Showing posts with label new england whalers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new england whalers. Show all posts

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, September 2, 2013

Dave Hanson: The Man, The Foil and The Legend


dave hanson johnstown jets nahl
Dave Hanson really needs no introduction to any true North American Hockey League fan. Hanson was a last minute replacement for Jack Carlson in the 1977 hockey cult film ‘Slapshot’. Dave played Jack Hanson, one of a trio of Hanson brothers on the fictitious Charlestown Chiefs, along with Jeff Carlson and Steve Carlson.

Dave Hanson – NAHL


Hanson played parts of three years in the NAHL from 1974-75 to 1976-77, all with the Johnstown Jets. In his first year, he placed third in the league for penalty minutes with 249. Ahead of him were Gary Sittler, brother of Darryl, of the Syracuse Blazers and teammate and movie brother Jeff Carlson, also of the Jets. Just three PIM behind Dave was teammate Jack Carlson. In that first year, the brawling Jets won the Lockhart Cup, sweeping the Binghamton Dusters in the finals.


The following year was Hanson’s last full season in the NAHL. He finished second in the league for penalty minutes with 311. Ahead of him, a far, far distance away was Gilles Bilodeau of the Beauce Jaros with 451 PIM, an NAHL record.

In 1976-77, the last for the league, Hanson played just six games for the Jets before never really unpacking his suitcase for the rest of the season. Dave played for four other teams in pro hockey, the Hampton Gulls of the SHL, Rhode Island Reds of the AHL, Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA and the New England Whalers of the WHA.

Dave Hanson – Pro Hockey


Hanson played pro from 1974-75 to 1983-84 in a handful of leagues, including the NAHL, SHL, AHL, WHA, CHL, NHL and IHL. He was not drafted into the NHL but was a fourth round pick of the Fighting Saints at the 1974 WHA Amateur Draft, 59th overall. Dave appeared in 33 National Hockey League games with the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota North Stars. In the World Hockey Association, he played 103 total regular season games with the Fighting Saints, Whalers and Birmingham Bulls.

Perhaps Dave’s pinnacle in pro hockey came in 1980-81 with the Adirondack Red Wings of the American Hockey League. He placed fifth in the league for PIM but, more importantly, won a championship. The Red Wings won the Calder Cup with a victory over the Maine Mariners in six in the finals. Maine outscored Adirondack 22-19 in the series on the strength of a 10-1 drubbing in game four.

Dave Hanson – The Author


In 2008, Hanson authored Slap Shot Original: The Man, the Foil, and the Legend. This is a firsthand account of the behind-the-scenes antics while filming Slap Shot. Dave also gets into how the movie changed his life, along with the other cast members, taking them from minor hockey league players to movie stars.

Big names abound with Bob Costas and Gordie Howe providing the Foreward. Also included are introductions from Jeff Carlson and Steve Carlson, the other two thirds of the Hanson Brothers.

The book is having a bit of a re-release on October 1, 2013. Slap Shot Original: The Man, The Foil and the Legend will once again be available via Amazon. The book qualifies for Amazon’s pre-order guarantee, meaning if you pre-order and the price drops before the book is available for shipping, they refund the difference.

If you order the book and the DVD of the original movie ‘Slapshot’, you just might qualify for free shipping if the total is $25 or more!