Despite having the job of team captain with the Oakland Seals on his pro hockey resume, Carol Vadnais found success in the National Hockey League. Vadnais has his name inscribed on the Stanley Cup twice and was a Canada Cup champion with Canada in 1976.
Carol Vadnais
Vadnais played three years of junior hockey from 1963-64 to 1965-66. Over that time, he transformed from a forward to a defenseman. In his first year, he played for the Montreal NDG Monarchs, a team coached by a very young Scotty Bowman. The team reached the Eastern Memorial Cup finals for the George Richardson Memorial Trophy before losing out to the Toronto Marlboros, three games to one. The next two years were spent in the OHA with the Montreal Junior Canadiens.
Carol played in the NHL from 1966-67 to 1982-83 with the Montreal Canadiens, Oakland Seals / California Golden Seals, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. He played 1,087 regular season games, scoring 169 and assisting on 418 for 587 points from the point. Vadnais played an additional in the Stanley Cup playoffs, adding 50 points.
In 1967-68, Vadnais played just one game in the playoffs for the Montreal Canadiens. It was enough to get his name on the Stanley Cup with the Habs sweeping the St. Louis Blues in the finals for the championship.
Vadnais served as captain of the Seals in 1971-72 for 52 games before being sent to the Bruins. Carol finished up the year playing 16 regular season games for Boston before playing all 15 in the playoffs. Boston met up with the New York Rangers in the finals. The Bruins won the series in six games to capture the Stanley Cup championship.
He came close again in 1973-74 with Boston reaching the finals again before falling to the Philadelphia Flyers. The following year, 1974-75, Carol put up the best offensive numbers of his career with 18 goals and 56 assists for 74 points over 79 regular season games. In November of 1975, his days in Boston were over. Vadnais was sent to the New York Rangers along with Phil Esposito for Brad Park, Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi.
Carol Vadnais Collection:
With the Rangers, Carol got one last chance at a Stanley Cup championship but fell short. New York was the last team to come up against the Montreal Canadiens in their dynasty of the 1970’s. Montreal won their fourth consecutive Cup by beating the Rangers. The following year, the New York Islanders took over as the dominant team in the league.
On the international level, Vadnais played twice for Canada at two important tournaments. He was on the point in 1976 at the Canada Cup. In the six team tournament, Canada met up with Czechoslovakia in the finals and swept the best of three series in two games.
In 1977, Carol played for Canada at the IIHF World Championships. The tournament was held at Vienna, Austria. Canada came away ranked fourth in a very tight group.
Carol Vadnais – Rookie Card
The Carol Vadnais rookie card appears as number 9 in the 1967-68 Topps set. Vadnais is pictured as a member of the Montreal Canadiens and the hockey card is valued as a common. The set was dominated by a trio of important rookie cards. The most valuable was that of Derek Sanderson, followed by Rogie Vachon and Jacques Lemaire.
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 64-65 | Montreal Jr Canadiens | OHA | 56 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 0 |
| 65-66 | Montreal Jr Canadiens | OHA | 48 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 184 |
| 66-67 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 35 |
| 66-67 | Houston Apollos | CPHL | 21 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 45 |
| 67-68 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 31 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 31 |
| 67-68 | Houston Apollos | CPHL | 36 | 5 | 21 | 26 | 178 |
| 68-69 | Oakland Seals | NHL | 76 | 15 | 27 | 42 | 151 |
| 69-70 | Oakland Seals | NHL | 76 | 24 | 20 | 44 | 212 |
| 70-71 | California Golden Seals | NHL | 42 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 91 |
| 71-72 | California Golden Seals | NHL | 52 | 14 | 20 | 34 | 106 |
| 71-72 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 16 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 37 |
| 72-73 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 78 | 7 | 24 | 31 | 127 |
| 73-74 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 78 | 16 | 43 | 59 | 123 |
| 74-75 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 79 | 18 | 56 | 74 | 129 |
| 75-76 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 12 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 17 |
| 75-76 | New York Rangers | NHL | 64 | 20 | 30 | 50 | 104 |
| 76-77 | New York Rangers | NHL | 74 | 11 | 37 | 48 | 131 |
| 77-78 | New York Rangers | NHL | 80 | 6 | 40 | 46 | 115 |
| 78-79 | New York Rangers | NHL | 77 | 8 | 37 | 45 | 86 |
| 79-80 | New York Rangers | NHL | 66 | 3 | 20 | 23 | 118 |
| 80-81 | New York Rangers | NHL | 74 | 3 | 20 | 23 | 91 |
| 81-82 | New York Rangers | NHL | 50 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 45 |
| 82-83 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 51 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 64 |
| 1087 | 169 | 418 | 587 | 1813 |