Joe Comeau (lacrosse)

Joe Comeau
Born (1940-06-24) June 24, 1940 (age 84)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
NationalityCanadian
PositionGoaltender
WLA/
NLA team		New Westminster Salmonbellies (WLA)
New Westminster Salmonbellies (NLA)
Coquitlam Adanacs (WLA)
Portland Adanacs (NLA)
Vancouver Carlings (WLA)
Pro career1961–1976
Career highlights

Minto Cup: 1960
Mann Cup: 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976
Commission Trophy: 1976
Ellison Trophy: 1974
Nicholson Trophy: 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976

Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, 1983

Joe "The Quiet Man" Comeau[1] (born June 24, 1940) is a Canadian retired amateur and professional[2] box lacrosse goaltender. A member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame,[3] Comeau was the winner of four Mann Cup national championships,[1][4] WLA playoff and regular season most valuable player trophies, seven all-star team inductions and four Nicholson Trophies as the WLA's top goaltender.[1][5]

Career

At age 12, Comeau switched from defenceman to goaltender. After four provincial minor championships, he was promoted to the Junior A New Westminster Salmonbellies. He helped lead the 'Bellies to the 1960 Minto Cup with a 21–1 record and an 0.810 save percentage in the regular season.[1]

In 1962, Comeau was forced to split his time between the New Westminster Salmonbellies of the ICLL and Port Coquitlam of the Senior B loop. In Senior B, he led Port Coquitlam to a provincial title. By 1964, he was full-time with the Salmonbellies. He also played a stint with the Coquitlam Adanacs.[1]

In 1968, Comeau turned professional with the relocated Portland Adanacs in the National Lacrosse Association, but rejoined the Salmonbellies for the 1969 NLA season. The 'Bellies would win the WLA Conference of the NLA, but lose the final to the Peterborough Lakers. The NLA folded at the end of the 1969 season.[4]

In 1971, 1972, and 1973, Comeau was a WLA playoff champion and won the Mann Cup in 1971 and 1973.[6] He subsequently retired from lacrosse. In 1974, he returned and won yet another league title and Mann Cup and retired again.[4] Late in the 1976 season, his Salmonbellies were suffering a bad season, and he came out of retirement to turn their season around, win the league and a fourth Mann Cup.[4] He then retired for a third and final time.

"Quiet Man" Comeau was elected into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1983.[3] The Salmonbellies dynasty that he was an integral part of was also inducted in 2004.[6]

Statistics

Source: Wamper's Bible of Lacrosse[7] and Stan Shillington's "Who's Who in Lacrosse 1933-2013: Goaltending Records".[8]

Season Team League GP G A P PIM Sv% Team GAA
1960 New Westminster BCJALL 20 0 1 1 6 - 5.36
1961 Vancouver BCJALL 14 0 0 0 2 - 7.88
- New Westminster ICLL 1 0 0 0 0 0.756 8.20
1962 New Westminster ICLL 4 0 0 0 0 0.689 8.22
1963 Port Coquitlam WCLL Statistics Missing
1964 New Westminster ICLL 13 0 1 1 2 0.775 9.31
- New Westminster P/O 6 0 0 0 0 0.696 -
1965 New Westminster ICLL 2 0 0 0 0 0.775 9.07
- Coquitlam ICLL 9 0 0 0 0 11.30
1966 Coquitlam ICLL 5 0 0 0 0 0.750 8.03
1967 Coquitlam ICLL 23 0 0 0 0 0.777 8.47
- Coquitlam P/O 5 0 1 1 0 0.675 -
1968 Portland NLA 19 0 7 7 0 0.769 9.61
1969 New Westminster NLA 11 0 17 17 0 0.795 8.47
- New Westminster P/O 15 0 14 14 0 0.787 -
1970 New Westminster WLA 28 0 29 29 5 0.766 10.67
- New Westminster P/O 19 0 23 23 0 0.784 -
1971 New Westminster WLA 19 0 18 18 0 0.773 9.52
- New Westminster P/O 9 0 7 7 0 0.812 -
1972 New Westminster WLA 30 0 28 28 4 0.772 10.61
- New Westminster P/O 15 0 8 8 0 0.758 -
1973 Retired
1974 New Westminster WLA 20 0 16 16 0 0.777 10.92
- New Westminster P/O 4 0 7 7 0 0.793 -
1975 Retired
1976 New Westminster WLA 13 0 9 9 2 0.800 12.88
- New Westminster P/O 18 0 16 16 2 0.799 -

References

  1. ^ a b c d e British Columbia Lacrosse Association
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ a b "Box Players - 1983". Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2014-02-10.
  4. ^ a b c d Central Desktop
  5. ^ WLA 2013 Media Guide 13Jan22
  6. ^ a b "Team - 2004". Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2014-02-10.
  7. ^ Bible of Lacrosse – statistics
  8. ^ Stan Shillington's "Who's Who in Lacrosse" by Stan Shillington Western Lacrosse Association. 2013.