Vincent Damphousse

Vincent François Damphousse (; born December 17, 1967) is a Canadian former professional hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 18 seasons. He primarily played centre for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, and San Jose Sharks.

Damphousse played junior hockey with the Laval Voisins/Titan and was drafted as the sixth overall pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1986. Debuting in the NHL at nineteen in the season, he recorded 46 points in 80 games. In five seasons with Toronto, he had three 20-goal seasons before he was included as part of a trade to the Edmonton Oilers in September 1991 and was traded again the following year to the Montreal Canadiens, where he had his most success. He recorded 23 points in 20 games of the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs as the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup Final for Damphousse's only championship. He recorded his only 40-goal season in the campaign. In March 1999, the team traded him to the San Jose Sharks for a couple of draft picks. He recorded his 1,000th career point in the season. After six years in San Jose, he signed a free agency deal with the Colorado Avalanche before the 2004–05 NHL lockout cancelled the season. In 2005, he announced his retirement; he recorded over 400 goals and 700 assists in 1,378 games.

As of 2013, Damphousse is a hockey analyst with the French language television network RDS in his native Quebec.

Early life

Damphousse played three seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Laval Voisins (who later became the Laval Titan). In his rookie season, they won the President's Cup for the first time ever; he did not record a statistic in the Memorial Cup. He recorded back-to-back 100-point seasons and was named a QMJHL Second Team All-Star at the end of the 1985–86 season. In 2011, he was inducted into the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Hall of Fame; he had been ranked 10th in scoring among all QMJHL alumni who played in the NHL at the time. He led his draft class in goals and points for a career. In the season, he had 33 goals and 61 assists for a 94-point season. His 61 assists was the most by a winger for over 20 years before he was passed by Mitch Marner in the season.

In 1991 he was named MVP of the NHL All Star Game, being one of only four players (at that time) to ever score four goals in a single All-Star matchup. Damphousse spent five seasons in Toronto before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers in 1991 in a deal that sent future Hall of Famers Grant Fuhr and Glenn Anderson to Toronto, while Edmonton received Damphousse, Peter Ing, Luke Richardson, Scott Thornton, cash, and future considerations in return; Damphousse had recorded 118 goals and 211 assists for 329 total points in 394 games. Oilers' general manager Glen Sather said of Damphousse at that time that among French-Canadian players, only Mario Lemieux was more skilled offensively.

Damphousse led the team in scoring that season with 89 points; he was later offered only $700,000 by the Oilers to re-sign with them. Sather contended that Damphousse did not want to come back to the team due to having problems with his wife and said he offered $2.1 million over three years. On August 27, 1992, with free agency looming, the Oilers traded Damphousse (and a 4th round pick in the 1993 NHL entry draft) to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Shayne Corson, Brent Gilchrist and Vladimir Vujtek. He recorded 97 points (39 goals and 58 assists) during the regular season. In the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs, he had 11 goals and 12 assists (which included the go-ahead goal in the series-clinching Game 5 of the Conference Finals); he had one goal and three assists in the Stanley Cup Final as the Canadiens won in five games to give Damphousse his only Stanley Cup championship. His 97 points were the most by a Canadiens player in the 1990s and no Montreal player would record more points in a season until Nick Suzuki in the season. In the following season, he recorded 40 goals with 51 assists. No Canadien player would score 40 goals in a season for the next 30 years. He spent six more seasons in Montreal. In the fall of 1996, prior to the season, Damphousse was selected to play for Team Canada for the World Cup of Hockey as an injury replacement; Canada lost in the final to the American team.

In the season, Damphousse was in the final season of his contract and sensed that his days in Montreal (where he wanted to finish his career) would be over soon. On March 23, 1999, he was traded to the San Jose Sharks for three draft picks (1st, 2nd, 5th). He recorded 13 points in his first 12 games for the Sharks. In the first round of the playoffs against Colorado, he had three goals with two assists but the Sharks lost in six games. In 77 total games, he had 19 goals and 30 assists. He soon found enjoyment with playing for the Sharks, who stated that he was their priority player to sign back next season and he agreed with that assessment, never hitting the free agent market.

He signed with the Colorado Avalanche on August 19, 2004 on a one-year contract for $2 million. He never played for the team, however, due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout that occurred the following month that took out the entire 2004–05 season. On September 7, 2005, he announced his retirement from the NHL. He retired as one of 42 players with over 700 assists in NHL history.

Damphousse was a member of the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) executive committee, serving as vice president under Trevor Linden. He was hired to be the NHLPA director of business relations in February 2006. In the summer of 2007, he announced his departure from the union to devote more time to his Le Scandinave Spa business.

Damphousse announced his retirement on September 7, 2005. As of 2013, lives in Montreal and serves as a hockey analyst with the French-language television network RDS. The incidents were alleged to have occurred between January 2008 and early 2011. Damphousse categorically denied the allegations brought against him and also filed a complaint against his wife for assault. On June 19, 2013, the Crown dropped all charges against the ex-hockey player, although the Crown announced intentions to pursue its case against Allana Henderson, now Damphousse's ex-wife, for armed assault and theft under $5,000. Henderson was accused of committing assault with her vehicle and stealing a briefcase from her ex-husband. On January 14, 2015, the Crown dropped all charges against Henderson.

Awards and achievements QMJHL Second All-Star Team – 1986 NHL All-Star Game – 1991, 1992, 2001, 2002 NHL All-Star Game MVP – 1991 Stanley Cup champion – 1993

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1982–83 Bourassa Angevins QMAAA 48 33 45 78 22 10 4 4 8 12 1983–84 Laval Voisins QMJHL 66 29 36 65 25 12 5 3 8 4 1983–84 Laval Voisins MC — — — — — 3 0 0 0 4 1984–85 Laval Voisins QMJHL 68 35 68 103 60 — — — — — 1985–86 Laval Titan QMJHL 69 45 110 155 72 14 9 28 37 12 1986–87 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 80 21 25 46 26 12 1 5 6 8 1987–88 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 75 12 36 48 40 6 0 1 1 10 1988–89 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 80 26 42 68 75 — — — — — 1989–90 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 80 33 61 94 56 5 0 2 2 2 1990–91 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 79 26 47 73 65 — — — — — 1991–92 Edmonton Oilers NHL 80 38 51 89 53 16 6 8 14 8 1992–93 Montreal Canadiens NHL 84 39 58 97 98 20 11 12 23 16 1993–94 Montreal Canadiens NHL 84 40 51 91 75 7 1 2 3 8 1994–95 EC Ratingen DEL 11 5 6 11 24 — — — — — 1994–95 Montreal Canadiens NHL 48 10 30 40 42 — — — — — 1995–96 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 38 56 94 158 6 4 4 8 0 1996–97 Montreal Canadiens NHL 82 27 54 81 82 5 0 0 0 2 1997–98 Montreal Canadiens NHL 76 18 41 59 58 10 3 6 9 22 1998–99 Montreal Canadiens NHL 65 12 24 36 46 — — — — — 1998–99 San Jose Sharks NHL 12 7 6 13 4 6 3 2 5 6 1999–2000 San Jose Sharks NHL 82 21 49 70 58 12 1 7 8 16 2000–01 San Jose Sharks NHL 45 9 37 46 62 6 2 1 3 14 2001–02 San Jose Sharks NHL 82 20 38 58 60 12 2 6 8 12 2002–03 San Jose Sharks NHL 82 23 38 61 66 — — — — — 2003–04 San Jose Sharks NHL 82 12 29 41 66 17 7 7 14 20 NHL totals 1,378 432 773 1,205 1,190 140 41 63 104 144

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1996 Canada WCH 8 2 0 2 8