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Jean Potvin

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Jean Potvin
Position Defenceman
Shot Right
Height
Weight 		5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
188 lb (85 kg)
Teams Los Angeles Kings
Philadelphia Flyers
New York Islanders
Cleveland Barons
Minnesota North Stars
Nationality Flag of Canada Canadian
Born (1949-03-25)March 25, 1949,
Ottawa, ON, CAN
Pro Career 1969 – 1981

Jean Rene Potvin (March 25, 1949 – March 15, 2022) is a retired Canadian professional defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, Cleveland Barons and Minnesota North Stars.

Playing career[]

Potvin played defenceman for the Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, Cleveland Barons and Minnesota North Stars from 1971 to 1981. He finished his NHL career with 63 goals and 224 assists in 613 career games.

Potvin was involved in the last Christmas Day fight in NHL history.[1] Potvin, who played for the Los Angeles Kings at the time, fought Ernie Hicke of the California Golden Seals on December 25, 1971. Both players were charged with 5 penalty minutes.[2] Potvin and Hicke were later teammates on the Islanders from 1973 to 1975.[3][4][5]


He also played for the Springfield Kings of the AHL and Oklahoma City Stars of the CHL.

His brother, Hockey Hall of Famer Denis Potvin, was a teammate of Jean's with the Islanders for a number of years. A cousin Marc Potvin also played in the NHL.

Potvin won the Stanley Cup in 1980 with the New York Islanders. In 1981 he played only 18 games for the Islanders. His name was still engraved on the Cup in 1981, even though he did not qualify.

Broadcasting career[]

Potvin worked on Islander radio broadcasts both late in his playing career and following his retirement, when he was paired mainly with Barry Landers.[6] Potvin won the Stanley Cup in 1980 with the Islanders in spite of spending the entire playoff run in the announcer's booth serving as color commentator with radio play-by-play man Bob Lawrence.[7] In 1981 he played only 18 games for the Islanders.[8] His name was still engraved on the Cup in 1981, even though he did not qualify.[9] Again, he spent the playoffs serving as color commentator with Landers.[6] When his playing career ended after the 1981 season, Potvin worked as the radio color commentator for the New York Islanders' broadcasts for the next eight years.[10]

Personal life[]

Potvin was married to Lorraine until his death. Together, they had three children: Kim, Leslie, and Justin.[10][11]

Potvin was recruited by Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette as an institutional salesman in 1990. Over the course of the next 23 years, he worked for quality institutional firms including First Albany, Oppenheimer & Company, and Morgan Keegan & Company.[12] Actively involved with different charities over the years, Potvin was also on the Board of Directors of the Boy Scouts of America in Nassau County for over a decade.[11] In January 2014, Potvin accepted a position with Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens, becoming the senior vice president for giving.[10][13]

Potvin died on March 15, 2022, at a hospital in Weston, Florida. He was 72 years old.[10][14][15]


External links[]

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Jean Potvin. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


  1. ↑ Kreiser, John. "NHL once had tradition of playing on Christmas", National Hockey League, December 25, 2012. Retrieved on March 16, 2022. 
  2. ↑ Kreiser, John. "Holding down playoff spot at Christmas a good sign", National Hockey League, December 24, 2011. Retrieved on March 16, 2022. 
  3. ↑ Ernie Hicke Stats. Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
  4. ↑ 1972–73 New York Islanders Roster and Statistics. Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
  5. ↑ 1974–75 New York Islanders Roster and Statistics. Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Halberstam, David J. (1999). Sports on New York Radio: A Play-by-play History. Masters Press, 87–88. ISBN 978-1-57028-197-6. 
  7. ↑ Hahn, Alan (November 7, 2017). Birth of a Dynasty: The 1980 New York Islanders. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-68358-171-0. 
  8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named HR player
  9. ↑ Stanley Cup – Facts, Firsts & Faux Paus. Hockey Hall of Fame.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NYT obit
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Warren, Ken. "Hockey world pays tribute to former 67's and Islanders star Jean Potvin", March 16, 2022. Retrieved on March 17, 2022. 
  12. ↑ Wunderlich Securities Adds Six Equity Capital Markets Professionals from Morgan Keegan. Business Wire (April 26, 2012).
  13. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Kreda
  14. ↑ "Jean Potvin Passes Away", National Hockey League, March 16, 2022. Retrieved on March 16, 2022. 
  15. ↑ ""He was my pillar": Denis Potvin pays tribute to big brother Jean Potvin", Ottawa Sun, March 16, 2022. (en) 
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