Alphonse Lacroix

Alphonse Lacroix
Born	(1897-10-21)October 21, 1897 Newton, MA, USA
Died	Lewiston, ME, USA
Height	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight	136 lb (62 kg; 9 st 10 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	Montreal Canadiens
National team	United States
Playing career	1921–1931

Olympic medal record
Men's Ice hockey
	1924 Chamonix	Team Competition

Alphonse Albert "Al, Frenchy" Lacroix (October 21, 1897 – April 12, 1973) was an American ice hockey goaltender who is best known as a member of the silver medal-winning American ice hockey team at the 1924 Winter Olympics, and as the emergency goaltender who replaced Georges Vezina when he collapsed in a game in 1925.

Career

Lacroix was born in Newton, Massachusetts, and began his hockey career playing for the high school team in 1914. By 1917 he began playing in the Boston city senior amateur league. He joined the Boston Athletic Association in 1919 and played for their hockey team in the city senior league and later the United States Amateur Hockey Association. He was selected to the United States Olympic team at the 1924 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal.

In 1925 he was retained by the National Hockey League as an emergency goaltender, on hand to replace any of the clubs' goalies should they suffer serious injury. His only experience at the top professional level came in 1925, when he replaced the Montreal Canadiens' Georges Vezina.

Vezina was unknowingly suffering from tuberculosis. Running a fever of 102 °F and coughing up blood on the ice, Lacroix relieved Vezina at the start of the second period of the opening game of the 1925–26 Montreal Canadiens season against the Pittsburgh Pirates on November 28. By December 15 the Canadiens had signed Herb Rheaume as Vezina's permanent replacement. Lacroix would stay on with the Canadiens as a spare goaltender until 1927, but never played another game in the NHL.

Lacroix continued his career in the Can-Am League and the semi-pro North East Hockey League. He retired from hockey in 1931.

He died in Lewiston, Maine.

Career statistics

				Regular season									Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1914-15	Newton High School	high school		7	5	1	1	294	15	0	2.04		1	1	0	40	1	0	1.00
1915-16	Newton High School	high school		7	5	2	0	280	9	2	1.29		-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
1916-17	Newton High School	high school		8	7	0	1	320	10	4	1.25		-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
1917-18	Boston Navy Yard	Boston seniors		11	7	4	0	455	22	3	1.93		-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
1918-19	Boston Navy Yard	Boston seniors
1919-20	Boston A.A. Unicorns	Boston seniors		3	2	1	0	135	8	0	2.67		-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
1920-21	Boston A.A. Unicorns	USAHA
1921-22	Boston A.A. Unicorns	USAHA		1	1	0	0	45	2	0	2.00		-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
1922-23	Boston A.A. Unicorns	USAHA		9	9	0	0	405	10	4	1.11		4	3	1	180	4	1	1.00
1923-24	Boston A.A. Unicorns	USAHA		6	3	3	0	270	10	1	1.67		3	1	2	180	8	0	2.67
	United States	Olympics		5	4	1	0	225	6	4	1.20		-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
1924-25	Boston A.A. Unicorns	USAHA		21	15	6	0	955	40	4	1.88		4	1	3	150	10	1	3.00
1925-26	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		5	1	4	0	280	16	0	3.43		-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
1926-27	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00		-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
1927-28	Providence Reds	Can-Am		4	1	3	0	250	12	0	2.88		-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
	Lewiston St. Doms	NEHL		22	8	12	2	1350	42	5	1.87		5			305	16	0	3.15
1928-29	Lewiston St. Doms	NEHL		4	3	1	0	240	9	0	2.25		3	2	1	240	8	1	2.67
1929-30	Providence Reds	Cam-Am		1	1	0	0	60	2	0	2.00		-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
1930-31	Boston Tigers	Cam-Am		4	1	3	0	240	13	0	3.25		-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--

External links

• Olympic profile
• NHL profile