He was groomed by the Montreal Canadiens organization and had already proven himself an offensive dynamo by 1967-68. However, Andre Lacroix was not wearing a Habs jersey when he broke into the National Hockey League. It was with the expansion Philadelphia Flyers.
Small in stature, big in ability. Just what the Canadiens seemed to want on the front line. Perhaps, Yvan Cournoyer and Henri Richard already maxed out that role and Lacroix would have been just too much.
Junior and Minor Pro
NHL Career
Hockey Card Collection
WHA Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Andre Lacroix – Junior and Minor Pro
In 1961-62 and 1962-63, Andre Lacroix played in the QPJHL with the Quebec Citadelles. After appearing in no regular season and just three playoff games in 1961-62, Andre was named the league’s rookie of the year in 1962-63 when he put up 45 goals and 95 points in 50 games.
The following year, he moved up to the OHA to play for the Montreal Junior Canadiens. For 1964-65 and 1965-66, Lacroix stayed with a Canadiens sponsored team but further east in Peterborough, Ontario.
In his first year with the Peterborough Petes, Andre scored 45 and assisted on 74 for 119 points while teamed up with Danny Grant and Mickey Redmond. His goal total tied him with Brit Selby of the Toronto Marlboros for seventh in the league. He led the OHL in assists and was second in the race for the Eddie Powers Trophy behind just Ken Hodge of the St. Catherines Blackhawks who totaled 123 points.
In 1964-65, Lacroix was awarded the Red Tilson Trophy as the league’s most valuable player for the first of two consecutive times. He was also placed on the First All-Star Team for the first of two years.
The following year, Andre notched 40 goals and assisted on 80 for 120 points over 48 games. He was fourth in the league for goals while leading in assists with 24 more than second place Bobby Orr of the Oshawa Generals. He won the scoring title with a 24 point lead of teammate Danny Grant.
His first pro action came in 1964-65 when he appeared in a single game with the Quebec Aces of the American Hockey League. After his time with the Petes, Lacroix played with the Aces until his call-up to Philadelphia at the latter half of the 1967-68 NHL season.
In that 1967-68 season, Andre was ripping up the AHL. Playing just 54 of the team’s 72 regular season games, Lacroix scored 41 and assisted on 47 for 87 points. As it stood, he tied Howie Glover of the Cleveland Barons for sixth in goal scoring, tied for ninth for assists and was tied for third in overall scoring with Quebec teammate Jean-Guy Gendron.
If you take those numbers and project them over a full 72 game schedule, Andre would have finished with 55 goals, 63 assists and 118 points. He would have led the league in goals and points.
That 1967-68 Quebec Aces team, led by Simon Nolet without Lacroix, went on to reach the Calder Cup finals before losing out to the Rochester Americans. By the post season, Andre was firmly planted with the NHL Flyers and would never return to the minors again.
Andre Lacroix – NHL
Between 1967-68 and 1971-72, with an additional short stint in 1979-80, Andre Lacroix played in 325 regular season National Hockey League games. Over that time, he scored 79 and assisted on 119 for 198 points. Most of his time was spent with the Philadelphia Flyers but he also played 51 games with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1971-72 and 29 games with the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80. He appeared in 16 Stanley Cup playoff games, adding seven points.
Andre Lacroix Collection
Lacroix didn’t come to the Flyers through the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft. Rather, the Flyers purchased the full roster of the Quebec Aces, resulting in Andre and the rest of the team being added to the team’s minor league system.
With the Flyers, Andre was a 20 goal scorer in each of his three full seasons from 1968-69 to 1970-71. He was traded to Chicago on October 15, 1971 for Rick Foley. Not overly willing to move to Chicago, Lacroix scored just four goals while playing just 51 games for the Blackhawks in 1971-72.
At the end of times for the World Hockey Association, Lacroix became property of the Winnipeg Jets when the Houston Aeros folded. He never had a chance to play for the Jets as he was then traded to the New England Whalers for his final season in the league. Andre played 29 games for the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80 before calling it a career.
Andre Lacroix – WHA
After his dismal time in Chicago, Andre Lacroix returned to Philadelphia for 1972-73, this time with the Blazers of the World Hockey Association. He led the WHA in scoring that year with 124 points, receiving his first of two Bill Hunter Trophy honours. It was the only time he would score 50 in a season.
Over the next six years, ending with the WHA’s demise after the 1978-79 season, Lacroix continued his torrent scoring pace. In all, over 551 regular season WHA games, Andre scored 251 and assisted on 547 for 798 points. He will forever be the league’s all-time leader in assists, points and games played.
But, it was a journey. Andre wore six different jerseys: the Philadelphia Blazers, New York Golden Blades, Jersey Knights, San Diego Mariners, Houston Aeros and New England Whalers. He momentarily belonged to the Vancouver Blazers and Winnipeg Jets but did not play a game with those clubs.
Lacroix totaled more than 100 points in six of his seven seasons. His 106 assists in 1974-75 with the Mariners were a major league record at the time. That year, he led the WHA in scoring for the second of two times with 147 points.
Andre was a WHA First Team All-Star three times, in 1972-73, 1973-74 and 1974-75. He was an inaugural inductee into the WHA Hall of Fame in 2010. Yet, Lacroix never won an Avco World Trophy championship. He didn’t even play in a final series. Over his seven years in the league, Andre played 48 playoff games with a lackluster, by his standards, 43 points.
Andre Lacroix – Rookie Card
The Andre Lacroix rookie card appears as number 184 in the 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee NHL hockey card set. He is shown with the Philadelphia Flyers. In fact, even his 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee card shows him with the Flyers, despite playing for the Chicago Blackhawks that season.
Included in all major WHA sets, Lacroix’s final card is included in the 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee NHL set. He is shown with the Hartford Whalers, a team that housed several other WHA legends that year, including Dave Keon, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull and John McKenzie.
Andre Lacroix Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1963-64 | Montreal Junior Canadiens | OHA | 34 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 13 |
| 1964-65 | Peterborough Petes | OHA | 49 | 45 | 74 | 119 | 24 |
| 1964-65 | Quebec Aces | AHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1965-66 | Peterborough Petes | OHA | 48 | 40 | 80 | 120 | 20 |
| 1965-66 | Quebec Aces | AHL | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 1966-67 | Quebec Aces | AHL | 67 | 25 | 24 | 49 | 14 |
| 1967-68 | Quebec Aces | AHL | 54 | 41 | 46 | 87 | 18 |
| 1967-68 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 18 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 6 |
| 1968-69 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 75 | 24 | 32 | 56 | 4 |
| 1969-70 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 74 | 22 | 36 | 58 | 14 |
| 1970-71 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 78 | 20 | 22 | 42 | 12 |
| 1971-72 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 51 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 6 |
| 1972-73 | Philadelphia Blazers | WHA | 78 | 50 | 74 | 124 | 83 |
| 1973-74 | N.Y. Golden Blades/Jersey Knights | WHA | 78 | 31 | 80 | 111 | 54 |
| 1974-75 | San Diego Mariners | WHA | 78 | 41 | 106 | 147 | 63 |
| 1975-76 | San Diego Mariners | WHA | 80 | 29 | 72 | 101 | 42 |
| 1976-77 | San Diego Mariners | WHA | 81 | 32 | 82 | 114 | 79 |
| 1977-78 | Houston Aeros | WHA | 78 | 36 | 77 | 113 | 57 |
| 1978-79 | New England Whalers | WHA | 78 | 32 | 56 | 88 | 34 |
| 1979-80 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | 29 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 2 |
| NHL Totals | 325 | 79 | 119 | 198 | 44 | ||
| WHA Totals | 551 | 251 | 547 | 798 | 412 |