Guy Charron was just one of those players in the pre-Bettman era that suffered from the non-parity in the National Hockey League. Charron played 734 NHL games between 1969-70 and 1980-81, all during the regular season. He had the misfortune of never playing in a single Stanley Cup playoff game. For that, he owns the infamous record for the most games played in an NHL career without appearing in the post season.
The Player
Charron got his winning over with in 1968-69 as a junior in the OHA. Guy was a member of the Montreal Junior Canadiens, along with some great future NHL talent in Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Rejean Houle. The team captured the Hamilton Spectator Trophy as the top team in the regular season, then won the Robertson Cup as the OHA’s playoff champion. The Junior Canadiens met the Regina Pats in the Memorial Cup final series and swept their opponents in four games.
As mentioned, Guy played in the NHL from 1969-70 to 1980-8 with the Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals. Although the Canadiens were a contender, Charron played just five games with the club in 1969-70 and 15 games the following year before being traded to Detroit mid-season.
Guy Charron Collection
Over the two year history of the Kansas City Scouts, Charron was the team’s all-time best player. In 1974-75, the Red Wings traded him to the Scouts mid-season. Kansas City and Washington were both in their inaugural seasons and were simply awful. The Scouts won just 15 of 80 games while the Capitals won just eight. Their combined 23 wins equalled the total of the next worst team, the Red Wings.
In 1975-76, Guy led the Scouts with a respectable 71 points in 78 games. It was the highest point total anyone ever produced in a Kansas City uniform. The team worsened in their second year, winning just 12 games and totalling 36 points. The were once again second last, with the Capitals once again taking the bottom feeder role.
That was the end of K.C. in the NHL. the franchise moved to Denver to become the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies would soon move again, this time becoming the New Jersey Devils. Guy did not move to Denver with the club. Instead, he signed as a free agent with the hapless but slowly improving Washington Capitals.
His first year with Washington saw Charron scored 36 goals and total 82 points, by far the offensive leader of the Capitals. His goal total tied him for tenth in the NHL with former Junior Canadiens teammate Rick Martin of the Buffalo Sabres. Guy finished three goals behind another former Junior Canadien, Gilbert Perreault and five goals behind a rookie with the Kansas City Scouts in 1974-75, Wilf Paiement, now with the Rockies.
As for the Capitals in 1976-77, the team won 24 games and totalled 62 points, not qualifying for the playoffs. The only two teams with lower point totals were Charron’s last two teams, Colorado and Detroit.
1977-78 was Guy’s goal scoring pinnacle in the National Hockey League. His 38 goals led the Capitals but didn’t place him in the NHL’s top ten. He led the team again in goals and points but the team slid downhill. The Capitals finished with just 17 wins and 48 points, just three points out of the last place position, held by the Minnesota North Stars.
Charron served as team captain in Washington for just one year, 1978-79. After leaving the NHL, he spent the 1982-83 season with Arosa of the National League A in Switzerland. He returned home to finish that final year of pro hockey with the New Haven Nighthawks of the American Hockey League.
Because he was also on a team that did not make the playoffs, Charron had the booby prize honour of playing for Canada at the IIHF World Championships in 1977, 1978 and 1979. The only medal over the three years came in 1978 when Canada won bronze at the tournament held in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
The Coach
After finishing up the Calder Cup playoffs with New Haven in 1982-83, Charron immediately took the role of head coach with the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL for the 1983-84 season. Up until the end of the 2012-13 season, he has been behind the bench in some way, shape or form since.
Along the way, Guy has coached in the QMJHL, NHL, DEL (Germany), IHL, AHL and WHL (junior). In 1990, he led Team Canada to a gold medal at the IIHF World Juniors held in Helsinki, Finland. He was a head coach in the NHL for two short interim stints, in 1991-92 with the Calgary Flames and in 2000-01 with the Anaheim Ducks.
In 1999-00, he was awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy as the IHL’s Coach of the Year. Charron led the Grand Rapids Griffins to a first place finish in the East Division with 51 wins and 111 points over 82 regular season games. The Griffins finished second overall in the IHL to the West Division leading Chicago Wolves. The two teams met in the Turner Cup finals with the Wolves taking the championship in six games.
For the past four years, Guy has been head coach of the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL. He will return to the team in 2013-14 but as the Senior Advisor to Hockey Operations.
The Rookie Card
It wasn’t until after his first full year with the Detroit Red Wings before Charron got his picture on cardboard. The Guy Charron rookie card appears as number 223 in the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee set and is not rated above a common card. His first Topps card did not appear until two years later as part of the 1974-75 set, still as a member of the Red Wings.
Guy Charron Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1968-69 | Montreal Jr Canadiens | OHA | 50 | 27 | 27 | 54 | 12 |
| 1969-70 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1969-70 | Montreal Voyageurs | AHL | 65 | 37 | 45 | 82 | 20 |
| 1970-71 | Montreal Voyageurs | AHL | 23 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 6 |
| 1970-71 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 1970-71 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 24 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 4 |
| 1971-72 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 64 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 14 |
| 1972-73 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 75 | 18 | 18 | 36 | 23 |
| 1973-74 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 76 | 25 | 30 | 55 | 10 |
| 1974-75 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 26 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 6 |
| 1974-75 | Kansas City Scouts | NHL | 51 | 13 | 29 | 42 | 21 |
| 1975-76 | Kansas City Scouts | NHL | 78 | 27 | 44 | 71 | 12 |
| 1976-77 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 36 | 46 | 82 | 10 |
| 1977-78 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 38 | 35 | 73 | 12 |
| 1978-79 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 28 | 42 | 70 | 24 |
| 1979-80 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 33 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 6 |
| 1980-81 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 47 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 2 |
| 1982-83 | New Haven Nighthawks | AHL | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 14 |
| NHL Totals | 734 | 221 | 309 | 530 | 146 |