In this edition of "From the Archive," read about Patrice Lefebvre and his time with the Las Vegas Thunder.
When he was a child growing up in Montreal, it was easy for Patrice Lefebvre to pretend he was Guy Lafleur or Yvan Cournoyer or any of the many superb French Canadian players who helped the Montreal Canadiens dominate the game.
Go ahead and dream, the adults who watched him play told him. Have fun.
Of course, the adults said to themselves as young Patrice played with the puck like a yo-yo, he couldn’t actually be a pro hockey player. Too small, they insisted. It was sad. So much talent, but so little size.
But there was one woman in Montreal-tiny, as well, in stature, but with a warrior’s heart-around whom nobody would speak that way.
Lucienne Lefebvre was Patrice’s grandmother and the person who raised him after his parents divorced when he was three months old.
While conventional wisdom said Patrice was too small to ever amount to anything in pro hockey, nobody dared say it around Lucienne.
“She wouldn’t let anybody say that because she knew it’s not size that matters, it’s heart,” says Lefebvre, the Las Vegas Thunder’s 5-foot-5, 160-pound right winger. “She would tell me they can’t judge your heart with a (measuring stick).”
Lefebvre’s small frame has kept him out of the NHL. He is the Quebec League’s all-time leading scorer (595 points on 187 goals in 276 games over four seasons) and was a unanimous selection to its first Hall of Fame class, going in with his idol, Lafleur.
Lefebvre, 30, has also become the cornerstone of the Las Vegas franchise and is in position to win his first IHL scoring title. He led the league in scoring as of Dec. 11 with 11 goals and 40 points.
“The guy is unbelievable,” says Utah Grizzlies’ coach-GM Butch Goring. “If he was 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10, he’d be in the NHL, no question.”
Through all the years in junior, of traipsing across Europe, battling in the IHL, he wouldn’t quit dreaming. He clung to the hope an NHL scout somewhere would be brave enough to take a chance on a player who is so short he would look an Eric Lindros eyeball-to-belly button on a faceoff.
That was the indomitable spirit he got from Lucienne Lefebvre, who spent much of her life raising her grandson. The two developed a bond that lasted until her death nearly two years ago from hepatitis.
During 1995-96, Lefebvre’s best IHL season statistically, he was pulled in opposite directions. He would go on to score a career-high 114 points and lead Las Vegas to the best regular season record in the IHL, but his heart was often half a continent away.
He made regular trips to Montreal that season as his grandmother’s days dwindled to a precious few. The final time he saw her, she was on a bed, virtually incoherent. He knew it wouldn’t be long, that then was the last time.
He had to get back on a plane to Las Vegas, where a core of adoring fans was unaware of the personal tragedy that was befalling him.
But Lefebvre never let on and played as he had never played before. He set up plays. He killed penalties. He blocked shots. He won faceoffs. He did it all.
“At this level, he is a superstar,” says Thunder GM Bob Strumm. “He helps you win in more ways than you can imagine.”
Lefebvre rose up. That was his grandmother’s influence. She was a bulldog who managed to succeed against the odds. She passed that attitude on to her beloved grandson, who vowed to one day win the Turner Cup for her.
“That last time, it was very hard to leave, because I knew she was near the end,” he says. “But my grandmother always told me, ‘Never let anyone work harder than you. Never let anything stand in your way of being the best.’ And I took that to heart and even during the hardest times, I remembered it.”
In his first four years in the IHL, Lefebvre netted an even 400 points, second in that span only to perennial scoring champion Rob Brown, who is now in the NHL.
When Lefebvre became a free agent after 1995-96, he considered signing with Utah because of its affiliation with the New York Islanders, in the hope it would get him one final crack at the big time.
In the end, he re-signed with Las Vegas. But Las Vegas coach Chris McSorley, who calls Lefebvre the IHL’s top defensive forward, insists Lefebvre’s size shouldn’t preclude him from the NHL even today.
“People underestimate how strong Patrice is,” McSorley says. “His vision is second to none. I honestly think if somebody gave Patrice a chance now, he could play there. His conditioning is as good as anybody on our team. His physical shape is as good as anybody on our team. And he’s as aware out there as any player I’ve seen.
“When you put that together with the kind of hands and skill he has, you’re talking about a very good player. And given a chance to play with the right players, Patrice could go and do well in the NHL. Right now.”
THN Archive is an exclusive vault of 2,640 issues and more than 156,000 stories for subscribers, chronicling the complete history of The Hockey News from 1947 until today. Visit THN.com/archive and subscribe today at subscribe.thehockeynews.com