Joseph Benoit (February 27, 1916 – October 19, 1981) was a

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

. He played for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

during the 1940s. He missed the 1943–44 season while serving with the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Ai ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and the 1944–45 season playing for the

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

team. He is chiefly remembered as the man who preceded

Maurice Richard Joseph Henri Maurice "Rocket" Richard (; ; August 4, 1921 – May 27, 2000) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player in NHL hist ...

on the "Punch Line" at right wing. He scored 20 goals in 1941–42 in a 48-game schedule, and 30 goals in 1942–43 in a 50-game schedule. Joe decided to sacrifice his career to serve his country in World War II, though and joined the armed forces. In his NHL career, Benoit played in 185 games. He recorded 75 goals and 69 assists. He also appeared in 11 Stanley Cup playoff games, scoring six goals and adding three assists. He won a Stanley Cup Championship in 1946.

Career statistics

International play

External links

Joe Benoit @ Legends of Hockey
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benoit, Joe 1916 births 1981 deaths Canadian ice hockey right wingers Canadian Army personnel of World War II Sportspeople from St. Albert, Alberta Montreal Canadiens players Springfield Indians players Stanley Cup champions Ice hockey people from Alberta