest number of goals for the entire season to win the Vezina Trophy. He started only two playoff games but the team won the Stanley Cup Final for his first championship. The following season saw him inserted as the starting goaltender for the final seven games of the playoff run, only losing once in that run as Vachon won his second championship. He took on the starting duties for the following two seasons but was replaced by Ken Dryden late in the season as the team rolled to the Cup. After one game in the season, he was traded to the Kings.

In seven seasons with the team, he won 171 total games, which included a career-high 33 in the season; he was selected to the NHL All-Star Game three times and the NHL Second All-Star Team twice, all with the Kings. He represented Canada for the only time internationally in the 1976 Canada Cup, which saw him win six of his seven starts as they defeated the Soviet Union in the finals. He departed the Kings as a free agent in the season for the Red Wings, with the one highlight being him winning his 300th game in 1979, becoming the eighth goaltender to reach the milestone in league history. After being traded in the summer of 1980 to Boston, he spent two seasons with the team before announcing his retirement in 1982.

He retired with the fifth-most wins in league history and as one of only two players with twelve 20-win seasons in league history next to Tony Esposito. After his playing career ended, he served as general manager of the Kings from 1984 to 1992; in 1985, his jersey was retired by the Kings, the first player to be given the honor in franchise history. In 2016, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Early life Vachon was born in a family with seven siblings and grew up on a dairy farm in Palmarolle, Canada. The kids would sneak water from the well to create a hockey rink, with only cows as the audience. He was persuaded to play senior level hockey at the age of 14 by a coach who was in need of a goaltender. He played in nineteen games down the stretch for the team, going 11–3–5. Vachon recalled his first game as a goaltender on February 18, 1967:

I didn't know I was going to play that night. Toe just handed me the puck before the warmup and said, 'You're in.' I was sort of in shock, still trying to pull myself together when Gordie broke in alone from the blue line. Luckily I stopped it. And I joked with Gordie that this save probably kept me in the League for years.

He led the Canadiens as the starting goaltender for the 1967 Stanley Cup playoffs, the last one to be played between four teams. He led them to a sweep of the New York Rangers before encountering the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Final. Punch Imlach, the coach of the Leafs, referred to Vachon as a junior B goaltender in an attempt to rattle him during the series. He was named the team MVP four times between 1973 and 1977. In a February 15 game in the season, he was almost the goaltender to be given credit for scoring a goal when the New York Islanders scored on themselves during a delayed penalty; however, after video review, the goal was credited to Vic Venasky after it was determined that Vachon was the second-to-last Kings player to touch the puck before it went in the net. The Kings team saw Vachon lead the league in save percentage (.927) with a career-best 2.24 goals-against-average (GAA) and finish second in the Hart Memorial Trophy voting for his play to go along with a season of 105 points (a franchise record tied but not surpassed) with only 17 total losses.

Vachon also set many goaltending records in Kings history that still stand. His number 30 was the first number retired by the Kings, in a ceremony on February 14, 1985. He has since served in a variety of executive positions with the Kings organization.

Canada Cup In 1976, Vachon was chosen to play for Canada, along with fellow goaltenders Gerry Cheevers and Glenn Resch. He was given the top spot and played in every game of the tournament. He recorded six wins and one loss, two shutouts and a 1.39 goals against average. Canada won the tournament, and Vachon was selected for the All-Star team and named team MVP.

Detroit Red Wings

Vachon became a restricted free agent following the 1977–78 season and signed with the Detroit Red Wings. The five-year deal paid Vachon $1.9 million and made him the league's highest paid goaltender. Vachon struggled from the beginning in Detroit. In his first game, he managed just nine saves against 14 shots in a game Detroit lost 5–4. He requested a trade after the season ended.

Boston Bruins

After two disappointing seasons in Detroit, the Red Wings traded Vachon to the Boston Bruins in the summer of 1980 for fellow netminder Gilles Gilbert. In Boston, Vachon served as a mentor to rookie goalies Marco Baron and Jim Craig, who had starred for the US National Team at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Vachon played 53 games for the Bruins and improved his numbers marginally from his time in Detroit; he also won more games than he lost for his first time since leaving Los Angeles. However, in the playoffs, things went poorly as the Bruins were swept in three games by the Minnesota North Stars and surrendered twenty goals in the process. Vachon allowed five goals in the first game, then gave up six in game two before getting pulled. He gave up five more goals in game three and ended the playoffs with a 5.85 goals against average. In the 1981–82 season, Baron took over the starting job from Vachon, who played 38 games as the back-up. Vachon's final NHL appearance came in the 1982 playoffs, when he played one period in relief of starter Mike Moffat in a 7–2 loss to the Quebec Nordiques. He faced just three shots in twenty minutes and allowed a power-play goal to Peter Stastny. Vachon hung up his pads for good six days later.

Post-playing career In February 1983, Vachon became an assistant coach in charge of goaltenders. Three months later, he signed a deal to become an assistant coach on a full-time basis to replace Brad Selwood.

In the middle of the season, Vachon was approached by Kings owner Jerry Buss with an offer to be general manager. On January 30, 1984, he was formally hired to be the general manager of the Kings, succeeding George Maguire. In his first full season as GM for the campaign, he approached Pat Quinn, a former teammate with him on the Houston Apollos who had just finished his studies at law school; Quinn coached the next three seasons but resigned. It was Vachon that decided to oblige the request of Marcel Dionne to be traded (much to Dionne's surprise, as he did not expect it to go so quickly) in March 1987. The following summer saw him oversee the acquisition of Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers. He also served as interim head coach of the Kings on three separate occasions.

In June 1992, he was replaced as GM for assistant Nick Beverley and given a promotion to serve assistant to the chairman under team owner Bruce McNall, although the job effectively became a position dedicated to public relations. He was named team president in 1995 and served for a season. He served as a team ambassador for the team until 2008, although he has made occasional appearances for the team since, such as handing off the Kings Stanley Cup champion banner with Marcel Dionne for the home opener in 2014.

Legacy Known for his great reflexes and quick glove hand, Vachon was considered one of the premier one-on-one goaltenders of his era. He never allowed a goal on a penalty shot in his entire career. He was considered a "transformative" figure for the Kings as their first star player in a time where only a fraction of the games were broadcast and only on the road. Longtime Kings broadcaster Bob Miller noted his importance to the team:

You see someone who is going to be on the ice the whole game and make some of the acrobatic saves he would make, so he was a huge factor in keeping the team here and keeping attendance fairly good. [The attendance] wasn’t great in those days, but I think he was a factor for most people came to the games. You always felt with Rogie in goal you always had a chance to win the game and even if you were playing a strong team. The Kings weren’t a strong team at that time but you had a chance in those games. It was like putting your best pitcher on the mound in a game seven. You have a chance to win it. I think he had the fastest glove hand I’d seen. He wasn’t huge stature wise like goalies are today. I guess for those years he was a stereotypical type goaltender as far as size and weight but he had great agility and was the first real superstar the Kings had in my opinion.

On June 27, 2016, 34 years after retirement, Vachon was announced for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame, much to his surprise. He was formally inducted in a ceremony on November 14, 2016.

Personal life Vachon married Nicole Blanchard on November 30, 1971, and they had three children; Nicholas (who also played professional hockey), Jade and Marie-Joie, as well as three grandchildren; Calvin Vachon, Rogie's grandson, was drafted by the Kamloops Blazers in the 2020 US Prospect Draft.

Achievements Vachon's #30 sweater was retired by the Los Angeles Kings on February 14, 1985 Named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Players category in 2016

Los Angeles Kings records Most career ties (66) (shared with Kelly Hrudey).

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Bold indicates led league Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1963–64 Montreal NDG Monarchs MMJHL 29 — — — 1740 71 4 2.45 — 18 12 6 1080 57 1 3.17 — 1963–64 Montreal Junior Canadiens OHA 7 — — — 400 29 0 4.35 — — — — — — — — — 1963–64 Montreal NDG Monarchs M-Cup — — — — — — — — — 10 7 3 600 34 4 3.40 — 1964–65 Thetford Mines Aces QJHL 13 10 3 0 780 35 0 2.69 — 5 1 4 300 30 0 6.00 — 1964–65 Montreal Junior Canadiens OHA 14 — — — 840 58 0 4.14 — — — — — — — — — 1965–66 Thetford Mines Aces QJHL 39 25 13 1 2340 117 2 3.00 — 11 7 4 659 31 1 2.82 — 1965–66 Quebec Aces AHL 10 6 4 0 601 30 0 3.00 — — — — — — — — — 1966–67 Houston Apollos CPHL 34 17 12 5 2020 99 2 2.91 — — — — — — — — — 1966–67 Montreal Canadiens NHL 19 11 3 4 1137 47 1 2.48 .915 9 6 3 555 22 0 2.38 .926 1967–68 Montreal Canadiens NHL 39 23 13 2 2227 92 4 2.48 .913 2 1 1 113 4 0 2.12 .933 1968–69 Montreal Canadiens NHL 36 22 9 3 2051 98 2 2.87 .902 8 7 1 507 12 1 1.42 .953 1969–70 Montreal Canadiens NHL 64 31 18 12 3697 162 4 2.63 .917 — — — — — — — — 1970–71 Montreal Canadiens NHL 47 23 12 9 2676 118 2 2.64 .914 — — — — — — — — 1971–72 Montreal Canadiens NHL 1 0 1 0 20 4 0 12.00 .765 — — — — — — — — 1971–72 Los Angeles Kings NHL 28 6 18 3 1586 107 0 4.05 .884 — — — — — — — — 1972–73 Los Angeles Kings NHL 52 22 20 10 3120 148 4 2.85 .899 — — — — — — — — 1973–74 Los Angeles Kings NHL 65 28 26 10 3751 175 5 2.80 .904 4 0 4 240 7 0 1.75 .927 1974–75 Los Angeles Kings NHL 54 27 14 13 3239 121 6 2.24 .926 3 1 2 199 7 0 2.11 .929 1975–76 Los Angeles Kings NHL 51 26 20 5 3060 160 5 3.14 .891 7 4 3 438 17 1 2.33 .912 1976–77 Los Angeles Kings NHL 68 33 23 12 4059 184 8 2.72 .903 9 4 5 520 36 0 4.15 .868 1977–78 Los Angeles Kings NHL 70 29 27 13 4107 196 4 2.86 .891 2 0 2 120 11 0 5.50 .784 1978–79 Detroit Red Wings NHL 50 10 27 11 2908 189 0 3.90 .863 — — — — — — — — 1979–80 Detroit Red Wings NHL 59 20 30 8 3474 209 4 3.61 .873 — — — — — — — — 1980–81 Boston Bruins NHL 53 25 19 6 3021 168 1 3.34 .863 3 0 2 164 16 0 5.85 .846 1981–82 Boston Bruins NHL 38 19 11 6 2165 132 1 3.66 .859 1 0 0 20 1 0 3.00 .667 NHL totals 795 355 291 127 46,298 2,310 51 2.99 .896 48 23 23 2,876 133 2 2.77 .907

International Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1976 Canada CC 7 6 1 0 432 10 2 1.39 .940 Senior totals 7 6 1 0 432 19 2 1.39 .940

Coaching record Team Year Regular season Post season G W L T Pts Finish Result Los Angeles Kings 1983–84 2 1 0 1 3 5th in Smythe Interim; returned to GM's role Los Angeles Kings 1987–88 1 0 1 0 0 4th in Smythe Interim; returned to GM's role Los Angeles Kings 1994–95 7 3 2 2 8 4th in Pacific Missed playoffs NHL totals 10 4 3 3