1982-83 was the only year Pat Lafontaine played in the QMJHL
and the second of three years in the Q for Mario Lemieux. That combination was
a catalyst for an extreme season of offense in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey
League.
Pat Lafontaine – Verdun Juniors
Pat Lafontaine led the league with 234 points, playing 70
games for the Verdun Juniors. Lafontaine scored 104 goals and assisted on 130
more. The New York Islanders quickly picked him up third overall at the 1983
NHL Entry Draft. Pat was drafted behind just Brian Lawton (Minnesota North
Stars) and Sylvain Turgeon (Hartford Whalers).
Lafontaine spent much of the 1983-84 season with the United
States Olympic team but did make his NHL debut, scoring 13 goals in just 15
regular season games for the Islanders. He also played in 16 playoff games as
the Islanders reached the Stanley Cup finals before falling to the Edmonton
Oilers. Lafontaine went on to play 865 regular season games in the NHL, scoring
468 goals while playing for the Islanders, Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers.
Claude Verret – Trois Rivieres Draveurs
Claude Verret of the Trois Rivieres Draveurs finished second
with 188 points over 68 regular season games. It was his third and final season
in the QMJHL. Verret topped 100 points in each of those three years. Claude was
an eighth round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 1982. He played a total of 14
games in the NHL, all with the Sabres. In 1983-84, Verret was rookie of the
year in the American Hockey League, amassing 90 points in 65 games for the
Rochester Americans.
Mario Lemieux – Laval Voisins
Mario
Lemieux of the Laval Voisins finished third with 184 points in 66 games, a
mere warm-up for his record setting season the following year. Super Mario was
in his second of three years with Laval. In 1983-84, he would set an unreachable
Canadian Hockey League record of 282 points on 133 goals and 149 assists. With
playoffs added in, he totalled 334 points.
The Pittsburgh Penguins grabbed Lemieux first overall at the
1984 NHL Entry Draft. Mario simply became the franchise, leading the team to
their first two Stanley Cup championships and leading the league in scoring on
six occasions.
Sylvain Turgeon – Hull Olympiques
Sylvain Turgeon finished fourth with 163 points in 67 games
for the Hull Olympiques. It was his second of two seasons with Hull. As
mentioned earlier, Turgeon was taken second overall by the Hartford Whalers at
the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. Turgeon was an immediate star for the Whalers,
scoring 40 goals in his rookie season. Sylvain played 669 regular season games
in the NHL from 1983-84 to 1994-95 with the Whalers, New Jersey Devils,
Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators.
Paul Adey – Hull Olympiques
Paul Adey of the Hull Olympiques rounded out the top five
with 162 points in 70 games. Adey is perhaps the most interesting of these five
players. After playing three years in the QMJHL, Paul went undrafted and played
three years of minor pro in North America. In 1988-89, he cross the Atlantic to
play for the Nottingham Panthers of the BHL and he became a legend.
Scoring 1,600 points for Nottingham, Adey has his number 22
retired by the club and is a member of the British Hockey Hall of Fame. Paul is
currently the Head Coach of Val Pusteria in Italy’s elite Lega Italiana Hockey
su Ghiaccio.
