Marcel Pronovost played 1,206 games in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs despite a bruising style that resulted in many injuries.
Pronovost had 297 points (80 goals, 217 assists) in 983 games with the Red Wings, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 1950, '52, '54 and '55. He was traded to the Maple Leafs on May 20, 1965, helped them win the Cup in 1967 and had 48 points (eight goals, 40 assists) in 223 games before retiring seven games into the 1969-70 season.
Marcel Pronovost played 1,206 games in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs despite a bruising style that resulted in many injuries.
Pronovost had 297 points (80 goals, 217 assists) in 983 games with the Red Wings, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 1950, '52, '54 and '55. He was traded to the Maple Leafs on May 20, 1965, helped them win the Cup in 1967 and had 48 points (eight goals, 40 assists) in 223 games before retiring seven games into the 1969-70 season.
Stan Fischler wrote in 2018 that Pronovost's "stitches and fractures ran into triple figures, and his sprains were so numerous he eventually lost count of them." He played four games with a cracked ankle for the Red Wings against the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1961 Stanley Cup Final.
"Marcel's courage could match anyone's in the League," former Red Wings general manager Jack Adams told Fischler. "Marsh's problem was the fact that he was overshadowed by our more flashy players like Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and Red Kelly."
Pronovost then went into coaching, beginning with Tulsa of the Central Hockey League (1969-72), winning the Jake Milford Trophy for CHL Coach of the Year in 1970. His NHL coaching career included stints with the Buffalo Sabres (1977-79) and the Red Wings as an assistant from 1980-82.
After working at the NHL Central Scouting Bureau from 1985-89, Pronovost became a scout for the New Jersey Devils in 1990.
Pronovost was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978, the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. He died April 26, 2015 at age 84.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- USHL First All-Star Team (1950)
- Outstanding Rookie Cup (USHL - Top Rookie) (1950)
- AHL Second All-Star Team (1951)
- NHL Second All-Star Team (1958, 1959)
- NHL First All-Star Team (1960, 1961)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (1950, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1968)
- Traded to Toronto by Detroit with Aut Erickson, Larry Jeffrey, Eddie Joyal and Lowell MacDonald for Billy Harris, Gary Jarrett and Andy Bathgate, May 20, 1965.
- Named playing-coach of Tulsa (CHL) by Toronto, September 12, 1969.
