As part of the American Hockey League’s 70th anniversary this season, theahl.com will be taking a look at some of the legendary careers that have been carved in the AHL over the last seven decades.
A perennial 20-goal scorer during a professional career spent primarily in the American Hockey League, Rene Drolet was the AHL’s highest-scoring skater during the 1970’s.
Drolet was a consistent offensive threat over his 12 seasons in the league, even though he never won a Calder Cup or even a league award. He spent five seasons with his hometown Quebec Aces, reaching the Finals in 1968 and 1969.
In 1971-72, Drolet made his NHL debut appearing in one game with Philadelphia, and a year later he set career highs with 34 goals and 87 points for the Richmond Robins. He led Richmond in scoring in each of his three seasons there before joining the Detroit Red Wings organization in 1974.
Drolet led the Virginia Wings in scoring in 1974-75 and got in one NHL game with Detroit, then finished his career by playing with the Rochester Americans. He scored 75 goals over his final three seasons in Rochester, retiring having scored at least 20 goals in each of his final 10 AHL campaigns.
Drolet still ranks among the top 20 all-time in AHL games played (840), goals (298), assists (443) and points (741), as well as 21st in Calder Cup Playoff scoring – quite an accomplishment for one of the league’s most unheralded stars.
| Career AHL Statistics – Rene Drolet | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1962-63 | Quebec Aces | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1964-65 | Quebec Aces | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1965-66 | Quebec Aces | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1966-67 | Quebec Aces | 48 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1967-68 | Quebec Aces | 61 | 18 | 22 | 40 | 6 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 2 |
| 1968-69 | Quebec Aces | 61 | 30 | 42 | 72 | 14 | 15 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 28 |
| 1969-70 | Quebec Aces | 71 | 32 | 48 | 80 | 42 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 1970-71 | Quebec Aces | 72 | 20 | 37 | 57 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1971-72 | Richmond Robins | 74 | 31 | 30 | 61 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1972-73 | Richmond Robins | 76 | 34 | 53 | 87 | 30 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 1973-74 | Richmond Robins | 76 | 26 | 47 | 73 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| 1974-75 | Virginia Wings | 72 | 26 | 52 | 78 | 36 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 1975-76 | Rochester Americans | 74 | 23 | 40 | 63 | 42 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1976-77 | Rochester Americans | 80 | 28 | 37 | 65 | 42 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
| 1977-78 | Rochester Americans | 70 | 24 | 27 | 51 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| AHL Totals | 840 | 298 | 443 | 741 | 300 | 81 | 31 | 32 | 63 | 44 | |
