Canadiens: Unlikely Call-Ups From The Trois-Rivieres Lions This Season
By Scott Cowan
Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond
For hockey fans of a certain age, league, or style of player, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond’s name might a ring a bell, being known for a time as one of the toughest customers in professional hockey, alongside guys like Trevor Gillies, Jeremy Yablonski, and Jon Mirasty. A seventh-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in the 2004 NHL Draft, Leblond spent most of his professional career in and out of the Devils organization, getting into 38 NHL games with the team over parts of seven seasons. Along with brief cups of coffee with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames, Leblond recorded highs of 334 penalty minutes in the 2010-11 season with the Albany Devils and topped 200 PM’s in a season two other times.
After playing his last season in the AHL in 2016-17, Leblond has played in just 24 games over the past five years, limited to one game in the ECHL in 2017-18, and a half-season stint in the LNAH in 2019-20. In spite of this though, the Lions still opted to give Leblond a shot more than three years after his last ECHL game, recording 7 PM’s and a -1 rating in his sole appearance. Considering his history as an enforcer and legend among minor hockey fans, seeing Leblond back on professional ice this season was a bizarre, yet ultimately welcome addition to the Lions inaugural season.