Joseph Juneau (French pronunciation: [ʒoe ʒyno]) (born January 5, 1968) is a Canadian former professional hockey player and engineer, born in Pont-Rouge, Quebec. He played in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators, Phoenix Coyotes and the Montreal Canadiens.

Joé Juneau
Joe Juneau.jpg
Juneau in 2009
Born (1968-01-05) January 5, 1968 (age 56)
Pont-Rouge, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Boston Bruins
Washington Capitals
Buffalo Sabres
Ottawa Senators
Phoenix Coyotes
Montreal Canadiens
National team  Canada
NHL draft 81st overall, 1988
Boston Bruins
Playing career 1991–2004
Medal record
Men's Ice hockey
Silver medal – second place 1992 Albertville Ice hockey

Playing career

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As a youth, Juneau played in the 1979, 1980 and 1981 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Pont-Rouge.[1]

Originally drafted by the Bruins in the fourth round of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, Juneau was a star college hockey player at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he scored 71 goals in four regular seasons and was a two-time All-American selection. He was well known for having a 4.0 grade point average and earning a degree in just three years in aeronautical engineering, despite the fact that he did not speak English when he first arrived in New York.[citation needed]

After college, Juneau spent a year with the Canadian Olympic team while disputing his contract offer from the Bruins. The sticking point was Juneau's insistence on being paid full salary even if he was sent to the minors - a demand Boston refused, having been burned in a nearly identical situation with Wes Walz the previous year. Then-general manager Harry Sinden was famously quoted in response to Juneau's threat to play in Switzerland instead "Well, I hope he learns to yodel." In the meantime, Juneau led Canada to a silver medal at the 1992 Albertville Games, and was the tournament's leading scorer.[citation needed]

Juneau would eventually sign with Boston on the team's terms, and Sinden's fears proved groundless. Juneau joined the Bruins' NHL roster right after the Olympics, and never spent a day in the minor leagues during his career. He had an impressive nineteen points in fourteen regular season games at the end of the 1992 season before a strong playoff.[citation needed]

His best season was his rookie year of 1992–93 with the Bruins, when, as the left winger on a powerful line with Adam Oates and Cam Neely, he had 32 goals and 102 points and set the NHL record for assists in a season by a left wing with 70, a mark Juneau held until 2022, when it was passed by Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers. As a reward, he was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team.[citation needed] Legend has it while with the Bruins, Juneau approached Bruins legend Johnny Bucyk asking if he could wear his No. 9 in Boston. Bucyk responded "Score 557 goals first, and then come talk to me."

During the 1993–94 season, the Bruins traded Juneau to the Capitals for Al Iafrate (who played only twelve games for Boston). In 1996, he became the first player ever to be awarded a penalty shot in overtime in a Stanley Cup playoff game (although he failed to score) during the second overtime of the Capitals' four-overtime loss to Pittsburgh. Juneau was also a member of the 1997–98 Capitals squad that reached the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals, scoring seventeen points in twenty-one playoff games. He scored the game-winning goal in overtime against the Buffalo Sabres in the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals that sent the Capitals to the Stanley Cup Finals. The next season, 1998–99, with the Capitals plagued by injuries and missing the playoffs, Juneau was traded to the Sabres, who reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals.[citation needed]

Juneau spent the 1999–2000 season with the Ottawa Senators, who signed him largely to fill the offensive gap created when Alexei Yashin was suspended for failing to honor his contract.[citation needed]

Juneau's offensive numbers steadily declined, largely due to chronic injuries. He became a journeyman, playing for five teams in four seasons before settling with the Montreal Canadiens as a third-liner for the final three seasons of his career. He announced his retirement after the 2003–04 NHL season. Juneau finished with 156 goals and 416 assists for 572 points over thirteen seasons.[citation needed]

Juneau wore No. 90 for the majority of his career, and later admitted that his reason for choosing No. 90 was a result of his preferred No. 9 was either retired or worn by different players. The lone exception was during his stint with the Ottawa Senators when he wore No. 39. This was done as then general manager Pierre Gauthier had a policy in place where no player could wear a number higher than the goaltender. As Patrick Lalime wore No. 40, Juneau was unable to wear his customary No. 90, which he reverted to following a trade to the Phoenix Coyotes.[citation needed]

Post-retirement

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After his playing career, Juneau became a partner and account manager at Quebec City-based Harfan Technologies. Rensselaer awarded Juneau an honorary degree at the school's 2005 commencement ceremonies, then named him as the second inductee into the Rensselaer "Ring of Honor" in November. Between 2005-2007, Juneau moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, where he helped promote hockey to the youth in the area before moving to Kuujjuaq, Quebec, on a permanent basis, where he heads a hockey program for Inuit youth in northern Quebec focused on encouraging academic progress, a contribution for which he received the 2007 La Presse/Radio-Canada Personality of the Year Award.[citation needed] His involvement with the Nunavik hockey program ended in 2017.[2]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1985–86 Cégep de Lévis-Lauzon CEGEP 21 47 68
1986–87 Cégep de Lévis-Lauzon CEGEP 38 27 57 84
1987–88 R.P.I. Engineers ECAC 31 16 29 45 18
1988–89 R.P.I. Engineers ECAC 30 12 23 35 40
1989–90 R.P.I. Engineers ECAC 34 18 52 70 31
1989–90 Canada Intl 3 0 2 2 4
1990–91 R.P.I. Engineers ECAC 29 23 40 63 68
1990–91 Canada Intl 7 2 3 5 0
1991–92 Canada Intl 60 20 49 69 35
1991–92 Boston Bruins NHL 14 5 14 19 4 15 4 8 12 21
1992–93 Boston Bruins NHL 84 32 70 102 33 4 2 4 6 6
1993–94 Boston Bruins NHL 63 14 58 72 35
1993–94 Washington Capitals NHL 11 5 8 13 6 11 4 5 9 6
1994–95 Washington Capitals NHL 44 5 38 43 8 7 2 6 8 2
1995–96 Washington Capitals NHL 80 14 50 64 30 5 0 7 7 6
1996–97 Washington Capitals NHL 58 15 27 42 8
1997–98 Washington Capitals NHL 56 9 22 31 26 21 7 10 17 8
1998–99 Washington Capitals NHL 63 14 27 41 20
1998–99 Buffalo Sabres NHL 9 1 1 2 2 20 3 8 11 10
1999–2000 Ottawa Senators NHL 65 13 24 37 22 6 2 1 3 0
2000–01 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 69 10 23 33 28
2001–02 Montreal Canadiens NHL 70 8 28 36 10 12 1 4 5 6
2002–03 Montreal Canadiens NHL 72 6 16 22 20
2003–04 Montreal Canadiens NHL 70 5 10 15 20 11 0 1 1 4
NHL totals 828 156 416 572 272 112 25 54 79 69

International

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Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1992 Canada OG 8 6 9 15 4
Senior totals 8 6 9 15 4

See also

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Awards and honors

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Award Year
All-ECAC Hockey Rookie Team 1987–88 [3]
All-ECAC Hockey First Team 1989–90 [4]
AHCA East First-Team All-American 1989–90 [5]
All-ECAC Hockey Second Team 1990–91 [4]
AHCA East Second-Team All-American 1990–91 [5]
Knight of the National Order of Quebec 2014
NCAA Silver Anniversary Award 2016 [6]

References

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  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  2. ^ "Former NHLer Joé Juneau shut out of youth hockey program in Nunavik | CBC News".
  3. ^ "ECAC All-Rookie Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  4. ^ a b "ECAC All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  6. ^ Dougherty, Pete (19 November 2015). "RPI's Juneau to receive NCAA Silver Anniversary Award". timesunion.com. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
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