Rick St. Croix

Richard St. Croix (born January 3, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 131 games in the National Hockey League with the Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs between 1978 and 1985. After his playing career he worked as an assistant coach for the Maple Leafs.[1] He also served as a goaltending coach for the Dallas Stars, and an assistant coach and goaltending coach for the Manitoba Moose and St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League. He was selected in the fourth round of the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft by the Flyers, and his two sons would also be drafted, though neither played in the NHL.

Rick St. Croix
St. Croix in 1977
Born (1955-01-03) January 3, 1955
Kenora, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st 6 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Philadelphia Flyers
Toronto Maple Leafs
NHL Draft 72nd overall, 1975
Philadelphia Flyers
WHA Draft 169th overall, 1975
Houston Aeros
Playing career 1975–1986

Playing career

St. Croix was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the fourth round of the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft after a junior hockey career with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA).[2] He was also drafted by the World Hockey Association Houston Aeros in the 13th round of the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft.[2] He had been a Second Team OHA All Star in 1973.[3]

St. Croix made his NHL debut for the Flyers during the 1977–78 season on February 16, 1978 at the Spectrum against the Minnesota North Stars.[2][4] He played 7 games for the Flyers that season, while playing most of the season with the Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League (AHL).[2] He played 2 games for the Flyers in 1978–79 and one game for the record-setting Flyer team of 1979-80.[2] In 1979–80 he also won the Hap Holmes Memorial Award, awarded to goaltenders playing at least 25 games for the AHL team with the lowest goals against average, sharing the award with teammate Robbie Moore.[2][5][6][7] He was also named a First Team AHL All-Star that season.[3][5] 1980-81 was St. Croix's first full season in the NHL, in which he split time as the Flyers' goaltender with Pete Peeters and Phil Myre.[2][8] He spent parts of three seasons with the Flyers before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1982–83 season in exchange for goaltender Michel Larocque.[2][4][9]

St. Croix's final season in the NHL was 1984–85, which he split between the Maple Leafs and the St. Catharines Saints in the AHL.[2] He spent one more season as a professional hockey player, 1985-86 with the International Hockey League (IHL) Fort Wayne Komets.[2] With the Komets that season, he shared the IHL James Norris Memorial Trophy with teammate Pokey Reddick, awarded to the goaltender(s) having the fewest goals against during the season.[2][5][10][11] He was also named an IHL Second Team All Star that season.[5][9]

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, St. Croix became a coach. He served as an assistant coach for the Winnipeg Jets for the 1987–88 and 1988-89 seasons.[2] He was later named goaltending coach for the Dallas Stars where he won the Stanley Cup with the team in 1999.[4][5] St. Croix was goaltending coach for the Manitoba Moose from 2008 to 2011. Prior to the 2011–12 season, the team was relocated to Newfoundland and renamed the St. John's IceCaps where St. Croix continued to serve as an assistant coach/goaltending coach.[2] In September 2012, with the resignation of Francois Allaire, St. Croix was hired as the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending coach.[12] St. Croix was fired in an organizational housecleaning on April 12, 2015.[13]

When the IceCaps returned as the Manitoba Moose in 2015, St. Croix rejoined the organization as developmental goaltending coach and scout until he retired in 2021.[14]

Personal

St. Croix's oldest son, Chris, was a 4th round draft choice of the Calgary Flames in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, and played professional hockey as a defenseman in Germany, as well as in the AHL, ECHL and CHL.[4][15][16][17] His youngest son, Michael played junior hockey as a forward for the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League.[4][18][19] He was drafted by the New York Rangers in the 4th round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.[20] Michael played several years in the AHL and ECHL before retiring in 2016. He also has two daughters.[4] In addition to his coaching duties, St. Croix also runs a goaltending school.[4]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPWLTMINGASOGAASV% GPWLMINGASOGAASV%
1970–71 Kenora Muskies MJHL 23———12657103.37.922 ————————
1971–72 Kenora Muskies MJHL 43———240217204.30.892 ————————
1971–72 Winnipeg Jets WCHL 31101601304.88— ————————
1972–73 Oshawa Generals OHA 52———317624704.67.882 ————————
1973–74 Oshawa Generals OHA 33———193213014.04— ————————
1974–75 Oshawa Generals OMJHL 32———196513114.00— 10160909.00—
1975–76 Flint Generals IHL 42———220111803.22— ————————
1976–77 Flint Generals IHL 53———295617933.63— 5143373005.34—
1976–77 Springfield Indians AHL 110060303.00— ————————
1977–78 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 72413942003.05.879 ————————
1977–78 Maine Mariners AHL 4022142226611623.07— 4131741806.21—
1978–79 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 2011117603.08.887 ————————
1978–79 Philadelphia Firebirds AHL 94414842202.73— ————————
1978–79 Maine Mariners AHL 22109313126302.88— ————————
1979–80 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 110060202.00.920 ————————
1979–80 Maine Mariners AHL 4625147272913212.90.902 5143111603.09—
1980–81 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 27137615646522.50.913 9455382713.01.892
1981–82 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 291396172611203.89.870 10120103.11.875
1982–83 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 169529395403.45.875 ————————
1982–83 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 174929155803.80.886 100110225.00.000
1983–84 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 2051009378005.13.849 ————————
1983–84 St. Catharines Saints AHL 87104822903.61— 3111331004.50—
1984–85 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 122906285605.35.824 ————————
1984–85 St. Catharines Saints AHL 18610110769205.33.849 ————————
1985–86 Fort Wayne Komets IHL 4225130247413223.20— 8344113004.38—
NHL totals 131495418727745323.74.875 11465572913.12.888

Awards

References
  1. "Toronto Maple Leafs officially hire Rick St. Croix as goaltending coach". NHL.com.
  2. "Rick St. Croix". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  3. "Philadelphia Flyers Goaltending History - Rick St. Croix". The Goalie Archive. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  4. Glew, K. "Backchecking: St. Croix was a Saint". The Hockey News. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  5. "Rick St. Croix". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  6. "Harry (Hap) Holmes Memorial Award". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  7. "Robbie Moore". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  8. "1980-81 Philadelphia Flyers". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  9. "Toronto Maple Leafs Goaltending History - Rick St. Croix". The Goalie Archive. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  10. "James Norris Memorial Trophy". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  11. "Pokey Reddick". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  12. "Burke: Leafs were only trying to improve Allaire's methods". www.tsn.ca. Archived from the original on 2012-09-20.
  13. "Maple Leafs Clean House, Firing GM, Interim Coach, Staff". ABC News. April 12, 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  14. "Moose Announce Goaltending Coach Changes". OurSports Central. 2021-08-05.
  15. "Chris St. Croix". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  16. "Chris St. Croix". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  17. "Richard V. (Rick) St. Croix". hockeygoalies.org. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  18. Echevarria, A. "Prospect Watch: Michael St. Croix". The Hockey News. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  19. Campbell, T. (June 4, 2011). "Local NHL prospect St. Croix gets stoked". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  20. Campbell, T. (June 26, 2011). "Trio of 'Tobans celebrate selections". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.