MAKING HIS NHL DEBUT WITH THE CANADIENS BEFORE HEADING WEST TO THE LOS ANGELES KINGS, ROGATIEN VACHON POSTED A WINNING RECORD DURING HIS FIVE SEASONS IN MONTREAL.

Rogatien Vachon has spent 40 years in hockey, experiencing every area of the game from the dressing room to the executive suite. The first five seasons of his illustrious career were spent in a Montreal Canadiens uniform.

Vachon turned pro with the Central Professional Hockey League’s Houston Apollos in 1966-67. He appeared in 34 games before being called up to the big club towards the end of the season. The first to wear the number 29 for the Habs, Vachon played 19 games between the pipes, winning 11 and tying four others.

The 5-foot-8, 160-pound rookie was chosen to backstop the Canadiens during the playoffs. With Vachon playing nine of the 10 postseason games, Montreal swept New York in the semifinals and extended Toronto to six games before falling to the Leafs, who have not won the Stanley Cup since.

Derided the previous spring by Leafs coach Punch Imlach as a “junior B goalie”, Vachon used his sophomore season to prove he belonged in the big leagues. Splitting the netminding duties with veteran Gump Worsley, Vachon lost only 13 of the 39 regular season games in which he appeared. The Canadiens finished atop the Eastern Division and rolled on to a Stanley Cup Championship, dropping only one game along the way. “Gump” and “Rogie”, who was now wearing the number 30 that would become his trademark, shared the 1968 Vezina Trophy.

With the Vachon-Worsley duo augmented occasionally by newcomer Tony Esposito, Montreal once again topped the NHL East in 1968-69. Vachon got the nod for eight playoff games, winning seven of those outings. Once again, the Canadiens and the Stanley Cup were paraded through downtown Montreal at season’s end.

Winning or tying all but 18 of his 64 outings the next year, Vachon was the team’s workhorse in nets. Eliminated from playoff contention on the final day of regular season play, Montreal missed the postseason for the only time in Vachon’s tenure with the team.

He made 47 regular season appearances and lost only a dozen times in his final year with the club. The team regained respectability and made the playoffs. Just as they had in Vachon’s initial season, Montreal pinned their playoff hopes on a rookie netminder for the 1971 postseason. This time, it was a young star named Ken Dryden who was called to task for the club. The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup once again and Vachon had his name engraved on it for the third time in five years.

Leaving Montreal for Los Angeles, Vachon excelled on the West Coast for seven years, establishing himself as the greatest goalie in Kings history. His playing days would wind down with two-year stints in both Detroit and Boston.

The second phase of Vachon’s hockey career saw him join the coaching ranks followed by a move up the management ladder within the Kings’ organization. Retiring as general manager in 1991, Vachon now serves as a team ambassador. His number 30 was retired by Los Angeles and raised to the rafters in 1985.

His son Nick followed in his father’s footsteps, playing briefly for the New York Islanders.