Tessier dies at 89, Jack Adams Award winner in 1983
Coached Black Hawks for three seasons, won Stanley Cup as Avalanche scout
He was not on the list.
Orval Tessier, who won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year in 1983, died Aug. 25. He was 89.
Tessier also was a scout with the Colorado Avalanche when they won the Stanley Cup in 2001.
Tessier coached the Chicago Black Hawks from 1982-85, going 99-93 with 21 ties.
He was voted the Jack Adams Award winner after his first season, 1982-83, when Chicago went 47-23 with 10 ties and finished eight points ahead of the Minnesota North Stars for first place in the Norris Division. The Black Hawks reached the Campbell Conference Final that season, losing the best-of-7 series to the Edmonton Oilers in four games.
The Black Hawks qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Tessier's first two seasons, but he was fired 53 games into the 1984-85 season following a 6-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 3, 1985.
Prior to working in the NHL, Tessier coached in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and American Hockey League.
He led Cornwall of the QMJHL to the Memorial Cup championship in 1972, and the following season guided Quebec of the QMJHL to the Memorial Cup championship game.
In 1982 he coached New Brunswick of the AHL to the Calder Cup championship.
Tessier, a forward, played three NHL seasons between 1954-55 and 1960-61, with 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 59 games with the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins.
He won two scoring titles with the Eastern Professional Hockey League's Kingston Frontenacs, and was voted the league's most valuable player and most sportsmanlike player in the 1961–62 season.
After playing, Tessier had a successful coaching career. In junior ice hockey, Tessier coached the Cornwall Royals to Memorial Cup victory in 1972. Tessier coached the 1981 Memorial Cup finalists, the Kitchener Rangers. The next season, Tessier was hired to coach the New Brunswick Hawks in the American Hockey League. He led the Hawks to a Calder Cup victory in 1982. Tessier was promoted, and named head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, which lasted for three seasons. In 1983 Tessier won the Jack Adams Award as the best coach in the NHL.
During the 1983 Campbell Conference finals, Tessier was quoted as saying that the Blackhawks players needed "heart transplants" after giving up 16 goals in the first two games of the series against the Edmonton Oilers, and trailing in the series 2 games to 0. The quip failed to inspire the Hawks, who dropped the final two games of the series at Chicago Stadium, marking the second consecutive year Chicago lost in the Campbell Conference final.
Played for
Montreal Canadiens
Boston Bruins
Portland Buckaroos
Clinton Comets
Quebec Aces
Springfield Indians
Hershey Bears
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1951–52 Kitchener Greenshirts OHA 52 62 25 87 18 4 3 1 4 8
1952–53 Kitchener Greenshirts OHA 55 54 40 94 19 15 7 13 20 12
1952–53 Barrie Flyers M-Cup — — — — — 10 10 18 28 14
1953–54 Montreal Royals QHL 60 21 18 39 13 9 2 1 3 6
1954–55 Montreal Canadiens NHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1954–55 Montreal Royals QHL 60 36 30 66 8 12 4 7 11 0
1955–56 Boston Bruins NHL 23 2 3 5 6 — — — — —
1955–56 Hershey Bears AHL 2 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
1955–56 Quebec Aces QHL 28 5 10 15 4 7 1 2 3 2
1956–57 Quebec Aces QHL 68 43 38 81 24 10 7 5 12 0
1957–58 Springfield Indians AHL 12 5 3 8 2 — — — — —
1958–59 Trois-Rivières Lions QHL 62 27 39 66 4 8 2 3 5 9
1959–60 Kingston Frontenacs EPHL 70 59 67 126 10 — — — — —
1960–61 Boston Bruins NHL 32 3 4 7 0 — — — — —
1960–61 Kingston Frontenacs EPHL 34 22 21 43 6 5 4 2 6 0
1961–62 Kingston Frontenacs EPHL 66 54 60 114 12 11 5 9 14 0
1962–63 Portland Buckaroos WHL 36 15 21 36 9 7 0 0 0 0
1963–64 Portland Buckaroos WHL 66 14 34 48 4 5 1 2 3 0
1964–65 Clinton Comets EHL 66 60 58 118 42 11 2 7 9 0
QHL totals 278 132 135 267 53 46 16 18 34 17
NHL totals 59 5 7 12 6 — — — — —
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