Serge Lajeunesse (born June 11, 1950) is a Canadian retired 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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who played 103 games 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 ...

(NHL) for the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

and

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 ...

between 1970 and 1974.

Playing career

Juniors

Lajeunesse was 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, ...

. He started playing hockey in his hometown of Montreal with the

Montreal Junior Canadiens The Montreal Junior Canadiens were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Junior Hockey League from 1933 to 1961, and the Ontario Hockey Association from 1961 to 1972. They played out of the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History Th ...

of the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the province of Ontario. Founded in 1890, the OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern ...

. He scored 22 points in combination with 172 penalty minutes in his first season with the team and helped them win the

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 ...

. The following season in 1969–70, Lajeunesse scored 29 points and saw his penalty minutes decrease almost by half to 87 on the season and again helped the team win their second consecutive Memorial Cup. The

drafted him with their first pick, 12th overall, in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft.

Professional

Lajeunesse started off in Detroit's farm team, the

Fort Worth Wings The Fort Worth Texans were a professional ice hockey team based in Fort Worth, Texas. The Texans started playing in 1967 as the Fort Worth Wings, a minor league affiliate for the Detroit Red Wings. The team were part of the Central Hockey League ...

of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

. He only played in 12 games before being brought up to the Red Wings on November 12, 1970 against the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. In the remaining 62 games of the

1970–71 NHL season The 1970–71 NHL season was the 54th season of the National Hockey League. Two new teams, the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks made their debuts and were both put into the East Division. The Chicago Black Hawks were moved to the West Divis ...

, Lajeunesse recorded 55 penalty minutes, recorded four assists, and scored his only NHL goal. After the Wings failed to reach the playoffs again that year, Lajeunesse was re-assessed and sent back down to the minors. The following season saw Lajeunesse move back and forth in the Wings' organization. He spent time with the

Tidewater Wings Tidewater may refer to: * Tidewater (region), a geographic area of southeast Virginia, southern Maryland, and northeast North Carolina. ** Tidewater accent, an accent of American English associated with the Tidewater region of Virginia * Tidewater ...

of 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 ...

and Fort Worth, while suiting up for seven games in Detroit. He contributed 20 penalty minutes in those seven games without scoring a point and finished the 1971–72 season back in Fort Worth where he helped with a short playoff run. He continued playing in the minor leagues with Tidewater (now renamed the

Virginia Wings The Virginia Wings were a professional ice hockey team based in Norfolk, Virginia of the greater Hampton Roads area. They were an affiliated farm team of the Detroit Red Wings, and a member of the American Hockey League for three seasons from 19 ...

) in 1972–73 before being called back to Detroit to fill in for injuries. Lajeunesse played in 28 NHL games that year and ended with 1 assist to go with 26 penalty minutes. Lajeunesse was traded on May 15, 1973 to the

for Rick Foley. He started off in the Flyers' farm system and would retire there. Lajeunesse played six more NHL games with Philadelphia in the following two seasons. He helped his AHL team the

Richmond Robins The Richmond Robins were a professional ice hockey team based in Richmond, Virginia. They were a member of the American Hockey League for five seasons from 1971–72 to 1975–76. Their cross-state rivals in the AHL were the Virginia Wings. The ...

reach the playoffs in three consecutive seasons ( 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76), but failed to help them get past the second round. Lajeunesse retired from hockey in 1976.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards

*Memorial Cup: 1969, 1970 (Montreal) *OHA All-Star Second Team: 1968–69, 1969–70 (Montreal)

External links

*
Serge Lajeunesse's Bio at Hockey Draft Central.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lajeunesse, Serge 1950 births Living people Canadian ice hockey defencemen Detroit Red Wings draft picks Detroit Red Wings players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Fort Worth Wings players Ice hockey people from Montreal Montreal Junior Canadiens players NHL first-round draft picks Philadelphia Flyers players Richmond Robins players Tidewater Wings players Virginia Wings players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen