Rick St. Croix

Rick St. Croix
Born (1955-01-03) January 3, 1955
Kenora, ON, CAN
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st 6 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Philadelphia Flyers
Toronto Maple Leafs
NHL Draft 72nd overall, 1975
Philadelphia Flyers
WHA Draft 169th overall, 1975
Houston Aeros
Playing career 1975–1986

Richard St. Croix (born January 3, 1955) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He was formerly one of the assistant coaches of the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs.[1] He has previously been a goaltending coach for the Dallas Stars, and an assistant coach and goaltending coach for the Manitoba Moose and St. John's IceCaps (of the AHL). He was a 4th round NHL draft pick, as were his two sons.

Playing career

St. Croix was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 4th round of the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft after a junior hockey career with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA).[2] He was also drafted by the World Hockey Association Houston Aeros in the 13th round of the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft.[2] He had been a Second Team OHA All Star in 1973.[3]

St. Croix made his NHL debut for the Flyers during the 1977-78 season on February 16, 1978 at the Spectrum against the Minnesota North Stars.[2][4] He played 7 games for the Flyers that season, while playing most of the season with the Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League (AHL).[2] He played 2 games for the Flyers in 1978-79 and one game for the record-setting Flyer team of 1979-80.[2] In 1979-80 he also won the Hap Holmes Memorial Award, awarded to goaltenders playing at least 25 games for the AHL team with the lowest goals against average, sharing the award with teammate Robbie Moore.[2][5][6][7] He was also named a First Team AHL All-Star that season.[3][5] 1980-81 was St. Croix's first full season in the NHL, in which he split time as the Flyers' goaltender with Pete Peeters and Phil Myre.[2][8] He spent 2 1/2 years with the Flyers before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1982-83 season in exchange for goaltender Michel Larocque.[2][4][9]

St. Croix's final NHL season was 1984-85, which he split between the Maple Leafs and the AHL St. Catharines Saints.[2] He spent one more season as a professional hockey player, 1985-86 with the International Hockey League (IHL) Fort Wayne Komets.[2] With the Komets that season, he shared the IHL James Norris Memorial Trophy with teammate Pokey Reddick, awarded to the goaltender(s) having the fewest goals against during the season.[2][5][10][11] He was also named an IHL Second Team All Star that season.[5][9]

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, St. Croix became a coach. He served as an assistant coach for the Winnipeg Jets for the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons.[2] He was later named goaltending coach for the Dallas Stars where he won the Stanley Cup with the team in 1999.[4][5] St. Croix was goaltending coach for the Manitoba Moose from 2008 to 2011. Prior to the 2011-12 season, the team was relocated to Newfoundland and renamed the "St. John's IceCaps" where St. Croix continued to serve as an assistant coach/goaltending coach.[2] In September 2012, with the resignation of Francois Allaire, Rick St. Croix was hired as the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending coach.[12] St. Croix was fired in an organizational housecleaning on April 12, 2015 [13]

Personal

St. Croix's youngest son, Michael currently plays for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits after playing junior hockey as a forward for the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League.[4][14][15] He was drafted by the New York Rangers in the 4th round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.[16] His oldest son, Chris, was a 4th round draft choice of the Calgary Flames in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, and played professional hockey as a defenseman in Germany, as well as in the AHL, ECHL and CHL.[4][17][18][19] He also has two daughters.[4] In addition to his coaching duties, he also runs a goaltending school.[4]

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Toronto Maple Leafs officially hire Rick St. Croix as goaltending coach". NHL.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Rick St. Croix". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  3. 1 2 "Philadelphia Flyers Goaltending History - Rick St. Croix". The Goalie Archive. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Glew, K. "Backchecking: St. Croix was a Saint". The Hockey News. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Rick St. Croix". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  6. ↑ "Harry (Hap) Holmes Memorial Award". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  7. ↑ "Robbie Moore". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  8. ↑ "1980-81 Philadelphia Flyers". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  9. 1 2 "Toronto Maple Leafs Goaltending History - Rick St. Croix". The Goalie Archive. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  10. ↑ "James Norris Memorial Trophy". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  11. ↑ "Pokey Reddick". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  12. ↑ http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=405579
  13. ↑ "Maple Leafs Clean House, Firing GM, Interim Coach, Staff". ABC News. April 12, 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  14. ↑ Echevarria, A. "Prospect Watch: Michael St. Croix". The Hockey News. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  15. ↑ Campbell, T. (June 4, 2011). "Local NHL prospect St. Croix gets stoked". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  16. ↑ Campbell, T. (June 26, 2011). "Trio of 'Tobans celebrate selections". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  17. ↑ "Chris St. Croix". hockeydb. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  18. ↑ "Chris St. Croix". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  19. ↑ "Richard V. (Rick) St. Croix". hockeygoalies.org. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
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