Thursday, August 25, 2022

Orval Tessier obit

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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