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Claimed:(S39 Class) Remy LeBeau - Player

Phil

By Phil
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Phil

Phil 5,119

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G- Remy LeBeau 
Birthplace: Orleans, France
Height: 6'4" 
Weight: 220lbs
Jersey Number: 39
Drafted: S31 TOR (1/6)
Username: Green
 
 
When a new player agent showed up in the VHL in Season 30 promoting a young goaltender by the name of Remy LeBeau, there were polite welcomes and well wishers, but it is unlikely that many thought that this goaltender would turn out to be one of the best of the generation. 
 
Enthusiastic and highly motivated, LeBeau was set on proving his worth. He was drafted 3rd overall in the S30 VHLM Dispersal Draft by Bern, ahead of fellow Hall of Famer Kameron Taylor. Bern were in a unique position that season because with that pick they now possessed three goalies, one of which was David Poulin, a client of the very well respected agent, Zach Arce. However, Poulin's work ethic was no match for the Frenchman, and  LeBeau got all but 8 starts. 
 
His dedication to his practice hours caught the eyes of many members leading up to the S31 VHL Entry Draft and he was snatched up by a happy Toronto franchise at 6th overall. Considering this was by no means a deep draft, that may seem a little low for LeBeau to be taken, but with the quality of goaltending already in the VHL (including Benjamin Glover, Alexander Labatte, CAL G, Satan, and Marius  Henchoz), it is quite understandable that a client of an unproven agent would drop a few spots. All the goalies listed above were clients of well-established agents and because a goalie in the VHL is the foundation of the core of the team, it's sometime tough to take a chance on the unknown. 
 
However, Toronto decided to chance it. LeBeau coincided nicely with the timing of Alexander Labatte's departure from Toronto. The former Christian Stolzschweiger winner, who led his team to a Continental Cup in S29, was looking for a move to another team. This is quite possibly the reason the Legion went for LeBeau - to fill the impending hole in their line-up and restructure for the future. It turned out to be one of the best decisions in the history of the franchise. 
 
Career Awards:
Season 34 - Aidan Shaw Trophy
Season 36 - Aidan Shaw Trophy
Season 36 - Victory Cup (Toronto)
Season 36 - Devon-Marlow Marta Trophy (Toronto)
Season 37 - Daisuke Kanou Trophy
Season 37 - Devon-Marlow Marta Trophy (Toronto)
Season 37 - Continental Cup (Toronto) 
Season 38 - Devon-Marlow Marta Trophy (Toronto)
Season 31 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S31(TOR) - 64 GP / 10 W / 50 L / 4 OTL / 0 SO / .904 SV% / 4.22 GAA
Toronto, trading off almost all of their assets, leaving behind a team of six players, four of which were rookies, had an expectedly terrible year, winning just 10 games and earning a league-low 25 points. At least LeBeau had great shooting practice, with the Legion giving up a league-high 3,313 shots.  He stopped 2,912 of them for a respectable 0.908 SV% but still had a less-than-stirring 4.22 GAA. However, Mr. Desaulniers, the GM, was not concerned with their goaltending, as he was pleased with LeBeau's continued practice commitment. By the end of his rookie season he had already accumulated 234 practice hours. 
 
Season 32 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S32(TOR) - 65 GP / 11 W / 49 L / 4 OTL / 1 SO / .919 SV% / 3.68 GAA
Toronto, although hardly improving at all from last season, did have first overall pick in the S32 VHL Entry Draft and used it on the prospect Jack Sound. Desaulniers' player, Kjellberg, was also ready for the VHL and the combination of  Sound, Kjellberg, N. Lebedev, Lehtinen,  and of course, LeBeau, meant that the Legion had a great core to work with. The team knew they would just have to be patient while they developed. LeBeau's numbers improved in all categories and the Legion even managed to cut back on the shots they allowed by only giving LeBeau 3,216 to deal with. 
 
Season 33 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S33(TOR) - 64 GP / 27 W / 28 L / 9 OTL / 0 SO / .919 SV% / 2.73 GAA
Playoffs:
S33(TOR) - 6 GP / 2 W / 3 L / 1 OTL / 0 SO / .896 SV% / 3.46 GAA
Toronto's improvement this season was marked. Tripling their win totals from the past two seasons, they finished with 71 points, 8 clear of the Quebec City Meute for the final playoff spot in North America. After selecting the future Hall of Famer Odin Tordahl 3rd overall in this season's Entry Draft and acquiring the veteran enforcer Abraham Sander from Cologne, the Legion finally looked ready to test the ice of the playoffs with this rebuilt young team. They went up against the highly offensive Calgary Wranglers, featuring Baldwin, Rybak, Marcellin and Zamora. After taking a surprising 2-1 series lead, the Wranglers' offense truly woke up and they scored 13 goals in the last 3 games, ending the series in 6. However, Toronto's players got some much needed playoff experience and went into the off-season only looking forward.
 
Season 34 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S34(TOR) - 63 GP / 37 W / 17 L / 9 OTL / 7 SO / .934 SV% / 1.86 GAA
If we just had the stats of this season to go by, based on the summary of the last few seasons, one would be inclined to think that Toronto rolled into the playoffs. LeBeau had his break-out year and put up some staggeringly impressive numbers, having a career high in wins, save percentage, goals against average, and shutouts. The Legion also finished with the most points since they had won the Cup in S29, with 92. However, somehow, they missed the playoffs. During the off-season, Toronto traded for Smooth Jive and had to give up Odin Tordahl and an S35 TOR 1st (which ended up being Naomi Young - making this one of the more lopsided trades in VHL History), but Desaulniers needed to make this traded for a veteran forward and for political reasons. New York had stolen the last playoff spot from Toronto with 94 points while Quebec and Calgary collected 110 and 106 points, respectively. It was very disappointing for Toronto to have missed the playoffs but due to LeBeau's outstanding season,  he earned his first individual accolade - the highly sought after Aidan Shaw Trophy, for the top goaltender. At the awards ceremony, there was the first known uttering of what would go on to be his nickname: LeGod.
 
Season 35 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S35(TOR) - 64 GP / 40 W / 19 L / 5 OTL / 8 SO / .923 SV% / 1.98 GAA
Playoffs:
S35(TOR) - 7 GP / 3 W / 2 L / 2 OTL / 0 SO / .915 SV% / 2.58 GAA
Jive and Lindberg drove Toronto's offense to another solid regular season performance, earning them a spot back in the playoffs with 94 points. LeBeau's stat-line only dipped slightly, as he still managed to maintain a sub-2.00 GAA and above a .920 SV%. He also managed to get to the 40-win milestone with the help of his team. LeBeau, at this point in his career, had gained the complete respect of the community and Toronto could not have been more happy with the way he had turned out thus far. They would meet Calgary once again in the playoffs and this time take a 3-1 series lead. Calgary forced a Game 7 and the game was tied at 2 apiece with under 3 minutes to go when the Wranglers broke Toronto hearts once more. This time, there was nothing but disappointment heading into the off-season. 
 
Season 36 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S36(TOR) - 63 GP / 46 W / 14 L / 3 OTL / 8 SO / .930 SV% / 1.80 GAA
Playoffs:
S36(TOR) - 13 GP / 7 W / 6 L / 0 OTL / 0 SO / .910 SV% / 2.70 GAA
There was a Management change in Toronto, as Desaulniers handed the reins Edgar. Edgar wasted no time getting busy, as he made 4 off-season trades to reshuffled picks and pick up Chico Salmon. He also made one trade halfway through the season to acquire Reggie Dunlop from Cologne. Sometimes a change in management and multiple moves can unsettle a club but this was certainly not the case with the Legion. Just as the past 5 seasons, Toronto yet again improved their season and captured their first Victory Cup since S29 with 113 points, 6 more than when they won the Continental Cup. This was LeBeau's first team Trophy and he had another fantastic year, improving his numbers back to where they were when he won the Shaw Trophy, two season's prior. Given this, it is no surprise that he was awarded the Aidan Shaw Trophy once more for his efforts. In the playoffs, they met Quebec in the Conference Finals, where they won in 6 games, taking them into LeBeau's (and many others on the team) first finals to face Davos. The Legion took a 3-1 series lead, scoring 16 goals in the first 4 games, but only managed 5 in the next three and lost another series where they had been just one game away from winning. LeBeau was so close to lifting his first Continental Cup, and he would have to do it soon, if he ever was going to, because time was running out on his career. 
 
Season 37 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S37(TOR) - 63 GP / 42 W / 19 L / 3 OTL / 9 SO / .924 SV% / 2.03 GAA
Playoffs:
S37(TOR) - 10 GP / 8 W / 2 L / 0 OTL / 2 SO / .943 SV% / 1.62 GAA
Edgar made three more off-season moves, including trading Nikita Lebedev for 6 pieces and bringing in Anatoli Zhumbayev from Helsinki. Lindberg and Zhumbayev made a formidable duo, collecting 114 and 105 points, respectively. Defensively, LeBeau had another terrific year, with a .924 SV% and his first +2.00 GAA season since S33. The Legion finish atop the North American Conference yet again with 101 points but Davos managed to snatch the Victory Cup from Toronto's clutches. Toronto met Seattle in the Conference finals and dispatched them in 6 games. They went on to meet Davos for a repeat of last season, except with different results. To say LeBeau was brilliant in the series would be an understatement. He was truly LeGod, stopping 128 of 133 shots, including 50 in Game 4, which went to double OT before Dunlop ended it on the powerplay and the whole of Toronto rejoiced as they finally lifted the Continental Cup once more. LeBeau was awarded the Daisuke Kanou Trophy for MVP in the Playoffs and the celebrations went on deep into the off-season.
 
Season 38 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S38(TOR) - 64 GP / 42 W / 18 L / 4 OTL / 5 SO / .919 SV% / 2.21 GAA
Playoffs:
S38(TOR) - 18 GP / 10 W / 5 L / 3 OTL / 2 SO / .935 SV% / 2.04 GAA
LeBeau entered his last season in the VHL with his Cup ring on his finger and a smile on his face. Although he was approaching his retirement, his version of "slowing down" really is a relative term. He still managed to post respectable numbers and Toronto still finished easily in a playoff spot, with 95 points and second in their Conference. In the first round, they met up with the Bears again and once more, beat them in 6 games. They then faced New York in the Conference Finals, where it was the battle of the goaltenders, LeBeau for Toronto and Tukio for New York. Very unsurprisingly, in the 6 games of the series, only once did a team score 3 goals. The rest were either 0, 1, or 2 scored (a total of 18 goals were scored in that series, compared to the 31 in the other Conference Final, which only went to 5 games). Toronto turned a few heads with their Game 6 victory and went, for the third straight season, to face Davos in the VHL Finals. Toronto found themselves down 3-2 in the series and facing a barrage of shots from Davos. LeBeau was doing everything he could to keep Toronto in the game, stopping all of the 37 shots in regulation, forcing overtime. However, on the powerplay, Davos finally beat LeBeau and ended his career there on the ice, in defeat. 
 
Career Totals:
 
Regular Season:
510 GP / 255 W / 214 L / 41 OTL / 38 SO / 0.922 SV% / 2.56 GAA
Playoffs:
54 GP / 30 W / 18 L / 6 OTL / 4 SO / .920 SV% / 2.48 GAA
LeBeau developed into one of the best first-generation players to have ever skated on the ice of the VHL and is considered by many to be in the top 8 all-time best VHL goalies. Although he only won 3 individual accolades, his loyalty and dedication to Toronto was unparalleled.  He had no expectations of individual awards and only wanted success for his team. His jersey was almost instantly retired to the rafters of the Ricoh Center and it only took one full season for him to make his way into the Hall of Fame. LeBeau is an inspiration to new players who dream of making a lasting impact on the league and proving that it is an obtainable goal. 
Edited by Phil
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NotAVHLM-GM

NotAVHLM-GM 1,858

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 His jersey was almost instantly retired to the rafters of the Ricoh Center

 

It was slower then Edgar's tpe earning tbh, it was not until Edgar stepped down that he retired it (a one liner in his stepping down announcement).

 

 

Great article, glad that finally someone finished it, think you were number 3 or 4 who claimed it :) You are now my favourite Knight brother for life.

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