This Day in Hockey History – December 22, 2002 – Francis Assists

Dec 22, 2018

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Over twenty years into his NHL career, on December 22, 2002, Ron Francis became only the second player to have 1,200 assists. He still has the second-highest total regular-season assists at 1,249 (behind Wayne Gretzky with 1,963).

Ron Francis began his career with the Hartford Whalers in 1981 (when he was drafted fourth pick overall). During his tenth season, the Pittsburgh Penguins snapped him up before the trade deadline. In his first two seasons with the Penguins, they won the Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992. Then in 1998, two years after the Whalers relocated to become the North Carolina Hurricanes, Francis signed with them.

The Hurricanes hosted the Dallas Stars on December 22, 2002. Neither team scored in the first or second periods. The Stars had 28 shots on goal, but Kevin Weekes blocked them all. This was his second shutout of the season and tenth overall – just two games back from concussion recovery. Head Coach Paul Maurice made note of Weekes’s solid play. “He was just so solid in that net. It looks like he never missed a beat.” Finally, at 11:28 of the third period, Francis (and Sami Kapanen) set up Jeff O’Neill to score the only goal of the game. Francis’s old teammate from Hartford, Dave Tippett, then coached for Dallas. He commented after the game, “It’s hard to find words to express what this guy is to the history of the game. He’s right there with the elite of the elite.”

Over his career, “Captain Class” received the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy three times, the Frank J. Selke Trophy, and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. Unsurprisingly, he spent twelve seasons in the top 10 for assists. In addition to holding second place in assists, Francis ranks fifth in points (1,798) and fourth in number of games played (1,731). He officially retired in 2005 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.