Marcel Dionne Marcel Elphege " Little Beaver " Dionne ( born August 3 , 1951 in Drummondville , Quebec ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings , Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers . Playing career . Dionne was drafted in the first Round ( second overall ) by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1971 NHL Entry Draft . Before joining the NHL , he played for three years in the Ontario Hockey Association with the St . Catharines Black Hawks . His team was involved in one of the most infamous events in Canadian junior hockey during the 1971 Richardson Cup . The Black Hawks and Quebec Remparts faced off in a playoff series that was intense on many levels . Besides the strong rivalry between Anglophone and Francophone hockey teams and Canadian citizens in general , there was unfinished business between Marcel Dionne and the Remparts ' coach Maurice Filion . Dionne had been coached by Filion in 1968 as a member of the Drummondville Rangers of the former Quebec Junior Hockey League . When the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League formed in 1969 , Dionne departed to play in the OHA , which was seen as a higher - calibre level of competition , to hone his skills . Filion vowed revenge against Dionne ' s OHA team . This rivalry was further fueled by the desire of Francophone nationalists to have a Canadian champion from a Quebec team in a Quebec - based league . The series , which featured future NHL stars Guy Lafleur and Dionne , never lived up to the potential on ice brilliance that could have been . Disputes off the ice and erupting violence dramatically shortened the series . The Eastern Canadian championship of 1971 would be the last Eastern Canadian championship to be played before the Memorial Cup tournament began in 1972 . With St . Catharines forfeiting the series due to the threats of violence , the Eastern Canadian championship did not end to the fans ' satisfaction . After the series , Lafleur went first overall to the Montreal Canadiens in the 1971 NHL Entry Draft and was part of a Stanley Cup contender . Dionne played his first four seasons with the Red Wings , where he was one of the few stars on an otherwise stagnant team that failed to make the playoffs . Despite having legendary teammates such as Alex Delvecchio and Mickey Redmond , Dionne ' s frustrations with losing were evident . His agent , Alan Eagleson pushed for more money and found it in an unlikely place . The owner of the Los Angeles Kings , Jack Kent Cooke , offered Dionne $ 300 , 000 per year . A deal was struck with the Red Wings for compensation , and Dionne signed with the Kings and became its franchise player . At the time , it was the richest deal in hockey history . During his time with the Los Angeles Kings , he played 11 and a half seasons and formed the famed " Triple Crown Line " , centreing Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor . Despite his high scoring production during the regular season he was frustrated with the Kings ' lack of playoff success ; they made the postseason from 1976 – 82 but only advanced to the second round three times for a total of 43 playoff games . During the 1986 – 87 season , Dionne would mentor the rookies of the Kings as Mickey Redmond mentored him during his rookie years in Detroit . He took eventual Calder Trophy winner Luc Robitaille , Jimmy Carson and Steve Duchesne under his wing . Despite the strong rapport with the rookies , there was also a falling out with Coach Pat Quinn . With the Kings on track to miss the playoffs , he demanded a trade . Dionne had hoped that his threat would get General Manager Rogie Vachon to make some major moves to rejuvenate the stagnating team , and he was surprised and disappointed when Vachon actually traded him to the New York Rangers . He played his remaining two and a half seasons there , where the Rangers lost in the first round of the playoffs and missed the next two . He retired in 1989 . One consolation was that he would finally have Guy Lafleur as his teammate to mark the beginning of the 1988 – 89 NHL season . In January 2004 , Dionne was featured on a Canadian postage stamp . As part of the NHL All - Stars Collection , Dionne was immortalized along with five other All - Stars . Achievements . During his first season for Detroit in 1972 , he set an NHL record for scoring by a rookie with 77 points . This record has since been surpassed . His best season was 1979 – 80 when he had 137 points . That season , he was tied for the league lead in points with Wayne Gretzky . Though Gretzky played in one less game than Dionne , Dionne was awarded the Art Ross Trophy for scoring two more goals than Gretzky . ( Interestingly , from 1969 to 2001 , Dionne and Bryan Trottier were the only " single - time " winners of the scoring title , while Phil Esposito , Bobby Orr , Guy Lafleur , Wayne Gretzky , Mario Lemieux , and Jaromir Jagr had won it on multiple occasions . ) Dionne also won the Lester B . Pearson Award in 1979 and 1980 , and the Lady Byng Trophy in 1975 and 1977 . Dionne was the third of six men to reach the 700 - goal plateau , and currently ranks fourth among all - time goal scorers , with 731 . He is ranked fifth in points , with 1771 . He is ninth in career assists with 1 , 040 . He was second in assists , goals , and points when he retired in 1989 ( he is 70 goals , 9 assists , and 79 points behind Gordie Howe in all categories ) . He was also the last active player in the NHL that participated in the 1972 Summit Series . Despite not playing in the 1972 Summit Series , he did play for Team Canada in the 1976 Canada Cup and the 1981 Canada Cup . For the 1976 Canada Cup , his linesmates were Bobby Hull and Phil Esposito . He was also on a line with Lanny McDonald and Darryl Sittler and they were on the ice when the tournament winning goal was scored . While on the 1981 team , he was on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Guy Lafleur . Dionne is third in the NHL for most 100 + point seasons . He has had eight 100 + point seasons in his NHL career , only behind Wayne Gretzky ' s fourteen 100 + point seasons and Mario Lemieux ' s ten 100 + point seasons . Marcel Dionne was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992 . In 1998 , he was ranked number 38 on " The Hockey News " ' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players , the highest - ranking player to have not won a Stanley Cup since 2001 when No . 14 - ranked Ray Bourque won with the Colorado Avalanche . Dionne had not come close to doing so , as he never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs . When the Los Angeles Kings finally reached the Stanley Cup finals in 1993 , after advancing to and winning their first conference finals , Dionne gave Dave Taylor a congratulatory call . The former Centre Civique arena in Drummondville was renamed Centre Marcel Dionne in his honour after his retirement . Dionne ' s younger brother Gilbert also played in the NHL and won a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1993 . Gilbert is Marcel ' s junior by nineteen years . Prior to the start of the 1993 - 94 season , Dionne helped to create local interest in the ECHL ' s newest franchise , the South Carolina Stingrays . With the help of some young players , Dionne gave an on - ice demonstration of the rules of hockey to the southern audience . Dionne currently resides in Niagara Falls , Canada and owns Marcel Dionne enterprises . He is an occasional member of the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team despite never playing , or living there as a player . He is also a Royal Ambassador for the Kings organization . References . < div class = " references - small " > Marcel Dionne ' s Official Homepage