Daniel Lacroix (born March 11, 1969) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player and coach. He played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

with five teams between 1993 and 2000. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1989 to 2002, was spent in various minor leagues. After retiring as a player he became a coach, working for many teams. In December 2019, he was named the head coach of the

Moncton Wildcats The Moncton Wildcats are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Moncton, New Brunswick. The franchise was granted for the 1995–96 QMJHL season, 1995–96 season known as the Moncton A ...

in the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

. He was an assistant coach for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

until April 27, 2018, to become head coach of the Lithuanian national team. Lacroix was drafted by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

in the second round, 33rd overall, of the

1989 NHL Entry Draft The 1989 NHL entry draft was the 27th NHL entry draft. It was held on June 17 at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Detroit Red Wings' 1989 draft has been noted as exceptionally successful, with 5,955 total NHL games played by the p ...

. A seven-year NHL veteran left wing, Lacroix played for the New York Rangers,

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

, and the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

Career

Born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Lacroix appeared in a total of 188 NHL games for the

and the

recording 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points and 379 penalty minutes. Aside from the playing in the NHL, Lacroix also spent eight seasons in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL), three seasons in the International Hockey League (IHL) and four seasons in the

(QMJHL). In 2000, he won the

Turner Cup The Turner Cup was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League from 1945 to 2001 and the renamed United Hockey League from 2007 to 2010. The Cup was named for Joe Turner, a goaltender from Windsor, Ontario. Turner became professi ...

championship with the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena ...

Coaching career

From 2002 to 2006, Lacroix was an assistant coach of the

. During his stint with the team, the Wildcats reached the QMJHL finals twice, including a

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

appearance in 2006. Halfway through the 2004–05 season, Lacroix took over as Moncton's interim head coach for the second half of the season. From 2006 to 2009, he served as assistant coach for the

. On August 5, 2009, Lacroix was named an assistant coach for the Hamilton Bulldogs for the

2009–10 AHL season The 2009–10 AHL season was the 74th season of the American Hockey League. Twenty-nine teams played 80 regular-season games each from October 2 to April 11. This season featured the addition of one new team, the relocation of two others, and th ...

. When

Guy Boucher Guy Boucher (born August 3, 1971) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach who is the head coach for Russian KHL club Avangard Omsk. Boucher is the former head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League ...

was hired as coach of the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

, Lacroix followed Boucher to Tampa Bay. From the 2013–14 season he was an assistant coach of the

. Lacroix was hired by the

on July 30, 2014, as an assistant coach and served in the role until 2018. On October 18, 2018, Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation appointed Lacroix as head coach of men's national team on one-year contract. On January 21, 2019,

Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany, that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their ho ...

from the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

(DEL) announced Lacroix to be their head coach for the rest of the season after the firing of Peter Draisaitl.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1969 births Living people Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies players Binghamton Rangers players Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey left wingers Chicago Wolves (IHL) players Edmonton Oilers players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players Ice hockey people from Montreal Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey players Lithuania men's national ice hockey team coaches Moncton Wildcats coaches Montreal Canadiens coaches Newcastle Jesters players New York Islanders coaches New York Islanders players New York Rangers draft picks New York Rangers coaches New York Rangers players Philadelphia Flyers players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Providence Bruins players Rochester Americans players Tampa Bay Lightning coaches 20th-century Canadian sportsmen {{Canada-icehockey-winger-1960s-stub