Carol Vadnais

Carol Vadnais (born Carol Marcel Vadnais on September 25, 1945) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1966–67 until 1982–83.

He won two Stanley Cups during his career: in 1968 with the Montreal Canadiens and in 1972 with the Boston Bruins.

Playing Career
Originally a forward, Carol was shifted to defence in his final year of junior hockey with the Montreal Jr. Canadiens.

In his first NHL training camp, he made the Montreal Canadiens lineup for the 1966-67 season.

While the Canadiens were initially successful in not exposing Carol to the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, he was left unprotected after the 1967-68 season and would be claimed by the expansion Oakland Seals in the June 1968 intra-league draft.

He became the Seals' captain at the beginning of the 1971-72 season but was traded mid-season.

On February 23, 1972, Carol was acquired by the Boston Bruins in an attempt to bolster their blueline for a Stanley Cup run.

The Bruins outbid Vadnais' old club, the Canadiens, to secure his services. The move paid off and Carol headed the Bruins' second defence pairing behind Bobby Orr's first unit which helped the Bruins capture the 1972 Stanley Cup.

In his best statistical season (in the 1974–75 season), he scored 18 goals and set career highs with 56 assists and 74 points.

Carol was one of the players involved in the November 7, 1975 blockbuster trade that sent him along with star forward Phil Esposito to the New York Rangers.

He went on to play seven seasons for the Rangers and one for the New Jersey Devils before retiring in 1983.

During his career, Carol played in 1,087 career NHL games, scoring 169 goals and 418 assists for 587 points as well as adding 1,813 penalty minutes.

Coaching Career
Carol joined the Rangers' coaching staff as an assistant for the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons.

This was followed by one season as the head coach of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Verdun Junior Canadiens after which he left hockey for good.

Post-Playing Career\Death
After his hockey career, Carol worked as a real estate agent in the Montreal area. His wife, Raymonde, died of cancer in 2004; they had one daughter.

On August 31, 2014, he died from cancer in Laval, Quebec, Canada at the age of 68.

Accolades

 * Stanley Cup champion (1968, 1972)
 * Selected to the NHL All-Star Game (1969, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1978)
 * Ranked at #52 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book "100 Ranger Greats" (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).