Jean Ratelle

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Position Centre
Shoots Left
Height
Weight		 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
175 lb (79 kg/12 st 7 lb)
Pro clubs New York Rangers
Boston Bruins
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Born October 3, 1940 (1940-10-03) (age 67),
Lac Saint-Jean, QC Canada
Pro career 1960 – 1981
Hall of Fame, 1985

Joseph Gilbert Yvon "Jean" Ratelle (born October 3, 1940 in Lac Saint-Jean, Quebec) is a former Canadian ice hockey player and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. It has often been said of Jean Ratelle that he was so consistently effective at a high level of play day in and day out that he has been overlooked by some as one of the greatest to have played the game.

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[edit] NHL career

A product of the New York Rangers organization, a term utilized in the days prior to the NHL's Entry Draft, Ratelle's hockey career almost ended when he suffered a serious back injury at age 23 and had to undergo major spinal cord surgery. He recovered to become a regular with the Rangers from 1963 until 1975 -- his greatest success coming with his linemates Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert in the so-called "GAG" line -- and was the perennial scoring leader for the Rangers between 1968 and 1973 when the team was a powerhouse annually among the league's best.

Ratelle was poised to beat out Boston Bruins' legend Phil Esposito for the scoring title in 1972 before he lost fifteen games due to an injury, but came back for the Stanley Cup finals against Boston to lead his team. Only Esposito, Bobby Orr and John Bucyk had before then had scored as many points in league history as Ratelle had managed in his shortened season. His 109 points that season remained a Rangers' scoring record until 2006, when Jaromir Jagr broke the mark.

In November of 1975, Ratelle was traded with teammates Brad Park and Joe Zanussi in a blockbuster deal to the Boston Bruins (ironically, for Esposito, and for Carol Vadnais). Ratelle finished strongly that year for his second 100-point campaign. On March 21, 1976, he played his 1,000th game against the Montreal Canadiens. He starred for several more seasons for Boston, gaining admiration for his slick passing, skill at faceoffs and all-around excellent play, retiring a Bruin after the 1981 season. He served for several years thereafter as an assistant coach for the Bruins.

Remembered as a gentlemanly player (perennially in the running for the Lady Byng sportsmanship award), Ratelle played center ice in the NHL for twenty-one seasons, accumulating 1267 points on 491 goals and 776 assists. At the time of his retirement, he was the league's sixth all-time leading scorer. While he never played on a team that won the Stanley Cup, Ratelle was a member of the 1972 Team Canada squad that defeated the Soviet Union in the first-ever Summit Series.

In 1985, Jean Ratelle was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with Bernie Parent and Bert Olmstead.

[edit] Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1958–59 Guelph Biltmores OHA 54 20 31 51 11 10 5 4 9 2
1959–60 Guelph Biltmores OHA 48 39 47 86 15 5 3 5 8 4
1960–61 Guelph Royals OHA 47 40 61 101 10 14 6 11 17 6
1960–61 New York Rangers NHL 3 2 1 3 0
1961–62 New York Rangers NHL 31 4 8 12 4
1962–63 New York Rangers NHL 48 11 9 20 8
1962–63 Baltimore Clippers AHL 20 11 8 19 0 3 0 0 0 0
1963–64 New York Rangers NHL 15 0 7 7 6
1963–64 Baltimore Clippers AHL 57 20 26 46 2
1964–65 New York Rangers NHL 54 14 21 35 14
1964–65 Baltimore Clippers AHL 8 9 4 13 6
1965–66 New York Rangers NHL 67 21 30 51 10
1966–67 New York Rangers NHL 41 6 5 11 4 4 0 0 0 2
1967–68 New York Rangers NHL 74 32 46 78 18 6 0 4 4 2
1968–69 New York Rangers NHL 75 32 46 78 26 4 1 0 1 0
1969–70 New York Rangers NHL 75 32 42 74 28 6 1 3 4 0
1970–71 New York Rangers NHL 78 26 46 72 14 13 2 9 11 8
1971–72 New York Rangers NHL 63 46 63 109 4 6 0 1 1 0
1972–73 New York Rangers NHL 78 41 53 94 12 10 2 7 9 0
1973–74 New York Rangers NHL 68 28 39 67 16 13 2 4 6 0
1974–75 New York Rangers NHL 79 36 55 91 26 3 1 5 6 5
1975–76 New York Rangers NHL 13 5 10 15 2
1975–76 Boston Bruins NHL 67 31 59 90 16 12 8 8 16 4
1976–77 Boston Bruins NHL 78 33 61 94 22 14 5 12 17 4
1977–78 Boston Bruins NHL 80 25 59 84 10 15 3 7 10 0
1978–79 Boston Bruins NHL 80 27 45 72 12 11 7 6 13 2
1979–80 Boston Bruins NHL 67 28 45 73 8 3 0 0 0 0
1980–81 Boston Bruins NHL 47 11 26 37 16 3 0 0 0 0
NHL Totals 1281 491 776 1267 276 123 32 66 98 24

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Pit Martin		 Winner of the Bill Masterton Trophy
1971		 Succeeded by
Bobby Clarke
Preceded by
John Bucyk		 Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy
1972		 Succeeded by
Gilbert Perreault
Preceded by
Marcel Dionne		 Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy
1976		 Succeeded by
Marcel Dionne
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