Réjean Houle

{{Infobox ice hockey player | image =HouleMontreal.png | image_size = | position = Right wing | shoots = Left | catches = | height_ft = 5 | height_in = 11 | weight_lb = 165 | team = | league = | prospect_team = Montreal Junior Canadiens | former_teams = | played_for = Montreal Canadiens (NHL)<br />Quebec Nordiques (WHA) | ntl_team = CAN | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1949|10|25}} | birth_place = Rouyn, Quebec, Canada | death_date = | death_place = | draft = 1st overall | draft_year = 1969 | draft_team = Montreal Canadiens | career_start = 1969 | career_end = 1983 }}

'''Réjean Houle''' (born October 25, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens from 1969 to 1973 and again from 1976 to 1983, and in the World Hockey Association with the Quebec Nordiques from 1973 to 1976. After his playing career he served as the general manager of the Canadiens from 1995 to 2000, and is notable for trading goaltender Patrick Roy early in his tenure. Selected first overall in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft by Montreal, Houle won the Stanley Cup with the team five times during his career.

==Playing career== thumb|1974 card of Houle for the Quebec Nordiques Drafted as the first pick overall in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft by the Montreal Canadiens, Houle played for the Canadiens from 1970 to 1973 and from 1976 to 1983. He won five Stanley Cup championships with the Canadiens. In between his NHL stints, he played for the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association (WHA).

==Management career== After retiring as a player, Houle became an executive with Molson, one of Canada's leading breweries and the then-owner of the Montreal Canadiens organization. A disastrous start to the 1995–96 season resulted in team president Ronald Corey conducting a "house cleaning" with the firing of head coach Jacques Demers and general manager Serge Savard. The team saw Houle, with his business background and history with the team, as the most viable replacement candidate for Savard, while Mario Tremblay was appointed the new head coach. <ref>{{cite web |last1=Fisher |first1=Red |title=New Hab team has plenty to learn |url=https://montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/montreal-canadiens/the-20th-anniversary-of-canadiens-hiring-houle-as-gm-and-tremblay-as-coach |publisher=Montreal Gazette |access-date=28 February 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Rock Bottom -- The Montreal Canadiens story |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/rock-bottom-the-montreal-canadiens-story-1.215763 |publisher=CBC Sports |access-date=28 February 2026}}</ref>

Houle then served as general manager of the Canadiens from 1995 to 2000, though his tenure was largely viewed as a disaster by many fans. Houle had held his role for just six weeks, when Tremblay kept Patrick Roy in net for 9 goals during a 11-1 drubbing to the Detroit Red Wings; Roy told Ronald Corey that he would not play for the Canadiens again so Houle initiated the infamous trade that sent Roy and Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Ručinský and Andrei Kovalenko. Following this trade, he dealt-away marquee players including Mark Recchi, Vincent Damphousse and Pierre Turgeon in exchange for players of little value to the team. He was also criticized for frequently trading with non-contending teams, being unable to land widely coveted free agents and for signing marginal players to inflated contracts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/canadiens-trade-bit-back-120000411.html|title=Canadiens: The Trade That Bit Back|last=Hains|first=Karine|date=July 25, 2024|website=Yahoo Sports|accessdate=November 15, 2025}}</ref>

Houle's drafting was considered even worse, however, as he was criticized for selecting players such as Matt Higgins, Jason Ward, Eric Chouinard and Marcel Hossa, the younger brother of then-rising talent Marián Hossa, with his first round selections. Houle was fired from his post two months into the 2000–01 season.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/rock-bottom-the-montreal-canadiens-story-1.252844|title=Rock bottom -- The Montreal Canadiens story|author=CBC Sports|date=November 24, 2000|publisher=CBC.ca|accessdate=November 15, 2025}}</ref>

Houle also served as president of the Canadiens Alumni Association for 36 years over two stints between 1984 and 2025, relinquishing the role while he served as GM of the Canadiens.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nhl.com/news/rejean-houle-saw-canadiens-alumni-association-as-family|title=Houle brought Canadiens ‘family together’ as Alumni Association president|last=Stubbs|first=Dave|date=October 21, 2025|publisher=NHL.com|accessdate=November 15, 2025}}</ref>

==Personal life== Houle and his wife Micheline have three children; two sons, Jean-François, who is the head coach of the NCAA's Clarkson University Golden Knights and Sylvain, as well as a daughter, Annie.

==Awards== *'''1968–69''': Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy

==Career statistics== ===Regular season and playoffs=== {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em" |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Regular season ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Playoffs |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM |- | 1966–67 | Thetford Mines Canadiens | QJHL | 43 || 30 || 30 || 60 || 80 | 11 || 10 || 12 || 22 || 27 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1966–67 | Thetford Mines Canadiens | M-Cup | — || — || — || — || — | 19 || 14 || 16 || 30 || 12 |- | 1967–68 | Montreal Jr. Canadiens | OHA | 45 || 27 || 38 || 65 || 102 | 11 || 12 || 8 || 20 || 10 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1968–69 | Montreal Jr. Canadiens | OHA | 54 || 53 || 55 || 108 || 76 | 14 || 13 || 10 || 23 || 13 |- | 1968–69 | Montreal Jr. Canadiens | M-Cup | — || — || — || — || — | 8 || 6 || 2 || 8 || 20 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1969–70 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 9 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 | — || — || — || — || — |- | 1969–70 | Montreal Voyageurs | AHL | 27 || 9 || 16 || 25 || 23 | 8 || 3 || 2 || 5 || 4 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1970–71 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 66 || 10 || 9 || 19 || 28 | 20 || 2 || 5 || 7 || 20 |- | 1971–72 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 77 || 11 || 17 || 28 || 21 | 6 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1972–73 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 72 || 13 || 35 || 48 || 36 | 17 || 3 || 6 || 9 || 0 |- | 1973–74 | Quebec Nordiques | WHA | 69 || 27 || 35 || 62 || 17 | — || — || — || — || — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1974–75 | Quebec Nordiques | WHA | 64 || 40 || 52 || 92 || 37 | 15 || 10 || 6 || 16 || 2 |- | 1975–76 | Quebec Nordiques | WHA | 81 || 51 || 52 || 103 || 61 | 5 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 8 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1976–77 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 65 || 22 || 30 || 52 || 24 | 6 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 4 |- | 1977–78 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 76 || 30 || 28 || 58 || 50 | 15 || 3 || 8 || 11 || 14 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1978–79 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 66 || 17 || 34 || 51 || 43 | 7 || 1 || 5 || 6 || 2 |- | 1979–80 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 60 || 18 || 27 || 45 || 68 | 10 || 4 || 5 || 9 || 12 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1980–81 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 77 || 27 || 31 || 58 || 83 | 3 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 6 |- | 1981–82 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 51 || 11 || 32 || 43 || 34 | 5 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 6 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1982–83 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 16 || 2 || 3 || 5 || 8 | 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | WHA totals ! 214 !! 118 !! 139 !! 257 !! 115 ! 20 !! 12 !! 6 !! 18 !! 10 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | NHL totals ! 635 !! 161 !! 247 !! 408 !! 395 ! 90 !! 14 !! 34 !! 48 !! 66 |}

===International=== {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" ID="Table3" style="text-align:center; width:40em" |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Year ! Team ! Event ! rowspan="102" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM |- | 1974 | Canada | SS | 7 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan=3 | Senior totals ! 7 !! 1 !! 1 !! 2 !! 2 |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{Ice hockey stats}} * [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1969/69001.html Profile from Hockey Draft Central]

{{s-start}} {{succession box | before = Michel Plasse | title = NHL first overall draft pick | years = 1969 | after = Gilbert Perreault}} {{succession box | before = Michel Plasse | title = Montreal Canadiens first-round draft pick | years = 1969 | after = Marc Tardif}} {{succession box | before = Serge Savard | title = General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens | years = 1995–2000 |after = Andre Savard}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houle, Rejean}} Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen Category:Canadian ice hockey forwards Category:First overall NHL draft picks Category:Ice hockey people from Rouyn-Noranda Category:Montreal Canadiens draft picks Category:Montreal Canadiens executives Category:Montreal Canadiens players Category:Montreal Voyageurs players Category:Montreal Junior Canadiens players Category:NHL first-round draft picks Category:Quebec Nordiques (WHA) players Category:Stanley Cup champions