- Didier Pitre
-
Didier Pitre 
Born September 1, 1883
Valleyfield, QC, CANDied July 29, 1934 (aged 50)
Sault Ste. Marie, ON, CANHeight 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb) Position Forward
Rover
DefenceShot Right Played for Montreal Le National
American Soo Indians
Montreal Shamrocks
Edm Eskimos
Renfrew Millionaires
Vancouver Millionaires
Montreal CanadiensPlaying career 1908–1928 Hall of Fame, 1962 Joseph George Didier "Cannonball" Pitre (1 September 1883— 29 July 1934) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He was nicked named "Cannonball". One of the first players to join the Montreal Canadiens, Pitre's French-Canadian heritage helped give his line-mates the nickname the Flying Frenchmen, brought upon by his exceptional speed. As well as playing for the Canadiens, Pitre played for several other teams in various leagues such as the International Professional Hockey League, the first professional hockey league, and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. A prolific scorer, Pitre helped the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 1916. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962. He was the uncle of Vic Desjardins, a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.
Contents
Playing career
IHL
Didier Pitre's first major hockey league was in an early IHL playing with the American Soo Indians, who played in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. He joined the Soo team in 1904. By 1905/06, he was the already the top scorer in the league scoring 41 goals in 22 games played. Pitre was on the IHL all-star first team that year in 1906 and again in 1907.
Shamrocks
The next season, he left as a free agent and played with the Montreal Shamrocks in the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association. He lasted only one year before leaving to play with the Edmonton Eskimos. He stayed three years with the Eskimos before jumping contract and coming back to eastern Canada where he played with the Renfrew Creamery Kings for the remainder of 1908.
Canadiens
Pitre with the Canadiens.
He joined the Montreal Canadiens in 1909. He stayed for four years, before leaving for the west again. He spent a year playing with the Vancouver Millionaires. Pitre returned to Montreal the next year. In 1916, Pitre led the National Hockey Association in regular season assists and points. He scored 24 goals, 15 assists (assists in those days were one per goal and only if the official scorer thought it contributed to the goal being scored) for 39 points. He also helped lead the Canadiens to their first ever Stanley Cup. He led the playoffs in goals as well. In the 1919 Stanley Cup playoffs, which were never completed due to the influenza epidemic, he led the playoffs in points. By 1921, the Canadiens had so much depth at forward, and an opening on defence due to the death of future Hall of Famer Joe Hall in the influenza epidemic, so they decided to try Pitre as a defenceman; not as difficult a transition as one might think, because he had previously been a "Rover" during the days of "seven man" hockey. He remained with Montreal through the formation of the NHL and into 1923.
Last seasons
Pitre with the Canadiens, circa 1921–22Pitre played essentially his entire career as a forward. At age 38, however, Pitre for the first time regularly played as a defenceman. He played defence for his final two seasons before retiring. Pitre was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962. His nephew, Vic Desjardins, would also play in the NHL and would be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.[1]
Didier Pitre was also a member of the great line called "The Flying Frenchmen" alongside of Jack Laviolette and Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde. He died July 29, 1934 as a result of acute indigestion.[1]
Trivia
In a January 16, 1919 game against the Ottawa Senators, Pitre, with the Montreal Canadiens, and Jack Darragh, of Ottawa, each had natural hat tricks in a 10-6 win for the Canadiens. That feat was not repeated until Jonathan Cheechoo, with the San Jose Sharks, and Ryan Smyth, Edmonton Oilers, each did in a 6-4 Edmonton victory on October 19, 2006.[2]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1904 Montreal Le National FAHL 2 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 1905 Montreal Le National CAHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1904–05 Michigan Soo Indians IPHL 13 11 0 11 6 — — — — — 1905–06 Michigan Soo Indians IPHL 22 41 0 41 29 — — — — — 1906–07 Michigan Soo Indians IPHL 23 25 11 36 28 — — — — — 1907–08 Montreal Shamrocks ECAHA 10 3 0 3 15 — — — — — 1908–09 Edmonton Eskimos ESrHL 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 11 1909 Renfrew Creamery Kings FHL — — — — — — — — — — 1910 Montreal Canadiens NHA 12 11 0 11 5 — — — — — 1910–11 Montreal Canadiens NHA 16 19 0 19 22 — — — — — 1911–12 Montreal Canadiens NHA 18 27 0 27 40 — — — — — 1912–13 Montreal Canadiens NHA 17 24 0 24 80 — — — — — 1913–14 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 15 14 2 16 12 — — — — — 1914–15 Montreal Canadiens NHA 20 30 4 34 15 — — — — — 1915–16 Montreal Canadiens NHA 24 24 15 39 42 5 4 0 4 18 1916–17 Montreal Canadiens NHA 21 21 6 27 50 6 7 2 9 38 1917–18 Montreal Canadiens NHL 20 17 6 23 29 2 0 1 1 13 1918–19 Montreal Canadiens NHL 17 14 5 19 12 10 2 6 8 3 1919–20 Montreal Canadiens NHL 22 14 12 26 6 — — — — — 1920–21 Montreal Canadiens NHL 23 16 5 21 25 — — — — — 1921–22 Montreal Canadiens NHL 23 2 4 6 12 — — — — — 1922–23 Montreal Canadiens NHL 22 1 2 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 IPHL totals 58 77 11 88 63 — — — — — NHA totals 128 156 25 181 254 11 11 2 13 56 PCHA totals 15 14 2 16 12 — — — — — NHL totals 127 64 34 98 84 14 2 7 9 16 - All statistics are taken from NHL.com.[3]
References
- ^ a b The Gazete (1934-07-30). "Didier Pitre, Canadien Hockey Star From 1910 to '23, Is Dead". The Gazette (Montreal): p. 12. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GX0tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h5gFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6835%2C3100079. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
- ^ McKeon, Robert (October 13, 2006). "Sharks give up 4 in 3rd / Oiler Smyth's hat trick outshines Cheechoo's". San Francisco Chronicle. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/13/SPG2ULOTMU1.DTL. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
- ^ NHL.com (2009). "Didier Pitre's NHL Profile". NHL.com. http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8448154. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
External links
Categories:- 1883 births
- 1934 deaths
- Canadian ice hockey players
- Disease-related deaths in Ontario
- Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
- Ice hockey people from Quebec
- Michigan Soo Indians players
- Montreal Canadiens (NHA) players
- Montreal Canadiens players
- People from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield
- Stanley Cup champions
- Vancouver Millionaires players
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