Emile Francis

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CanadaCanada  Emile Francis Ice hockey player
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1982
Emile Francis, 1973

Emile Francis, 1973
Date of birth September 13, 1926
place of birth North Battleford , Saskatchewan , Canada
Nickname The Cat
size 170 cm
Weight 70 kg
position goalkeeper
Shot hand Left
Career stations
1941-1943 North Battleford Beavers
1943-1944 Philadelphia Falcons
1944-1945 Washington Lions
1945-1946 Moose Jaw Canucks
1946-1948 Chicago Black Hawks
Regina Capitals
Kansas City Pla-Mors
1948-1952 New York Rangers
New Haven Ramblers
Cincinnati Mohawks
1952-1953 Vancouver Canucks
1953-1955 Cleveland Barons
1955-1956 Saskatoon Quakers
Calgary Stampeders
1956-1957 Seattle Americans
1957-1958 Victoria Cougars
1958-1959 Spokane Spokes
1959-1960 Spokane Comets
Seattle totems

Emile Francis Percy (* 13. September 1926 in North Battleford , Saskatchewan ) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player , - coach , and - functionary . During his active career, he played 95 games for the Chicago Black Hawks and the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League , but spent most of the 17 years of his professional career in various minor leagues . He then became far better known as head coach and general manager , primarily associated with the New York Rangers, whose fortunes he directed from 1964 to 1976 and as whose coach he played more games than anyone else in franchise history . He later also served as general manager and trainer of the St. Louis Blues (1976–1983) and general manager and president of the Hartford Whalers (1983–1993). In 1982 Francis was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame .

Career

As a player

Emile Francis, around 1947

Emile Francis was born in North Battleford and played there in his youth for the North Battleford Beavers in a regional youth league . Between 1943 and 1945 he played his first professional-level games in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League , one year each for the Philadelphia Falcons and the Washington Lions . After serving in the Canadian Armed Forces during World War II , the goalkeeper returned to his home in Saskatchewan for a season in 1945, where he played for the Moose Jaw Canucks . During this time, he also developed an early version of a glove used today for ice hockey goalkeepers. For the 1946/47 season he began his career in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Chicago Black Hawks . In the first year after the backup of Paul Bibeault , he established himself for the following season as goalkeeper of the Blackhawks and contested 54 games, most of NHL season in his career. Nevertheless, Francis and Alex Kaleta were transferred to the New York Rangers in October 1948 , while Jim Henry moved to Chicago in return . With the Rangers he was only used sporadically and mostly guarded the gate in the American Hockey League (AHL), with the New Haven Ramblers and the Cincinnati Mohawks . As the second goalkeeper behind Chuck Rayner , he played his last 14 of a total of 95 NHL games in 1951/52.

Then Francis was active for another eight years in North American minor leagues , especially in the Western Hockey League . There he appeared in the 1950s for the Vancouver Canucks , Saskatoon Quakers , Calgary Stampeders , Seattle Americans , Victoria Cougars , Spokane Chiefs and Comets as well as for the Seattle Totems . Between 1953 and 1955 he also returned once more to the AHL, where he won the playoffs for the Calder Cup with the Cleveland Barons in 1954 and was elected to the AHL Second All-Star Team . 1960 ended his active career with the Seattle Totems in the WHL.

As a trainer and functionary

Directly at the end of his playing career, Francis took over the position of head coach for the Guelph Royals from the Ontario Hockey Association , the highest-ranking junior league in the province of Ontario, for the 1960/61 season . After just two years, he managed to return to the New York Rangers in the NHL in 1962 , where he was hired as an assistant to head coach Red Sullivan . In 1964 he took over the fortunes of the franchise from Muzz Patrick as general manager , before he installed himself as head coach for the first time in December 1965, dismissing Red Sullivan. Something similar happened two more times in his twelve-year tenure as General Manager when he returned to the gang for Bernie Geoffrion (1969) and Larry Popein (1974). In the 1972 playoffs , the Canadian led the Rangers as head coach in the final of the Stanley Cup , but lost to the Boston Bruins there . In total, he played 654 games as head coach of the Rangers and won 342 of these in his three terms in office - both numbers represent franchise records for the "Broadway Blueshirts" to this day.

In January 1976, Francis was removed from office with the Rangers and subsequently took over the role of General Manager with the St. Louis Blues . He held this position until 1983, where he twice took over the role of head coach with the Blues. In the meantime he received in 1982, the Lester Patrick Trophy for his contribution to the sport of ice hockey in the United States and has been as a functionary or "builders" in the same year (builder) in the Hockey Hall of Fame added. His last career station was the Hartford Whalers , where he also served as general manager from 1983 to 1989 and was also president of the franchise until 1993. He then retired from professional business.

In addition, Francis was a lifelong supporter and promoter of minor league ice hockey. Among other things, he was the founder of the New York Junior League , best known as the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League , and the St. Louis Metro Junior B League . He was also an advisor to the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States .

In his honor, the AHL has been awarded the Emile Francis Trophy since 2002, which is given to the winner of the Atlantic Division.

Achievements and Awards

NHL statistics

As a player

Regular season Playoffs
season team league Sp S. N U Min. GT SO GTS Sp S. N Min. GT SO GTS
1946/47 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 19th 6th 12 1 1140 104 0 5.47 - - - - - - -
1947/48 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 54 19th 30th 5 3240 183 1 3.39 - - - - - - -
1948/49 New York Rangers NHL 2 2 0 0 120 4th 0 2.00 - - - - - - -
1949/50 New York Rangers NHL 1 0 1 0 60 8th 0 8.00 - - - - - - -
1950/51 New York Rangers NHL 5 1 2 1 260 14th 0 3.23 - - - - - - -
1951/52 New York Rangers NHL 14th 4th 7th 3 840 41 0 2.93 - - - - - - -
NHL overall 95 32 52 10 5660 354 1 3.75 - - - - - - -

( Legend for the goalkeeper statistics: GP or Sp = total games; W or S = wins; L or N = defeats; T or U or OT = draws or overtime or shootout defeats; min. = Minutes; SOG or SaT = shots on goal; GA or GT = goals conceded; SO = shutouts ; GAA or GTS = goals conceded ; Sv% or SVS% = catch quota ; EN = empty net goal ; 1  play-downs / relegation ; italics : statistics not complete)

As a trainer

Regular season Playoffs
season team league Sp S. N U Pt space Sp S. N result
1965/66 New York Rangers NHL 50 13 31 6th 32 6th does not qualify
1966/67 New York Rangers NHL 70 30th 28 12 72 4th 4th 0 4th Semifinals
1967/68 New York Rangers NHL 74 39 23 12 90 2nd, Eastern 6th 2 4th Quarter finals
1968/69 New York Rangers NHL 33 19th 8th 6th 44 3rd, Eastern 4th 0 4th Quarter finals
1969/70 New York Rangers NHL 76 38 22nd 16 92 4th, Eastern 6th 2 4th Quarter finals
1970/71 New York Rangers NHL 78 49 18th 11 109 2nd, Eastern 13 7th 6th Semifinals
1971/72 New York Rangers NHL 78 48 17th 13 109 2nd, Eastern 16 10 6th Stanley Cup Final
1972/73 New York Rangers NHL 78 47 23 8th 102 3rd, Eastern 10 5 5 Semifinals
1973/74 New York Rangers NHL 37 22nd 10 5 49 3rd, Eastern 13 7th 6th Semifinals
1974/75 New York Rangers NHL 80 37 29 14th 88 2nd, Patrick 3 1 2 Preliminary round
1976/77 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 32 39 9 73 1st, Smythe 4th 0 4th Quarter finals
1981/82 St. Louis Blues NHL 12 4th 6th 2 10 3rd, Norris 10 5 5 Division finals
1982/83 St. Louis Blues NHL 32 10 19th 3 23 Handover to Barclay Plager
NHL overall 778 388 273 117 893 1 division title 89 39 50 0 Stanley Cups

( Legend for coach statistics: Sp or GC = total games; W or S = wins scored; L or N = losses scored; T or U = draws scored; OTL or OTN = losses scored after overtime or shootout ; Pts or Pkt = points scored ; Pts% or Pkt% = point rate; Win% = win rate; result = round reached in the play-offs )

family

His son Bob Francis was also active in the NHL as a player and coach.

literature

Web links

Commons : Emile Francis  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerald Eskenazi: Emile Francis Story: New Ways for Old Cat. nytimes.com, February 9, 1975, accessed July 6, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Francis, Emile
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Francis, Emile Percy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian ice hockey player, coach and official
DATE OF BIRTH September 13, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH North Battleford , Saskatchewan , Canada