| Réjean Houle | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 25, 1949 Rouyn, QC, CAN |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb) |
| Position | Right wing |
| Shot | Left |
| Played for | Montreal Canadiens (NHL) Quebec Nordiques (WHA) |
| National team | Canada |
| NHL Draft | 1st overall, 1969 Montreal Canadiens |
| Playing career | 1969–1983 |
Réjean Houle (born October 25, 1949) is a retired Canadian ice hockey forward, most notably for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, for whom he also served a controversial stint as general manager.
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Drafted as the first pick over all in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft by the Canadiens, Houle played for the Habs from 1970 to 1973 and from 1976 to 1983. During this time, he played for the Montreal Canadiens. Houle was on five Stanley Cup championship with the Canadiens. In between his NHL stints, he played for the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association.
After retiring as a player, Houle became an executive with Molson, one of Canada's leading breweries and the then-owner of the Canadiens. A disastrous start to the 1995–96 season resulted in Serge Savard being fired as Canadiens' general manager, and the team saw Houle's business background and history with the team as the right combination to get the team back on track. Houle was general manager of the Canadiens from 1995 to 2000. His tenure as the Habs' GM was viewed as a disaster by many fans. He pulled the trigger on the infamous trade which sent Patrick Roy and Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko just six weeks into the job. Following this trade, he traded away marquee players like Mark Recchi, Vincent Damphousse and Pierre Turgeon for players of little value. He was also criticized for frequently trading with non-contending teams, being unable to sign big name free agents and signing marginal players to inflated contracts. Houle's drafting was considered even worse as he was criticized for taking players like Matt Higgins, Jason Ward, Eric Chouinard and Marcel Hossa, the younger brother of then rising star Marian with his first round selections as well as trading away a top ten pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft for an underacheving Trevor Linden. Houle was fired from his post two months into the 2000–01 NHL season and replaced by André Savard. He currently serves as an ambassador to the Canadiens organization.
--- Regular season --- ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
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1967-68 Montreal Junior Canadiens OHA 45 27 38 65 102
1968-69 Montreal Junior Canadiens OHA 54 53 55 108 76
1969-70 Montreal Voyageurs AHL 27 9 16 25 23 8 3 2 5 4
1969-70 Montreal Canadiens NHL 9 0 1 1 0 -- -- -- -- --
1970-71* Montreal Canadiens NHL 66 10 9 19 28 20 2 5 7 20
1971-72 Montreal Canadiens NHL 77 11 17 28 21 6 0 0 0 2
1972-73* Montreal Canadiens NHL 72 13 35 48 36 17 3 6 9 0
1973-74 Quebec Nordiques WHA 69 27 35 62 17 -- -- -- -- --
1974-75 Quebec Nordiques WHA 64 40 52 92 37 15 10 6 16 2
1975-76 Quebec Nordiques WHA 81 51 52 103 61 5 2 0 2 8
1976-77* Montreal Canadiens NHL 65 22 30 52 24 6 0 1 1 4
1977-78* Montreal Canadiens NHL 76 30 28 58 50 15 3 8 11 14
1978-79* Montreal Canadiens NHL 66 17 34 51 43 7 1 5 6 2
1979-80 Montreal Canadiens NHL 60 18 27 45 68 10 4 5 9 12
1980-81 Montreal Canadiens NHL 77 27 31 58 83 3 1 0 1 6
1981-82 Montreal Canadiens NHL 51 11 32 43 34 5 0 4 4 6
1982-83 Montreal Canadiens NHL 16 2 3 5 8 1 0 0 0 0
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WHA totals 214 118 139 257 115 20 12 6 18 10
NHL totals 635 161 247 408 395 90 14 34 48 66
*Stanley Cup Champion
| Preceded by Michel Plasse |
NHL first overall draft pick 1969 |
Succeeded by Gilbert Perreault |
| Preceded by Michel Plasse |
Montreal Canadiens first round draft pick 1969 |
Succeeded by Marc Tardif |
| Preceded by Serge Savard |
General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens 1995–2000 |
Succeeded by Andre Savard |
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