Francis Lessard
 |
| Francis Lessard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
May 30, 1979 Montreal, Quebec, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||
| Weight | 225 lb (102 kg; 16 st 1 lb) | ||
| Position | Right wing | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for |
Atlanta Thrashers Ottawa Senators | ||
| NHL draft |
80th overall, 1997 Carolina Hurricanes | ||
| Playing career | 1999–2016 | ||
Francis Lessard (born May 30, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He last played with the Trois-Rivières Blizzard of Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH). He has played for the Atlanta Thrashers and Ottawa Senators of the NHL, but has spent most of his career in the AHL. Lessard is generally known as an enforcer for his physical style of play and his ability to protect his teammates during a game.
Playing career
[edit]As a youth, Lessard played in the 1992 and 1993 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with the Rive-Nord Elites minor ice hockey team.[1]
Drafted from the QMJHL's Val-d'Or Foreurs, Lessard's rights were traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1999 while still at junior level. He spent three seasons with their AHL affiliate the Philadelphia Phantoms before he was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers.[2]
With the Thrashers, Lessard made his National Hockey League debut with the Thrashers during the 2001–02 season. In that season, Lessard won the Calder Cup with the Chicago Wolves. Lessard played 91 games over four seasons with Atlanta before moving to the New York Rangers organization in 2006. He played two seasons for the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL before signing with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2008, playing two seasons for the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL. He signed with the Ottawa Senators in August 2010.[3]
Career statistics
[edit]| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1996–97 | Val-d'Or Foreurs | QMJHL | 66 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 312 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Val-d'Or Foreurs | QMJHL | 63 | 3 | 20 | 23 | 338 | 19 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 101 | ||
| 1998–99 | Drummondville Voltigeurs | QMJHL | 53 | 12 | 36 | 48 | 295 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 78 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 416 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 2000–01 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 64 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 330 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | ||
| 2001–02 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 60 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 251 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 34 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 40 | ||
| 2002–03 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 61 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 50 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 194 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 62 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 181 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 36 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 161 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 58 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 309 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 14 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 59 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 324 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 61 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 289 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Binghamton Senators | AHL | 36 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 187 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Binghamton Senators | AHL | 43 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 138 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Cornwall River Kings | LNAH | 36 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 147 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 48 | ||
| 2013–14 | Cornwall River Kings | LNAH | 31 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 192 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22 | ||
| 2014–15 | Cornwall River Kings | LNAH | 15 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 81 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| AHL totals | 566 | 27 | 43 | 70 | 2682 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 40 | ||||
| NHL totals | 115 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 346 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
Awards and honours
[edit]- 1997-98 - Memorial Cup All-Star Team[3]
Transactions
[edit]- August 8, 2010 - Signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Ottawa Senators.
- July 3, 2008 - Signed as a free agent by the Phoenix Coyotes.
- September 13, 2006 - Invited by the New York Rangers to training camp.
- March 15, 2002 - Atlanta Thrashers traded David Harlock and third-round (Tyler Redenbach) and seventh-round (Joe Pavelski) selections in 2003 to the Philadelphia Flyers for Francis Lessard.
- May 25, 1999 - Carolina Hurricanes traded Francis Lessard to the Philadelphia Flyers for eighth-round selection (Antti Jokella) in 1999.
- June 21, 1997 - Drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the third round (80th overall) in 1997.
References
[edit]- ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "Other News: Flyers trade Phantoms' Lessard". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. March 16, 2002. p. 8. Retrieved June 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Francis Lessard # - RW". TSN. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
External links
[edit]- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
 | This biographical article relating to a Canadian ice hockey defenceman born in the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1979 births
- Living people
- Atlanta Thrashers players
- Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
- Binghamton Senators players
- Canadian ice hockey defencemen
- Carolina Hurricanes draft picks
- Chicago Wolves players
- Drummondville Voltigeurs players
- Hartford Wolf Pack players
- Ice hockey people from Montreal
- Ottawa Senators players
- Philadelphia Phantoms players
- San Antonio Rampage players
- Val-d'Or Foreurs players
- Canadian ice hockey defenceman, 1970s births stubs