What was with Stephan Lebeau?

[grentthealien]

277 points in 373 games. 80 points for the 92-93 Habs to go along with a Stanley cup in the post season , yet he was out of the league by 1995 at the age of 26. Looking at his statistics he still seemed to be a Nhl caliber player with the ducks although he didn’t play a lot of games.

Did he have injuries that kept him out? Are his point totals misleading? Is there a reason no teams wanted him? He just seems to be such a forgettable player, but for a brief period was a contributing player to a cup wining team. seems like an odd career.

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[Canadiens1958]

Contract expired, signed in Europe and finished his career overseas.

 

[Michael Farkas]

I think he was not big and not fast, but had a big shot. Kind of a sleepy, one-way player. Maybe not much of a competitor, so he took the friendly confines of lesser leagues. Maybe if you flip Kyle Wellwood from being a passer to a shooter, you might kind of get Lebeau...that's the first guy I could think of, I'm sure someone will come along with something better...

 

[Habsfan18]

Undersized and not a fast skater, but he had a serious nose for the net. He absolutely dominated the QMJHL (and still went undrafted) and did the same in his one AHL season, scoring 70 goals in 78 games. After coming to the NHL, while he proved he could still be an effective scorer, he was a major liability away from the puck and for that very reason Pat Burns was not a fan of him at all. His career year was under Jacques Demers in the Habs cup winning season of 1992-1993. He was traded to Anaheim for Ron Tugnutt who played a grand total of 15 games for Montreal. Not entirely sure why the Habs traded him. I always assumed they didn’t view him as a true top 6 forward anymore and figured if they weren’t going to play him in the top 6 there was no point in keeping him.

I had always wondered why he didn’t try to stick it out longer in the NHL. Even in Anaheim he was still somewhat of an effective player.

The Habs had also drafted his brother Patrick. Interestingly enough he also played overseas at a fairly young age. Also interesting is Patrick being 5’10 was drafted into the NHL but the superior Stephan at 5’9 was not.

 

[Albatros]

Patrick was already playing in Switzerland at that point and so Stéphan chose to go there too, having already won the cup in Montréal. It's not like no one wanted him, but he just had no ambition left for that anymore.

 

[decma]

He was outstanding in 92/93. Tied Damphousse for team lead in ES scoring and I don't think his defense was that bad.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Unrelated to his game, but he seemed like a smart guy when he was a commentator on TV.

 

[Marotte Marauder]

Unrelated to his game, but he seemed like a smart guy when he was a commentator on TV.

Yup, I think he may have had plans other than a long grind in NHL.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Lebeau has always reminded me of Ribeiro. Maybe a poor man's Ribeiro, since the latter was able to contribute for a long time. But both are one-dimensional guys who can put up points, but you'd never want them to be your #1 C. Is that fair?

 

[Michael Farkas]

Ribeiro was a playmaker, major pass-first guy. Lebeau was the inverse of that and much slower. And seems like less of a complete jerk off...

 

[FerrisRox]

He was outstanding in 92/93. Tied Damphousse for team lead in ES scoring and I don't think his defense was that bad.

I thought his defensive game was absolutely non-existent.

When Pat Burns coached the club, Lebeau was heavily insulated, essentially only playing on the power play and the occasional even strength shift. You would think this kind of usage would make him want to work on his defensive play in order to grow his role, but Lebeau seemed totally disinterested in the game when the puck wasn't on his stick.

He was also incredibly slow. I'm surprised he was able to post an 80-point season in the NHL, because that required him to be more than a power play scorer and he was undoubtably at his best when his team was on the PP and he was set up and mostly stationary in the other teams end because his skating was really poor and he was very soft.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Lebeau has always reminded me of Ribeiro. Maybe a poor man's Ribeiro, since the latter was able to contribute for a long time. But both are one-dimensional guys who can put up points, but you'd never want them to be your #1 C. Is that fair?

not stylistically, because young ribeiro could skate. but i get what you mean.

seems like just another slow WHL or QMJHL scoring phenom with no motor who had some initial success in the late 80s/early 90s before the game passed that kind of player by. jimmy carson, rob brown, pat falloon, gilbert dionne.

that said, you have to give him his due: even though he was playing injured and falling down the lineup during the 93 playoffs, he did score a couple of very memorable goals.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

I'm surprised he was able to post an 80-point season in the NHL, because that required him to be more than a power play scorer and he was undoubtably at his best his team was on the PP and set up and most stationary in the other teams end because his skating was really poor and he was very soft.

i just looked at his stars. 61 ES points in 93, tied for team lead with damphousse. he was well behind the team leaders in PP points too. i guess jacques demers really worked out for him.

 

[FerrisRox]

i just looked at his stars. 61 ES points in 93, tied for team lead with damphousse. he was well behind the team leaders in PP points too. i guess jacques demers really worked out for him.

Demers was a game changer for him. He went from extremely sheltered use under Pat Burns to steady shifts on the second line under Demers.

Unfortunately for LeBeau, he got injured in the playoffs (in the Nordiques series if I'm remembering right) and when Paul DiPietro stepped up, LeBeau never really slotted back in. I think he came back and scored two goals his first game back from the injury, but never really got his groove back that spring.... or at all, really.

 

[Albatros]

his skating was really poor and he was very soft.

On the other hand he had a high hockey IQ and good timing, so even if he wasn't the fastest skater he knew where to be.

 

[YEM]

he was a very good player in NHL '94 video game
was always fascinated by his very short and very good NHL career

 

[DitchMarner]

he was a very good player in NHL '94 video game
was always fascinated by his very short and very good NHL career

My friends and I used to play that game back in 1998 or so and I wondered about both Lebeau and Gilbert Dionne.

I found it hard to believe someone who had apparently been as good as Labeau could just seemingly vanish from the NHL.

I used to wonder about Nik Borschevsky as well after finding out about him from NHL '95.

 

[DitchMarner]

277 points in 373 games. 80 points for the 92-93 Habs to go along with a Stanley cup in the post season , yet he was out of the league by 1995 at the age of 26. Looking at his statistics he still seemed to be a Nhl caliber player with the ducks although he didn’t play a lot of games.

Did he have injuries that kept him out? Are his point totals misleading? Is there a reason no teams wanted him? He just seems to be such a forgettable player, but for a brief period was a contributing player to a cup wining team. seems like an odd career.

Well, one thing about 1992-1993 is that it was a very high scoring season. 80 points that season definitely doesn't equate to 80 points in recent times. If the game had stayed as wide open as it was during that season and he hadn't gotten injured in the 1993 playoffs and had continued to play a top six role regularly afterward, he might have had more 70+ point seasons.

 

[crobro]

Gilbert Dionne was the worst skater I have ever seen live

Made Tim Hunter look like Keith Acton

 

[The Panther]

Gilbert Dionne was the worst skater I have ever seen live

Made Tim Hunter look like Keith Acton

I'd vote for Neil Sheehy.

 

[FerrisRox]

Gilbert Dionne was the worst skater I have ever seen live

Made Tim Hunter look like Keith Acton

That means you never saw Nik Antropov live. And you certainly couldn't have seen Peter Worrell live. Antropov's lack of agility was comical. On many occasions I laughed out loud watching Antropov negotiate hilariously wide turns.

 

[MXD]

Fun fact I just heard about regarding Lebeau : They had cats named Wayne and Janet, but gave them new names before the 1993 SCF started.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Undersized and not a fast skater, but he had a serious nose for the net. He absolutely dominated the QMJHL (and still went undrafted) and did the same in his one AHL season, scoring 70 goals in 78 games. After coming to the NHL, while he proved he could still be an effective scorer, he was a major liability away from the puck and for that very reason Pat Burns was not a fan of him at all. His career year was under Jacques Demers in the Habs cup winning season of 1992-1993. He was traded to Anaheim for Ron Tugnutt who played a grand total of 15 games for Montreal. Not entirely sure why the Habs traded him. I always assumed they didn’t view him as a true top 6 forward anymore and figured if they weren’t going to play him in the top 6 there was no point in keeping him.

I had always wondered why he didn’t try to stick it out longer in the NHL. Even in Anaheim he was still somewhat of an effective player.

The Habs had also drafted his brother Patrick. Interestingly enough he also played overseas at a fairly young age. Also interesting is Patrick being 5’10 was drafted into the NHL but the superior Stephan at 5’9 was not.

What were salaries for hockey players in Switzerland in the 90s? The Canadian dollar in the 90s was pretty weak, and NHL salaries weren't that great for lower and middle lineup guys during that time.

 

[Albatros]

In the early 1990s there were still amateur players in Swiss hockey, but foreign top stars which each team could only have a couple of and who would be expected to make all the difference could get the same or more than in the NHL with significantly more comfortable living conditions.

 

[The Panther]

Lebeau might be the only guy in history to score 80 points in 71 games (92-point pace in 82 games) at age 24, and then --- having nothing to do with injury --- scoring only 50 points in the rest of his career.