Remembering André Lacroix, whose hockey story crossed two leagues

André Lacroix has died at 81, NHL.com reported. The Flyers announced his death Tuesday. He belonged to Philadelphia's original 1967-68 team.

His career cannot be understood through an NHL total alone. Elite Prospects records 198 points in 325 NHL regular-season games and 798 in 551 World Hockey Association games. He remains the WHA's career points leader. Those are separate competitions and separate records, not numbers to be folded into one NHL ranking.

With San Diego in 1974-75, Lacroix produced 106 assists and 147 points. The distinction is worth keeping in view: a player's place in hockey history is not always captured by the league that survives him.

The regional thread

The regional part of that history runs through the New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights in 1973-74, the New England Whalers in 1978-79 and Hartford's NHL club in 1979-80. In that final NHL season, he had 17 points in 29 games.

For readers who know him chiefly as an original Flyer, those stops widen the frame. For those who remember the WHA, they preserve the setting in which his scoring record was made. Remembering Lacroix means making room for both, rather than treating one league as a footnote to the other.