Ron Francis

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
CanadaCanada  Ron Francis Ice hockey player
Hockey Hall of Fame , 2007
Ron Francis
Date of birth March 1, 1963
place of birth Sault Ste. Marie , Ontario , Canada
Nickname Captain Class
size 191 cm
Weight 91 kg
position center
number # 10
Shot hand Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 1981 , 1st lap, 4th position
Hartford Whalers
Career stations
1980-1981 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
1981-1991 Hartford Whalers
1991-1998 Pittsburgh Penguins
1998-2004 Carolina Hurricanes
2004 Toronto Maple Leafs

Ronald Michael "Ron" Francis junior (born March 1, 1963 in Sault Ste. Marie , Ontario ) is a former Canadian ice hockey player and current professional who played 1902 games for the Hartford Whalers between 1980 and 2004 . Pittsburgh Penguins , Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League on the position of the center has denied. Francis, who served the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992won the Stanley Cup , was one of the best playmakers in the NHL during his playing days and has received numerous individual awards. In 2007 he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame .

From 2014 to 2018 Francis was General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes and has been working in the same role for the newly founded Seattle Kraken since July 2019 .

Career

Francis played for Sault Ste. During his junior years in his hometown . Marie Greyhounds in the Ontario Hockey League , including with John Vanbiesbrouck . After very strong performances there, was selected in the NHL Entry Draft 1981 by the Hartford Whalers in the first round at position 4. The Whalers had their eye on Bobby Carpenter , but this became public and the Washington Capitals brought Carpenter in as the third player in the draft.

Francis stayed in Sault Ste for half a season. Marie before him the Whalers in the 1981-82 season brought into the NHL. On trips away, the boy shared the team with ice hockey legend Dave Keon and made his breakthrough in the first season. With 25 goals and 68 points in his rookie season, but also through constant dedication, he quickly won the hearts of the Hartford fans. At 22, he became the youngest captain of an NHL team. In its first four years, the Whalers missed the playoffs and in the years after that, with the strong group opponents Montreal, Boston and Quebec in the finals, there was not much to be achieved. During the 1990/91 season , coach Rick Ley withdrew the C on his chest without giving him a reason. Shortly afterwards it was given to the Pittsburgh Penguins together with Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings in exchange for John Cullen , Jeff Parker and Zarley Zalapski .

As the center of the second row behind Mario Lemieux , he again proved his class and was able to win the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in his first year . The following year the team was able to defend the title. On October 28, 1993 he was the 38th player in the NHL to reach the 1000-point mark . He was convincing offensively as well as defensively and took on a special role in the team due to his leadership qualities. When Mario Lemieux was injured for a long time, he took over the role of captain for the transition period in 1995. After Lemieux's resignation in 1997, he was of course again the first choice as team captain.

After seven and a half years, he left Pittsburgh and returned to his old team. In the meantime, however, they had moved and played in the southeastern United States as the Carolina Hurricanes . His name was still on top of all the best lists (games, goals, assists and points) in the history of the franchise. He took on the expected leadership role and brought his team to the Stanley Cup finals in the 2001/02 season . There they were inferior to the Detroit Red Wings .

At the end of the 2003/04 season he was given to the Toronto Maple Leafs and played there 12 games in the regular season and in the playoffs. After the start of the upcoming one was threatened by a strike, he announced his resignation on September 14, 2005. Only Wayne Gretzky has prepared more goals in the NHL and Francis is also fifth in the all-time best list of points.

In November 2006 he joined the management of the Carolina Hurricanes as Director of Player Development and in this position mainly observes the young players who belong to the organization of the Hurricanes in their development. At the beginning of October 2007, Francis also took over the position of Assistant General Manager.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 12, 2007 .

After Jim Rutherford resigned from all offices with the Hurricanes at the end of the 2013/14 season, Francis took over the position of General Manager. He held this position until March 2018, when he was introduced as the new President of Hockey Operations . The new owner of the Hurricanes, Tom Dundon , vacated the position of general manager before Francis was relieved of all duties in Carolina in late April 2018.

In July 2019, it was announced that Francis would take on the role of General Manager at the new Seattle franchise, which was named Kraken in July 2020 . For the team that is scheduled to start playing in the 2021/22 season, he is now responsible for building up the team.

Achievements and Awards

International

Records

franchise
  • 1,186 games in 16 seasons for the Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes
  • 1,175 points (382 goals + 793 assists) for the Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes
  • 793 templates for the Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes
  • 382 goals for the Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes
team
  • 714 games for the Hartford Whalers
  • 264 goals for the Hartford Whalers
  • 557 assists for the Hartford Whalers
  • 821 points (264 goals + 557 assists) for the Hartford Whalers
  • 69 assists for the Hartford Whalers in one season ( 1989/90 )

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
season team league Sp T V Pt SM Sp T V Pt SM
1980/81 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHL 64 26th 43 69 33 19th 7th 8th 15th 34
1981/82 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHL 25th 18th 30th 48 46 - - - - -
1981/82 Hartford Whalers NHL 59 25th 43 68 51 - - - - -
1982/83 Hartford Whalers NHL 79 31 59 90 60 - - - - -
1983/84 Hartford Whalers NHL 72 23 60 83 45 - - - - -
1984/85 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 24 57 81 66 - - - - -
1985/86 Hartford Whalers NHL 53 24 53 77 24 10 1 2 3 4th
1986/87 Hartford Whalers NHL 75 30th 63 93 45 6th 2 2 4th 6th
1987/88 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 25th 50 75 87 6th 2 5 7th 2
1988/89 Hartford Whalers NHL 69 29 48 77 36 4th 0 2 2 0
1989/90 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 32 69 101 73 7th 3 3 6th 8th
1990/91 Hartford Whalers NHL 67 21st 55 76 51 - - - - -
1990/91 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 14th 2 9 11 21st 24 7th 10 17th 24
1991/92 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 70 21st 33 54 30th 21st 8th 19th 27 6th
1992/93 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 84 24 76 100 68 12 6th 11 17th 19th
1993/94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 82 27 66 93 62 6th 0 2 2 6th
1994/95 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 44 11 48 59 18th 12 6th 13 19th 4th
1995/96 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 77 27 92 119 56 11 3 6th 9 4th
1996/97 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 81 27 63 90 20th 5 1 2 3 2
1997/98 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 81 25th 62 87 20th 6th 1 5 6th 2
1998/99 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 82 21st 31 52 34 3 0 1 1 0
1999/00 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 78 23 50 73 18th - - - - -
2000/01 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 82 15th 50 65 32 3 0 0 0 0
2001/02 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 80 27 50 77 18th 23 6th 10 16 6th
2002/03 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 82 22nd 35 57 30th - - - - -
2003/04 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 68 10 20th 30th 14th - - - - -
2003/04 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 12 3 7th 10 0 12 0 4th 4th 2
OHL total 89 44 73 117 79 19th 7th 8th 15th 34
NHL overall 1731 549 1249 1798 979 171 46 97 143 95

International

Represented Canada to:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
1985 Canada WM 2nd place, silver 10 2 5 7th 2
Men overall 10 2 5 7th 2

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Francis, Ron
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Francis junior, Ronald Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Sault Ste. Marie , Ontario , Canada