He’s the inspiration for the character of Denis Lemieux in
the 1977 movie Slap Shot and the goalie that led the Johnstown Jets to a
Lockhart Cup championship in 1974-75. Louis Levasseur played his first full pro
season in the NAHL and went on to appear in the World Hockey Association.
Levasseur even played one game in the NHL with the Minnesota North Stars.
Louis Levasseur – NAHL
Louis played goal for the Johnstown Jets for two seasons,
1974-75 and 1975-76. In his first year, he played in 26 regular season games,
posting a 3.15 goals against average and one shutout. He also appeared in one
game with the Springfield Indians in the American Hockey League.
The Dick
Roberge coached Jets has a roster populated by the three Carlson brothers, Dave Hanson
and Ned Dowd. Along with Levasseur, it was the basis for the story behind the
Slap Shot movie. Johnstown placed fourth out of eight teams during the NAHL
regular season. In the Lockhart Cup playoffs, the Jets swept the Binghamton
Dusters in the finals for the championship. Levasseur played 12 games in the
playoffs for Johnstown.
In 1975-76, Louis played 30 games for the Jets, posting a
3.04 GAA and one shutout. He also accumulated a whopping 41 penalty minutes
over his 30 games. Levasseur was a callup to the Minnesota Fighting Saints of
the WHA and appeared in four games. The Jets were not as successful as the year
before despite having players like Bruce
Boudreau, Galen Head and Paul
Holmgren on the roster.
Like many of his teammates, Levasseur is credited for the 1977 Slap Shot movie. The Jets players played as 'doubles' for the hockey action scenes.
Louis Levasseur – Pro Career
Levasseur saw his first pro action way back in 1968-69,
appearing in two games for the Nashville Dixie Flyers of the EHL. Over those
two games, he allowed seven goals for a 3.50 GAA. He wouldn’t play pro again
until 1972-73 when he played in four games for the Tulsa Oilers of the Central
Hockey League.
1974-75 was his first full pro season. Louis played in the
WHA between 1975-76 and 1978-79 with the Fighting Saints, Edmonton Oilers, New
England Whalers and Quebec Nordiques. In 1977-78, he played 12 playoff games
for the Whalers with the team losing in the Avco World Trophy finals to the
Winnipeg Jets. He had backed up veteran Al Smith most of the season.
As mentioned, Levasseur played in one NHL games, with the
Minnesota North Stars in 1979-80. That one game was less than stellar with
Louis allowing seven goals. His pro career ended after playing for the Oklahoma
City Stars of the CHL in 1980-81.
Levasseur was involved in some interesting trades during his
WHA career. In January, 1977, Louis, along with Mike Antonovich, Bill Butters,
Dave Keon, Jack Carlson, Steve Carlson and John
McKenzie were traded to the Edmonton Oilers for cash after the Fightning
Saints ceased operations. In September of the same year, Louis was traded to
New England from Edmonton for Brett Callighen and Dave Dryden.
. This is a firsthand account of the behind-the-scenes
antics while filming Slap Shot. Dave also gets into how the movie changed his
life, along with the other cast members, taking them from minor hockey league
players to movie stars.