Jose Charbonneau (NHL 1987-1995, Canucks 1988-1995) | 17/20 | RW

[Kevin Biestra]

Jose Charbonneau is a player who was not only a significant part of the 1994 Canucks during the regular season and getting them to the playoffs and scored a goal in the playoff run itself, but who has maybe one of the most interesting "roads back to his real shot" at the NHL in league history.  My Mom (a big Canucks fan) certainly liked his story when it was happening.

 

He was a 12th overall pick by the Montreal Canadiens in 1985 and had difficulty cracking the lineup.  He played a total of 25 games for the Canadiens before they traded him to us in January 1989 for our 7th overall draft bust in Dan Woodley (his five career games with the Canucks were it for him and he never made the Montreal lineup).  In the defense of Woodley and Charbonneau, those Canadiens won the Cup in 1986 and went to the final again in 1989...they were a tough lineup to crack.  And Woodley did have 2 goals and 17 PIMS and was a +1 in the five NHL games he actually played.

 

Once the Canucks acquired Charbonneau he didn't fare a lot better than he did in Montreal.  He had one point in 13 games for the Canucks in 1988-89 and then was never seen in the NHL again until 1993 when he was resurrected as a Vancouver Canuck and something of an NHL regular.  What happened?

 

Well he did the Jason Krog deal and bounced around in the minors and then eventually out of the minors, bouncing all the way over to Germany, Switzerland and Holland to try to make a buck playing hockey.  And what happened next is something that could only have happened in the early 1990s, and couldn't have happened if he hadn't crossed paths with a Tiger.

 

The early 1990s saw the creation and rise of the professional Roller Blade Hockey league, which featured the Vancouver Voodoo, helmed by general manager and Vancouver Canucks legend Tiger Williams (he also played a little bit).  Considered an NHL and even minor league flameout, Charbonneau was playing roller hockey for the Voodoo to stay in the game...and was playing so well that Tiger Williams made a call to Canucks management and said they had to take another look at this guy...

 

I'll let Wikipedia take it from here...

 

He was given an invite to the club's 1993 training camp and shocked everyone by making the team. Charbonneau was playing and scoring regularly for the first two months of the season, until back and knee injuries struck and caused him to miss 4 months of action. He returned late in the season but struggled to get back his regular lineup spot. He finished the season with 7 goals and 14 points in 30 games. He was also a member of the Canuck team which went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994, playing in 3 playoff games and scoring a goal.

 

So for a moment there he was kind of like the Canucks version of Vince Papale from the football movie Invincible, or even like Emilio Estevez in The Mighty Ducks...

 

Anyway, he played 30 games for the Canucks in 1993-94 and scored 7 goals and 14 points, certainly respectable third line numbers and roughly on par with respected guys like Sergio Momesso and Martin Gelinas.

 

He played a little bit for the Canucks the next season but having earned a spot as a regular in 1993-1994 was his high water mark and he closed out his playing days with six seasons in Germany.

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 01:49 AM by Kevin Biestra

[Goalie29]

Ah, Roller Hockey International.  My Voodoo t-shirt lasted longer than that league did.  

[Kevin Biestra]

4 minutes ago, Goalie29 said:

Ah, Roller Hockey International.  My Voodoo t-shirt lasted longer than that league did.  

 

Yeah it was around about as long as the CFL's expansion into the USA from around the same time.