Jocelyn ‘Joe’ Hardy was one of the greatest to play in the
NAHL. Wayne Gretzky is widely known as the first NHL player to achieve the 200
point plateau in a single season. A little known bit of hockey trivia is that
Joe Hardy was the first professional player to reach 200 points and beyond in
one regular season.
With the Beauce Jaros in 1975-76, Handy scored 60 goals and
assisted on 148 for an incredible 208 points in just 72 games. Of course, the
148 assists and 208 points will always remain as NAHL records. Making this even
more incredible is the fact that Joe also acted as the team’s head coach for
the 1975-76 season. He led the Jaros to a first overall finish in the ten team
league. Beauce reached the Lockhart Cup finals before losing to the Philadelphia Firebirds in six games.
Hardy played parts of three seasons in the NAHL from 1974-75
to 1976-77, appearing with the Long Island Cougars, Beauce Jaros and Binghamton
Dusters. His pro career lasted from 1966-67 to 1977-78 with stops in six
different leagues, including the NHL and WHA.
As the NAHL and the WHA went hand in hand, it’s not
surprising that Hardy played 210 games in the Rebel League between 1972-73 and
1974-75. He was a regular with the Cleveland Crusaders in 1972-73, the World
Hockey Association’s inaugural season. The following season, he saw 77 games
with the Chicago Cougars. He split the 1974-75 season between the Cougars,
Indianapolis Racers and San Diego Mariners.
Joe had stints in the National Hockey League in 1969-70 and
1970-71, playing a total of 63 games. In 1969-70, he played 23 games for the
Oakland Seals, with an additional four games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He
also appeared in 46 games with the Providence Reds that year. The following
year, he played 40 games with the same NHL franchise, although they were now
known as the California Golden Seals.
In his final professional hockey season, 1977-78, Hardy
played for the Binghamton Dusters, a franchise that made the move to the AHL
with the demise of the NAHL. He finished first in the league with 63 assists
and seventh in the league with 87 points. Joe returned the following season as
head coach of the Dusters for one season.
His coaching career was resurrected in 1987-88 in the QMJHL.
He coached the Shawinigan Cataractes for four years and the Beauport Harfangs
for one.
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1966-67 | New Haven Blades | EHL | 72 | 28 | 51 | 79 | 77 |
| 1969-70 | Providence Reds | AHL | 46 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 44 |
| 1969-70 | Oakland Seals | NHL | 23 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 20 |
| 1969-70 | Seattle Totems | WHL | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1970-71 | California Golden Seals | NHL | 40 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 31 |
| 1971-72 | Nova Scotia Voyageurs | AHL | 65 | 18 | 42 | 60 | 105 |
| 1972-73 | Cleveland Crusaders | WHA | 72 | 17 | 33 | 50 | 80 |
| 1973-74 | Chicago Cougars | WHA | 77 | 24 | 35 | 59 | 55 |
| 1974-75 | Long Island Cougars | NAHL | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 1974-75 | Chicago Cougars | WHA | 17 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 1974-75 | Indianapolis Racers | WHA | 32 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 36 |
| 1974-75 | San Diego Mariners | WHA | 12 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 22 |
| 1975-76 | Beauce Jaros | NAHL | 72 | 60 | 148 | 208 | 98 |
| 1976-77 | Beauce Jaros | NAHL | 22 | 7 | 36 | 43 | 30 |
| 1976-77 | Broome County Dusters | NAHL | 28 | 22 | 28 | 50 | 19 |
| 1977-78 | Binghamton Dusters | AHL | 73 | 24 | 63 | 87 | 56 |
| NHL Totals | 63 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 51 | ||
| WHA Totals | 210 | 46 | 94 | 140 | 201 |
