Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Louis Levasseur: The Real Life Denis Lemieux


louis levasseur
He’s the inspiration for the character of Denis Lemieux in the 1977 movie Slap Shot and the goalie that led the Johnstown Jets to a Lockhart Cup championship in 1974-75. Louis Levasseur played his first full pro season in the NAHL and went on to appear in the World Hockey Association. Levasseur even played one game in the NHL with the Minnesota North Stars.

Louis Levasseur – NAHL


Louis played goal for the Johnstown Jets for two seasons, 1974-75 and 1975-76. In his first year, he played in 26 regular season games, posting a 3.15 goals against average and one shutout. He also appeared in one game with the Springfield Indians in the American Hockey League.

The Dick Roberge coached Jets has a roster populated by the three Carlson brothers, Dave Hanson and Ned Dowd. Along with Levasseur, it was the basis for the story behind the Slap Shot movie. Johnstown placed fourth out of eight teams during the NAHL regular season. In the Lockhart Cup playoffs, the Jets swept the Binghamton Dusters in the finals for the championship. Levasseur played 12 games in the playoffs for Johnstown.

In 1975-76, Louis played 30 games for the Jets, posting a 3.04 GAA and one shutout. He also accumulated a whopping 41 penalty minutes over his 30 games. Levasseur was a callup to the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA and appeared in four games. The Jets were not as successful as the year before despite having players like Bruce Boudreau, Galen Head and Paul Holmgren on the roster.
Like many of his teammates, Levasseur is credited for the 1977 Slap Shot movie. The Jets players played as 'doubles' for the hockey action scenes.

Louis Levasseur – Pro Career


Levasseur saw his first pro action way back in 1968-69, appearing in two games for the Nashville Dixie Flyers of the EHL. Over those two games, he allowed seven goals for a 3.50 GAA. He wouldn’t play pro again until 1972-73 when he played in four games for the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League.

1974-75 was his first full pro season. Louis played in the WHA between 1975-76 and 1978-79 with the Fighting Saints, Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers and Quebec Nordiques. In 1977-78, he played 12 playoff games for the Whalers with the team losing in the Avco World Trophy finals to the Winnipeg Jets. He had backed up veteran Al Smith most of the season.

As mentioned, Levasseur played in one NHL games, with the Minnesota North Stars in 1979-80. That one game was less than stellar with Louis allowing seven goals. His pro career ended after playing for the Oklahoma City Stars of the CHL in 1980-81.

Levasseur was involved in some interesting trades during his WHA career. In January, 1977, Louis, along with Mike Antonovich, Bill Butters, Dave Keon, Jack Carlson, Steve Carlson and John McKenzie were traded to the Edmonton Oilers for cash after the Fightning Saints ceased operations. In September of the same year, Louis was traded to New England from Edmonton for Brett Callighen and Dave Dryden.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Lorne Rombough: Long Island Cougars 1973-74


lorne rombough long island cougars
1973-74 was a great year for Lorne Rombough. He was a fifty goal scorer in his only year in the North American Hockey League and played his only three games of major league hockey with the Chicago Cougars of the World Hockey Association.

Lorne Rombough – NAHL


In 1973-74, Lorne played 68 regular season games for the Long Island Cougars in the inaugural season of the NAHL. Rombough scored 50 goals and assisted on 42 for 92 points on the John Brophy coached team. He led the Cougars in goals and points. Lorne’s 50 goals placed him fourth in the league and he was the last of four players to surpass the 50 goal plateau that season. His 92 points placed him tenth in the league.

As for the Cougars, the team placed third in the seven team league, one point below .500. Yes, just two of seven teams had winning records in the 1973-74 NAHL. This imbalance certainly showed in the playoffs. Long Island reached the Lockhart Cup finals before being swept by the Syracuse Blazers in four games. The Blazers outscored the Cougars 27-5 in the series.

Lorne Rombough – Pro Hockey


 
In 1967-68, Lorne was team captain with the State University of Buffalo in U.S. College Hockey. The team went undefeated during the 15 game regular season but fell to Oswego State in the playoffs, their only loss of the season.

Rombough played pro hockey from 1969-70 to 1979-80 in a handful of leagues that includes the IHL, EHL (2 versions), AHL, NAHL, WHA, SHL, PHL and NEHL. His actual first pro game came in 1968-69 when he appeared in a single game with the Fort Wayne Komets of the IHL. Lorne scored a goal in that first taste of pro hockey.

Lorne played for the predecessor of the Cougars, the Long Island Ducks of the EHL. In 1971-72, he placed ninth in the Eastern Hockey League with 42 goals in 75 regular season games. He also assisted on 35 for a total of 77 points that year.

As mentioned, he got his lone shot at major league hockey in 1973-74. Rombough played three games with the Chicago Cougars of the World Hockey Association. His short stay was pretty impressive with two goals and an assist for the WHA club.

Perhaps, his best year in pro hockey came in 1974-75 with the Hampton Gulls of the SHL. Lorne scored 56 goals and assisted on 43 for 99 points over 72 regular season games. Rombough placed second in the league for goal, three behind league leader Andre Deschamps of the Charlotte Checkers. The two were the only players that season to surpass the 50 goal mark. Lorne’s 99 points placed him fourth in the SHL.