Michel Picard (ice hockey) explained

Michel Picard
Position:Left wing
Shoots:Left
Height Ft:5
Height In:11
Weight Lb:190
Played For:Hartford Whalers
San Jose Sharks
Ottawa Senators
St. Louis Blues
Edmonton Oilers
Philadelphia Flyers
League:NHL
Birth Date:November 7, 1969
Birth Place:Beauport, Quebec, Canada
Career Start:1990
Career End:2009
Draft:178th overall
Draft Year:1989
Draft Team:Hartford Whalers

Michel Daniel Picard (born November 7, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Picard played in the National Hockey League with the Hartford Whalers, San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators, St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, and Philadelphia Flyers., he serves as an amateur scout for the Blues.[1]

Playing career

As a youth, Picard played in the 1981 and 1982 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Beauport, Quebec City.[2]

Picard began his career playing for Trois-Rivières Draveurs in the QMJHL, where he established himself as a scoring force who was also tough and hard hitting. His final year there he scored 140 points in 66 games.

Picard was drafted by the Whalers in the 9th round, 178th overall, in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. He met with great success in the minor leagues, leading the American Hockey League with a franchise-record 56 goals for the Springfield Indians in 1991, while leading the team to its final Calder Cup championship.[3]

However, Picard would never translate his earlier success to the NHL. He never played a full season in the NHL and only played in at least half of the games in a season once, during the 1999 season. That season he also played in five playoff games, the only time he played in the NHL playoffs.

For the 2002 season Picard played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany for the Adler Mannheim. He then played for two years with the Grand Rapids Griffins (a team for which he played parts of six seasons in all, and is the career leader in goals, assists and points) in the AHL before joining Thetford Mines Prolab of the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey in 2004. He led the team in scoring in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and was the leading scorer in the LNAH in the 2007 season, retiring after the end of the 2009 season.

As of November 2014, Picard is the 16th leading goal scorer in minor league history with 563 https://web.archive.org/web/20120106181251/http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/records/minor_record.php, as well as 19th in points with 1256.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGP PIMGP G A Pts PIM
1985–86Sainte-Foy GouverneursQMAAA42 53 34 87
1986–87Trois-Rivières DraveursQMJHL66 33 35 68 53
1987–88Trois-Rivières DraveursQMJHL69 40 55 95 71
1988–89Trois-Rivières DraveursQMJHL66 59 81 140 1074 1 3 4 2
1989–90Binghamton WhalersAHL67 16 24 40 98
1990–91Springfield IndiansAHL77 56 40 96 6118 8 13 21 18
1990–91Hartford WhalersNHL5 1 0 1 2
1991–92Springfield IndiansAHL40 21 17 38 4411 2 0 2 34
1991–92Hartford WhalersNHL25 3 5 8 6
1992–93Kansas City BladesIHL33 7 10 17 5112 3 2 5 20
1992–93San Jose SharksNHL25 4 0 4 24
1993–94Portland PiratesAHL61 41 44 85 9917 11 10 21 22
1994–95PEI SenatorsAHL57 32 57 89 588 4 4 8 6
1994–95Ottawa SenatorsNHL24 5 8 13 14
1995–96Ottawa SenatorsNHL17 2 6 8 10
1995–96PEI SenatorsAHL55 37 45 82 795 5 1 6 2
1996–97Västra Frölunda HCSEL3 0 1 1 0
1996–97Grand Rapids GriffinsIHL82 46 55 101 585 2 0 2 10
1997–98Grand Rapids GriffinsIHL58 28 41 69 42
1997–98St. Louis BluesNHL16 1 8 9 29
1998–99Grand Rapids GriffinsIHL6 2 2 4 2
1998–99St. Louis BluesNHL45 11 11 22 165 0 0 0 2
1999–00Grand Rapids GriffinsIHL65 33 35 68 5017 8 10 18 4
1999–00Edmonton OilersNHL2 0 0 0 2
2000–01Philadelphia PhantomsAHL72 31 39 70 2210 4 5 9 4
2000–01Philadelphia FlyersNHL7 1 4 5 0
2001–02Adler MannheimDEL60 24 28 52 3012 7 6 13 4
2002–03Grand Rapids GriffinsAHL78 32 52 84 3415 3 1 4 8
2003–04Grand Rapids GriffinsAHL75 17 37 54 354 0 0 0 2
2003–04Thetford Mines ProlabLNAH60 36 55 91 2217 6 11 17 8
2005–06Thetford Mines ProlabLNAH55 50 37 87 3518 5 15 20 12
2006–07Thetford Mines ProlabLNAH48 48 51 99 187 6 3 9 2
2007–08Thetford Mines IsothermicLNAH52 22 51 73 367 3 6 9 2
2008–09Sainte-Marie Poutrelles DeltaLNAH7 5 5 10 4
2008–09Thetford Mines IsothermicLNAH7 3 4 7 21 0 1 1 0
AHL totals582 283 355 638 53088 37 34 71 96
NHL totals166 28 42 70 1035 0 0 0 2

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Blues Front Office . NHL.com . January 18, 2019.
  2. Web site: Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA. 2018. Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2019-01-17.
  3. Web site: Garry Brown . It's a big hockey Saturday, including a T-Birds 'Blast from the Past' game . masslive.com . January 18, 2019 . January 4, 2019.