Junior Lessard
Born (1980-05-26) May 26, 1980
Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Quebec, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 191 lb (87 kg; 13 st 9 lb)
Position Right wing/Centre
Shot Right
LNAH team
Former teams		 Thetford Mines Isothermic
Dallas Stars
Tampa Bay Lightning
Ilves
Augsburger Panther
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2004–2011

Lucien Lessard Jr.[1][2][3] (born May 26, 1980), known as Junior Lessard, is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who last played for the Thetford Mines Isothermic of the LNAH.

Playing career

As a youth, Lessard played in the 1993 and 1994 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Beauce, Quebec.[4]

Lessard attended the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he led the NCAA in goals (32) and points (63) as a senior during the 2003–04 season, numbers that would be good enough to win the Hobey Baker Award. He also led the WCHA in the same categories with 19 goals and 39 points in conference play.

On April 15, 2004, Lessard signed a free agent contract with the Dallas Stars and made his NHL debut during the 2005–06 season.

Lessard was traded to Tampa Bay on January 15, 2008 in exchange for Dan Jancevski.

Lessard signed a contract with the Atlanta Thrashers on July 9, 2008 and was assigned to affiliate the Chicago Wolves to start the 2008–09 season.

On January 13, 2009, Lessard was traded by the Thrashers to the New York Islanders for Brett Skinner and was immediately sent to the Islanders' AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.[5]

On October 7, 2009, Lessard signed a one-year contract with SM-liiga team Ilves, but was released on November 4 due to injury after only four games.[6]

On January 13, 2010, Lessard signed with Canadian semi-pro team the Thetford Mines Isothermic of the LNAH.

On February 1, 2010, after recovering from injury, Lessard signed with German team Augsburger Panther of the DEL for the remainder of the season.[7]

Awards and honors

Award Year
WCHA All-Tournament Team 2003 [8]
All-WCHA First Team 2003–04
AHCA West First-Team All-American 2003–04
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 2004 [9]
  • 1998–99 -MJHL All-Rookie Team
  • 1999–00 -MJHL First All-Star Team
  • 1999–00 -MJHL Most Valuable Player
  • Named Canadian Junior A Hockey League Player of the Year with the Portage Terriers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League
  • 2003–04 -WCHA Player of the Year
  • 2003–04 -NCAA Hobey Baker Award[10]
  • National Player of the Year honors in 2004 by College Hockey Online[11] and Inside College Hockey[12]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1998–99 Portage Terriers MJHL 60 20 41 61 129 — — — — —
1999–2000 Portage Terriers MJHL 60 60 48 108 61 — — — — —
2000–01 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 36 4 8 12 12 — — — — —
2001–02 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 39 17 13 30 50 — — — — —
2002–03 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 40 21 16 37 20 — — — — —
2003–04 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 45 32 31 63 34 — — — — —
2004–05 Houston Aeros AHL 71 11 11 22 25 5 1 0 1 0
2005–06 Dallas Stars NHL 5 1 0 1 12 — — — — —
2005–06 Iowa Stars AHL 66 26 32 58 30 7 3 4 7 4
2006–07 Dallas Stars NHL 1 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
2006–07 Iowa Stars AHL 65 27 25 52 32 12 4 5 9 4
2007–08 Dallas Stars NHL 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2007–08 Iowa Stars AHL 36 10 11 21 15 — — — — —
2007–08 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 19 1 1 2 9 — — — — —
2007–08 Norfolk Admirals AHL 19 6 9 15 4 — — — — —
2008–09 Chicago Wolves AHL 41 6 5 11 10 — — — — —
2008–09 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 21 7 6 13 2 1 0 1 1 0
2009–10 Ilves SM-l 4 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
2009–10 Thetford Mines Isothermic LNAH 4 2 1 3 0 — — — — —
2009–10 Augsburger Panther DEL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2010–11 Thetford Mines Isothermic LNAH 4 0 3 3 2 — — — — —
2010–11 Idaho Steelheads ECHL 22 10 10 20 16 — — — — —
2011–12 Thetford Mines Isothermic LNAH 25 12 11 23 6 8 1 3 4 0
2012–13 Thetford Mines Isothermic LNAH 2 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2015–16 St-Joseph Justiciers LHBBF 8 4 7 11 6 10 3 2 5 4
2016–17 St-Joseph Justiciers LHBBF 11 1 9 10 6 4 0 2 2 2
AHL totals 319 93 99 192 118 25 8 10 18 8
NHL totals 27 3 1 4 23 — — — — —

References

  1. ↑ "LNH : Liste des joueurs québécois et des joueurs francophones - Saison 2010-2011" (in French)..
  2. ↑ "Feature On Junior Lessard"..
  3. ↑ "Lucien Junior Lessard, hockeyeur évoluant dans la ligue nationale a reçu le Sommet Ambassadeur de la Ville Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce" (in French). Archived from the original on July 6, 2011..
  4. ↑ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Islanders acquire Lessard from Thrashers for Skinner". TSN.ca. January 13, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Ilves sign Canadian Junior Lessard" (in Finnish). Ilves. October 7, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Augsburger Panther with last minute commitment" (in German). Augsburger Panther. February 1, 2010. Archived from the original on February 6, 2010. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  8. ↑ "WCHA Tourney History". WCHA. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  9. ↑ "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Inside College Hockey | Lessard Wins Hobey Baker Award". www.insidecollegehockey.com. Archived from the original on May 2, 2004.
  11. ↑ US College Hockey Online
  12. ↑ Inside College Hockey
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