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Sylvain Lefebvre

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Sylvain Lefebvre
Born (1967-10-14) 14 October 1967 (age 57)
Richmond, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 204 lb (93 kg; 14 st 8 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Montreal Canadiens
Toronto Maple Leafs
Quebec Nordiques
Colorado Avalanche
New York Rangers
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 1987–2004

Sylvain Jean Lefebvre (born October 14, 1967) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Originally undrafted by teams in the NHL, he played for five franchises between 1989—2003, and won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.

Playing career

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Originally an undrafted free agent, Lefebvre signed with the Montreal Canadiens in 1986 and made the team's roster thereafter beginning in 1989–90. He played a total of three seasons with Montreal before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 1994 third round draft pick prior to the start of the 1992–93 season.[1][2]

After two seasons with the Leafs, Lefebvre was traded to the Quebec Nordiques as part of the Wendel Clark-Mats Sundin deal on June 28, 1994.[3] He would play the next five seasons with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche, including a Stanley Cup victory in 1996, before signing a four-year, $10-million US contract with the New York Rangers (that secured a club option for him to play a fifth season at $3-million) during the 1999 offseason.[4]

Seeing a decrease in productivity after several injuries, including a shattered index finger which occurred while blocking a shot, Lefebvre's career-low in points came in the 2002–03 season where he managed just two points over 35 games played.[5] After four years with the Rangers, Lefebvre left the NHL and decided to join old friend Sebastien Bordeleau for one season with Swiss-based SC Bern of the Nationalliga A where he and his team won the league championship prior to his retirement from active play.[6][7]

Coaching career

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On June 4, 2009, the Colorado Avalanche announced that Lefebvre would serve as an assistant coach of the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters.[8]

In June 2012, Lefebvre became the head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. Following the Canadiens' purchase and subsequent relocation of the Bulldogs franchise to become the second iteration of the St. John's IceCaps in 2015, Lefebvre was kept on as head coach.[9] In 2017, the Canadiens' AHL franchise was again relocated, becoming the Laval Rocket, whereas Lefebvre remained with the team.[10] After finishing with the worst record in the AHL during the team's inaugural 2017–18 season, Lefebvre was relieved of his head coaching duties in April 2018.[11]

Lefebvre then spent three seasons with the AHL's San Diego Gulls as an assistant coach before, in June 2021, it was announced that he accepted a promotion to the NHL as assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets.[12] However, this ultimately fell through with Lefebvre being replaced on September 13, 2021 due to his decision not to get a COVID-19 vaccine.[13]

Prior to the beginning of the 2022–23 NHL season, Lefebvre was named as an assistant coach for the Florida Panthers.[14] In 2024, Lefebvre won a second career Stanley Cup, the first within his coaching capacity.[15][16]

Personal life

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After winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996, Lefebvre was involved in an incident that attracted media attention. As part of tradition, each player on the winning team can take personal possession of the trophy for a day during the summer following the championship series, a practice that has led to several misadventures. When it was his turn, Lefebvre decided to have his daughter baptized in it.[17]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1984–85 Laval Voisins QMJHL 66 7 5 12 31 — — — — —
1985–86 Laval Titan QMJHL 71 8 17 25 48 14 1 0 1 25
1986–87 Laval Titan QMJHL 70 10 36 46 44 15 1 6 7 12
1986–87 Sherbrooke Canadiens AHL — — — — — 1 0 0 0 0
1987–88 Sherbrooke Canadiens AHL 79 3 24 27 73 6 2 3 5 4
1988–89 Sherbrooke Canadiens AHL 77 15 32 47 119 6 1 3 4 4
1989–90 Montreal Canadiens NHL 68 3 10 13 61 6 0 0 0 2
1990–91 Montreal Canadiens NHL 63 5 18 23 30 11 1 0 1 6
1991–92 Montreal Canadiens NHL 69 3 14 17 91 2 0 0 0 2
1992–93 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 81 2 12 14 90 21 3 3 6 20
1993–94 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 84 2 9 11 79 18 0 3 3 16
1994–95 Quebec Nordiques NHL 48 2 11 13 17 6 0 2 2 2
1995–96 Colorado Avalanche NHL 75 5 11 16 49 22 0 5 5 12
1996–97 Colorado Avalanche NHL 71 2 11 13 30 17 0 0 0 25
1997–98 Colorado Avalanche NHL 81 0 10 10 48 7 0 0 0 4
1998–99 Colorado Avalanche NHL 76 2 18 20 48 19 0 1 1 12
1999–00 New York Rangers NHL 82 2 10 12 43 — — — — —
2000–01 New York Rangers NHL 71 2 13 15 55 — — — — —
2001–02 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 15 0 5 5 11 — — — — —
2001–02 New York Rangers NHL 41 0 5 5 23 — — — — —
2002–03 New York Rangers NHL 35 0 2 2 10 — — — — —
2003–04 SC Bern NLA 11 2 4 6 14 15 0 6 6 44
NHL totals 945 30 154 184 674 129 4 14 18 101

References

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  1. ^ @CanadiensMTL (August 20, 2017). "August 20, 1992: Sylvain Lefebvre is traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 3rd-round pick in 1994 (Martin Belanger)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Turcotte, Marc-Antoine (March 16, 2018). "11 joueurs qui ont joué pour le Canadien et les Maple Leafs". Le Journal de Montreal. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  3. ^ "Maple Leafs Acquire Sundin, Send Clark to Nordiques in 6-Player Deal". Los Angeles Times. June 29, 1994. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  4. ^ "Rangers sign Sylvain Lefebvre". UPI. July 19, 1999. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  5. ^ Dellapina, John (April 1, 2003). "LEFEBVRE SEASON OVER". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  6. ^ "Die zwölf Meisterteams des SC Bern". Berner Zeitung (in German). April 25, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  7. ^ Landsman, David S. (March 16, 2015). "No Harm In Change". The Link. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  8. ^ Dater, Adrian (June 19, 2009). "Former Avs join Sacco staff". Denver Post. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  9. ^ "Canadiens' AHL team moving from Hamilton to St. John's: reports". CBC News. March 7, 2015.
  10. ^ "LEFEBVRE NAMED HEAD COACH OF LAVAL, CARRIÈRE GM". TheAHL.com. July 29, 2017.
  11. ^ "SYLVAIN LEFEBVRE RELIEVED OF HIS DUTIES AS HEAD COACH OF THE LAVAL ROCKET". Laval Rocket. April 17, 2018. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  12. ^ "CBJ name Sylvain Lefebvre assistant coach". Columbus Blue Jackets. June 30, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021 – via NHL.com.
  13. ^ "Columbus Blue Jackets Announce Coaching Staff Changes". OurSportsCentral.com. September 13, 2021.
  14. ^ Tingley, Grant (August 18, 2022). "Meet the New Florida Panthers Assistant Coaches". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  15. ^ McGoey, Steven (June 29, 2024). "14 AHL Alumni Win the Stanley Cup with Florida Panthers". The Hockey News. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  16. ^ "Sylvain Lefebvre remporte la coupe Stanley avec les Panthers de la Floride". Ici Radio-Canada (in French). July 3, 2024. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  17. ^ Belisle, Bruin (May 30, 2018). "25 most insane things people have ever done with the Stanley Cup". FanSided. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
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