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Ron Francis
Ronfrancis
Position Centre
Shot Left
Height
Weight
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
Teams Hartford Whalers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Carolina Hurricanes
Toronto Maple Leafs
Nationality Flag of Canada Canadian
Born (1963-03-01)March 1, 1963,
Sault Ste. Marie, ON, CA
Pro Career 1981 – 2004
Hall of Fame, 2007


Ronald "Ron" Francis (born March 1, 1963 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada), is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centerman who played 23 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs. He now serves as the Hurricanes' Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Development.

Francis was drafted to the NHL by the Whalers in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, 4th overall from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. He played 10 years with Hartford, captaining the team for a while and establishing team records for goals, assists, points and games played.

He was dealt to the Penguins in 1991 along with Ulf Samuelsson for Zarley Zalapski and John Cullen. This deal proved to be extremely good for the Pens, who had Francis centering the second line, while Mario Lemieux centered the first - this helped the team win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992.

Although it had since moved to Raleigh, Francis signed with his former team in 1998 when he joined the Carolina Hurricanes. He was their captain for one season, 2001-02, season where the team reached the Stanley Cup finals, only to lose to the Detroit Red Wings.

Francis played briefly for the Maple Leafs when the Canes traded him in March 2004. He would retire prior to the 2005-06 season.

Francis won the NHL Plus/Minus Award, the Frank J. Selke Trophy and the Lady Byng Trophy in 1995; he won the Lady Byng twice more afterward, in 1998 and 2002; that year, Francis also won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. He also took part in the NHL All-Stars Games of 1983, 1985, 1990 and 1996.

Francis' cousin Mike Liut also played in the NHL; he spent 13 seasons between the pipes of the St. Louis Blues, Hartford Whalers and Washington Capitals.

Achievements[]

Career statistics[]

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1980-81 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OMJHL 64 26 43 69 33 19 7 8 15 34
1981-82 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHL 25 18 30 48 46
Hartford Whalers NHL 59 25 43 68 51
1982-83 Hartford Whalers NHL 79 31 59 90 60
1983-84 Hartford Whalers NHL 72 23 60 83 45
1984-85 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 24 57 81 66
1985-86 Hartford Whalers NHL 53 24 53 77 24
1986-87 Hartford Whalers NHL 75 30 63 93 45 6 2 2 4 6
1987-88 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 25 50 75 87 6 2 5 7 2
1988-89 Hartford Whalers NHL 69 29 48 77 36 4 0 2 2 0
1989-90 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 32 69 101 73 7 3 3 6 8
1990-91 Hartford Whalers NHL 67 21 55 76 51
Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 14 2 9 11 21 24 7 10 17 24
1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 70 21 33 54 30 21 8 19 27 6
1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 84 24 76 100 68 12 6 11 17 19
1993-94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 82 27 66 93 62 6 0 2 2 6
1994-95 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 44 11 48 59 18 12 6 13 19 4
1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 77 27 92 119 56 11 3 6 9 4
1996-97 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 81 27 63 90 20 5 1 2 3 2
1997-98 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 81 25 62 87 20 6 1 5 6 2
1998-99 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 82 21 31 52 34 3 0 1 1 0
1999-00 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 78 23 50 73 18
2000-01 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 82 15 50 65 32 3 0 0 0 0
2001-02 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 80 27 50 77 18 23 6 10 16 6
2002-03 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 82 22 35 57 30
2003-04 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 68 10 20 30 14
Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 12 3 7 10 0 12 0 4 4 2
NHL Totals 1731 549 1249 1798 979 171 46 97 143 95

See also[]

References[]


Hartford Whalers Captains
Green | Ley | Rogers | Keon | Anderson | Johnson | Francis | Ladouceur | Verbeek | Shanahan | Dineen


Pittsburgh Penguins Captains
McDonald | Schock | Pronovost | Kindrachuk | Carlyle | Bullard | Ruskowski | Frawley | Lemieux | Coffey | Cullen | Hillier | Francis | Jágr | Lemieux | Crosby


Carolina Hurricanes Captains
Dineen | Primeau | Francis | Brind'Amour | Eric Staal | Jordan Staal | Faulk | Williams | Jordan Staal
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