Part of one of the great National Hockey League families, perhaps Jean Provonost would be beside brother Marcel Pronovost in the Hockey Hall of Fame if his career wasn’t spent in the 1970’s NHL ‘No Man’s Land’. A champion in junior and minor pro, the prospect of the Boston Bruins was traded away to the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 1968-69 season. Pronovost then spent his career with the Penguins, Atlanta Flames and Washington Capitals. The Pens and Caps might be all glory today but that wasn’t the case in the 1970’s.
Jean Pronovost – Junior and Minor Pro
Pronovost played two years of junior ‘A’ in the Ontario Hockey Association, 1964-65 and 1965-66, with the Niagara Falls Flyers. His first year was the pinnacle with 1965-66 being more than a little anti-climatic. Over 54 regular season games, Jean scored 30 and assisted on 40 for 70 points. He led the Flyers in goals and points while finished six assists behind team leader Derek Sanderson.
Star-studded Niagara Falls finished first overall in the eight team OHA and captured the Robertson Cup as league playoff champs. The Flyers advanced to the Memorial Cup finals where they brawled with the Edmonton Oil Kings. In the end, Niagara Falls came out on top, winning four of five games.
In his first year of pro hockey, Pronovost played for another powerhouse, the 1966-67 Oklahoma City Blazers of the CPHL. The team was packed full of future NHL players and were regular season champions, along with being victorious in the playoffs. In his rookie pro year, Jean placed fourth on the Blazers with 45 points, behind Terry Crisp, Ron Buchanan and Wayne Cashman.
He played one more season with Oklahoma City in 1967-68 and didn’t return to the minors until his final year of pro hockey. in 1981-82, after playing ten games in the NHL with the Capitals, Jean finished off his career with 64 games with the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League. Pronovost scored 35 and assisted on 31 for 66 points, finishing second on the team in scoring behind Wes Jarvis.
Jean Pronovost – NHL Career
Pronovost retired two games shy of the 1,000 regular season game plateau. Over his 998 games, he scored 391 and assisted on 383 for 774 points playing for the Penguins, Flames and Capitals between 1968-69 and 1981-82. Jean played just 35 Stanley Cup playoff games, adding 20 points.
Jean Pronovost Collection
12 times during his career, Pronovost was a 20 goal scorer. Six times he scored 30 or more and four times he reached 40. In 1975-76, he surpassed the 50 goal plateau for the only time in his NHL career.
In that 1975-76 season, Pronovost scored 52 and assisted on 52 for 104 points while playing the full 80 game schedule. He was second on the Penguins in goals and points, behind Pierre Larouche. His 52 assists placed him fourth on the team behind Larouche, Syl Apps and Ron Stackhouse. Jean placed fourth in the NHL for goals, behind Reggie Leach of the Philadelphia Flyers, Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens and teammate Pierre Larouche. His 104 points placed him eighth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy.
Jean was team captain in Pittsburgh for the 1977-78 season, taking over for Ron Schock. He was also one of four team captains in the history of the Atlanta Flames when he wore the ‘C’ in 1979-80. The other three are Keith McCreary, Pat Quinn and Tom Lysiak.
Pronovost was part of the inaugural class to be inducted into the Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame in 1992. Joining him were Bob Johnson and Rick Kehoe. Only Mario Lemieux and Jaromior Jagr have scored more goals in a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey.
Jean Pronovost – Rookie Card
The Jean Pronovost rookie card appears as number 155 in the 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee set. The card is valued at not quite two times that of a common card. Jean is shown with the Penguins, of course.
Jean is the brother of Andre, Marcel and Claude who all played in the NHL, although Claude Pronovost played just three games. Marcel Pronovost is the only brother in the Hockey Hall of Fame, inducted in 1978.
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1963-64 | Victoriaville Bruins | QPJHL | 9 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 4 |
| 1964-65 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 54 | 30 | 40 | 70 | 0 |
| 1965-66 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 48 | 18 | 34 | 52 | 47 |
| 1966-67 | Oklahoma City Blazers | CPHL | 68 | 21 | 24 | 45 | 81 |
| 1967-68 | Oklahoma City Blazers | CPHL | 49 | 25 | 25 | 50 | 41 |
| 1968-69 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 76 | 16 | 25 | 41 | 41 |
| 1969-70 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 72 | 20 | 21 | 41 | 45 |
| 1970-71 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 78 | 21 | 24 | 45 | 35 |
| 1971-72 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 68 | 30 | 23 | 53 | 12 |
| 1972-73 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 66 | 21 | 22 | 43 | 16 |
| 1973-74 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 77 | 40 | 32 | 72 | 22 |
| 1974-75 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 78 | 43 | 32 | 75 | 37 |
| 1975-76 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 80 | 52 | 52 | 104 | 24 |
| 1976-77 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 79 | 33 | 31 | 64 | 24 |
| 1977-78 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 79 | 40 | 25 | 65 | 50 |
| 1978-79 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 75 | 28 | 39 | 67 | 30 |
| 1979-80 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 80 | 24 | 19 | 43 | 12 |
| 1980-81 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 22 | 36 | 58 | 61 |
| 1981-82 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 64 | 35 | 31 | 66 | 18 |
| 1981-82 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| NHL Totals | 998 | 391 | 383 | 774 | 413 |