Gregory James Joly (born May 30, 1954) is a Canadian former ice hockey player who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Washington Capitals and Detroit Red Wings. He won the 1974 Memorial Cup with the Regina Patshttps://sasksportshalloffame.com/inductees/1974-regina-pats-hockey-club/ and the 1981 Calder Cup with the AHL's Adirondack Red Wings.
After winning the 1974 Memorial Cup with the Regina Pats, Joly was drafted first overall by the Washington Capitals in the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft (just a couple of days before his 20th birthday). Before the draft, Washington general manager Milt Schmidt explained that "Joly can do a lot of the same incredible things that Bobby Orr does.""Greg Joly first pick says report" The Leader-Post, May 27, 1974, p. 2. On May 28, 1974, Joly was the first of two Regina players selected in the first round (Clark Gillies was selected fourth overall by the Islanders).
Washington's general manager, Milt Schmidt, referred to Joly at the time as "the next Bobby Orr", but over his nine seasons playing with Washington (1974–76) and the Detroit Red Wings (1976–83), Joly spent parts of seven seasons on the American Hockey League (AHL) farm teams of those two organizations. He spent his first three seasons in the NHL in last place (Capitals 1974-75 and 1975-76, Red Wings 1976-77). After playing 365 National Hockey League (NHL) games over the course of those nine seasons, Joly played his final three years of professional hockey in the AHL. He is considered to have been a draft bust. Joly scored the last goal at Detroit’s Olympia Stadium.
Joly was born in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta.
Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1971–72 Regina Pats WCJHL 67 6 38 44 41 15 0 3 3 10 1972–73 Regina Pats WCJHL 67 14 54 68 94 4 0 3 3 4 1973–74 Regina Pats WCJHL 67 21 71 92 103 16 7 13 20 8 1973–74 Regina Pats M-Cup — — — — — 3 2 3 5 4 1974–75 Washington Capitals NHL 44 1 7 8 44 — — — — — 1975–76 Richmond Robins AHL 3 3 2 5 4 — — — — — 1975–76 Washington Capitals NHL 54 8 17 25 28 — — — — — 1976–77 Springfield Indians AHL 22 0 8 8 16 — — — — — 1976–77 Detroit Red Wings NHL 53 1 11 12 14 — — — — — 1977–78 Detroit Red Wings NHL 79 7 20 27 73 5 0 0 0 8 1978–79 Detroit Red Wings NHL 20 0 4 4 6 — — — — — 1979–80 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 8 3 3 6 10 — — — — — 1979–80 Detroit Red Wings NHL 59 3 10 13 45 — — — — — 1980–81 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 62 3 34 37 158 17 4 12 16 38 1980–81 Detroit Red Wings NHL 17 0 2 2 10 — — — — — 1981–82 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 36 3 22 25 59 — — — — — 1981–82 Detroit Red Wings NHL 37 1 5 6 30 — — — — — 1982–83 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 71 8 40 48 118 6 1 0 1 0 1982–83 Detroit Red Wings NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1983–84 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 78 10 33 43 133 7 0 1 1 19 1984–85 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 76 9 40 49 111 — — — — — 1985–86 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 65 0 22 22 68 16 0 4 4 38 NHL totals 365 21 76 97 250 5 0 0 0 8 AHL totals 421 39 204 243 677 46 5 17 22 95
Awards WCHL All-Star Team – 1973 & 1974
References
External links
Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com