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Rogie Vachon
Rogatien Rosaire Vachon (vah-SHON; born September 8, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 16 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League from 1967 to 1982.
Nicknamed "Rogie the Goalie", Vachon was called up to the Canadiens in February of the 1966–67 season, which saw him 11 of 19 starts. He became the primary starting goaltender for all but one game of the 1967 Stanley Cup playoffs run, which saw the team lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Final. Sharing the duties with Gump Worsley the following season, which saw the two allow the fewest number of goals for the entire season to win the Vezina Trophy. He started only two playoff games but the team won the Stanley Cup Final for his first championship. The following season saw him inserted as the starting goaltender for the final seven games of the playoff run, only losing once in that run as Vachon won his second championship. He took on the starting duties for the following two seasons but was replaced by Ken Dryden late in the 1970–71 season as the team rolled to the Cup. After one game in the 1971–72 season, he was traded to the Kings.
In seven seasons with the team, he won 171 total games, which included a career-high 33 in the 1976–77 season; he was selected to the NHL All-Star Game three times and the NHL Second All-Star Team twice, all with the Kings. He represented Canada for the only time internationally in the 1976 Canada Cup, which saw him win six of his seven starts as they defeated the Soviet Union in the finals. He departed the Kings as a free agent in the 1978–79 season for the Red Wings, with the one highlight being him winning his 300th game in 1979, becoming the eighth goaltender to reach the milestone in league history. After being traded in the summer of 1980 to Boston, he spent two seasons with the team before announcing his retirement in 1982.
He retired with the fifth-most wins in league history and as one of only two players with twelve 20-win seasons in league history next to Tony Esposito. After his playing career ended, he served as general manager of the Kings from 1984 to 1992; in 1985, his jersey was retired by the Kings, the first player to be given the honor in franchise history. In 2016, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Vachon was born in a family with seven siblings and grew up on a dairy farm in Palmarolle, Canada. The kids would sneak water from the well to create a hockey rink, with only cows as the audience. He was persuaded to play senior level hockey at the age of 14 by a coach who was in need of a goaltender.
Vachon entered the National Hockey League in February of the 1966–67 season with the Montreal Canadiens when Gump Worsley, the starting goaltender, suffered an injury. He played in nineteen games down the stretch for the team, going 11–3–5. Vachon recalled his first game as a goaltender on February 18, 1967:
I didn't know I was going to play that night. Toe just handed me the puck before the warmup and said, 'You're in.' I was sort of in shock, still trying to pull myself together when Gordie broke in alone from the blue line. Luckily I stopped it. And I joked with Gordie that this save probably kept me in the League for years.
He led the Canadiens as the starting goaltender for the 1967 Stanley Cup playoffs, the last one to be played between four teams. He led them to a sweep of the New York Rangers before encountering the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Final. Punch Imlach, the coach of the Leafs, referred to Vachon as a junior B goaltender in an attempt to rattle him during the series. The two teams split the first four games before game five saw Vachon give up four goals in two periods of play as the Maple Leafs won 4-1. Worsley was inserted for the rest of the game and the subsequent game six, which Toronto won to win the Cup.
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Rogie Vachon
Rogatien Rosaire Vachon (vah-SHON; born September 8, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 16 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League from 1967 to 1982.
Nicknamed "Rogie the Goalie", Vachon was called up to the Canadiens in February of the 1966–67 season, which saw him 11 of 19 starts. He became the primary starting goaltender for all but one game of the 1967 Stanley Cup playoffs run, which saw the team lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Final. Sharing the duties with Gump Worsley the following season, which saw the two allow the fewest number of goals for the entire season to win the Vezina Trophy. He started only two playoff games but the team won the Stanley Cup Final for his first championship. The following season saw him inserted as the starting goaltender for the final seven games of the playoff run, only losing once in that run as Vachon won his second championship. He took on the starting duties for the following two seasons but was replaced by Ken Dryden late in the 1970–71 season as the team rolled to the Cup. After one game in the 1971–72 season, he was traded to the Kings.
In seven seasons with the team, he won 171 total games, which included a career-high 33 in the 1976–77 season; he was selected to the NHL All-Star Game three times and the NHL Second All-Star Team twice, all with the Kings. He represented Canada for the only time internationally in the 1976 Canada Cup, which saw him win six of his seven starts as they defeated the Soviet Union in the finals. He departed the Kings as a free agent in the 1978–79 season for the Red Wings, with the one highlight being him winning his 300th game in 1979, becoming the eighth goaltender to reach the milestone in league history. After being traded in the summer of 1980 to Boston, he spent two seasons with the team before announcing his retirement in 1982.
He retired with the fifth-most wins in league history and as one of only two players with twelve 20-win seasons in league history next to Tony Esposito. After his playing career ended, he served as general manager of the Kings from 1984 to 1992; in 1985, his jersey was retired by the Kings, the first player to be given the honor in franchise history. In 2016, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Vachon was born in a family with seven siblings and grew up on a dairy farm in Palmarolle, Canada. The kids would sneak water from the well to create a hockey rink, with only cows as the audience. He was persuaded to play senior level hockey at the age of 14 by a coach who was in need of a goaltender.
Vachon entered the National Hockey League in February of the 1966–67 season with the Montreal Canadiens when Gump Worsley, the starting goaltender, suffered an injury. He played in nineteen games down the stretch for the team, going 11–3–5. Vachon recalled his first game as a goaltender on February 18, 1967:
I didn't know I was going to play that night. Toe just handed me the puck before the warmup and said, 'You're in.' I was sort of in shock, still trying to pull myself together when Gordie broke in alone from the blue line. Luckily I stopped it. And I joked with Gordie that this save probably kept me in the League for years.
He led the Canadiens as the starting goaltender for the 1967 Stanley Cup playoffs, the last one to be played between four teams. He led them to a sweep of the New York Rangers before encountering the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Final. Punch Imlach, the coach of the Leafs, referred to Vachon as a junior B goaltender in an attempt to rattle him during the series. The two teams split the first four games before game five saw Vachon give up four goals in two periods of play as the Maple Leafs won 4-1. Worsley was inserted for the rest of the game and the subsequent game six, which Toronto won to win the Cup.
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