52 Facts About Lionel Fleury

Lionel Fleury was a Canadian ice hockey administrator who served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association from 1964 to 1966.

Lionel Fleury sought an end to the National Hockey League system of sponsoring amateur teams by replacing it with a draft of players who had graduated from junior ice hockey, and negotiated for a new agreement that was realized after his term as president concluded.

Lionel Fleury was a lifelong resident of Quebec City where he organized minor ice hockey leagues, established the Quebec City District Minor Hockey Association, and chaired the city's parks and playgrounds association.

Lionel Fleury later served as president of the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association and oversaw the establishment of a Quebec Junior Hockey League composed of local talent that operated without seeking financial assistance from professional leagues.

Lionel Fleury was recognized for his contributions to sport with the Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967, and was inducted into the inaugural class of the Hockey Quebec Hall of Fame in 1991.

Lionel Fleury was born in Quebec City on December 25,1912.

Lionel Fleury was involved in ice hockey at an early age, and later became a referee, coach and manager in junior ice hockey.

Lionel Fleury served as a vice-president of the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association from 1940 to 1955, representing the Quebec City district.

Lionel Fleury gained the QAHA's approval to seek a similar rule for all of Canada, and to welcome teams of servicemen in the Canadian Armed Forces into the Quebec's leagues without requiring registration fees.

The other teams in Quebec were opposed to playing teams from Ontario, and Lionel Fleury reached an agreement for a schedule among the four teams in Quebec.

Lionel Fleury claimed that in order to gain access to the city's rinks, six-year-olds were required to sign QAHA registration cards which tied them to the association for five years, and that higher-ranked players were given preferential treatment by the QAHA.

Lionel Fleury was chairman of the city's parks and playgrounds association at the time, and felt that the QAHA was giving children a place to play recreational hockey and denied any intentions to produce professional athletes.

Lionel Fleury was elected president of the QAHA to succeed Robert Lebel in June 1955, and was the first person to live outside of Greater Montreal to hold the position.

Lionel Fleury planned to replace the Quebec Junior Hockey League with a new league composed of local talent on teams that operated at a lower level of junior hockey, and be purely amateur without seeking financial assistance from the NHL.

Lionel Fleury was elected second vice-president of the CAHA on May 28,1960, and served two one-year terms.

Lionel Fleury served as chairman of the CAHA's Minor Hockey Week In Canada in 1961 and 1962.

Lionel Fleury sought to have parents more involved, felt that it was important to keep youths involved in sports for the physical benefits, and that the event had become "an accepted and important part of the national sports program".

Lionel Fleury was the spokesman for amateur sports associations in Quebec which appealed to member of parliament Jacques Flynn for the co-ordination of amateur sports in Canada.

Lionel Fleury was elected first vice-president in May 1962, and served two one-year terms.

Lionel Fleury made plans for an international tournament to be hosted in Canada, but instead exhibition tours were scheduled and the Swedish national team made its debut in Canada in December 1963.

Lionel Fleury accompanied the 1963 Allan Cup champion Windsor Bulldogs on a European exhibition tour, and based on the results he felt that the Soviet national team would be the strongest in ice hockey at the 1964 Winter Olympics.

Lionel Fleury oversaw the 1963 Memorial Cup playoffs in Eastern Canada, when the junior champions from Quebec and the Maritimes declined to participate and complained that the national deadlines did not allow adequate time to decide their leagues' champions.

Lionel Fleury opted to change the format of the Memorial Cup playoffs from an elimination bracket into a round-robin format to reduce travel costs.

Lionel Fleury oversaw the 1964 Memorial Cup playoffs in Eastern Canada, and scheduled a three-team round-robin series for the champions of the QAHA, the Ottawa and District Amateur Hockey Association, and the Maritime Amateur Hockey Association.

Lionel Fleury was elected president to succeed Art Potter, during the 50th annual general meeting of the CAHA on May 22,1964.

Lionel Fleury wanted a junior-aged player to complete an education, rather than be encouraged to quit schooling to focus on playing hockey.

The CAHA divided the team into two groups and scheduled exhibition tours for both groups in advance of the 1965 World Championships, and Lionel Fleury travelled to Finland with the second group.

The CAHA had never hosted an Ice Hockey World Championships, and Lionel Fleury felt that a bid for the A-division of the 1967 World Championships to coincide with the Canadian Centennial would be approved.

Lionel Fleury later revealed that the CAHA had limited its bid to the top five countries of the A-division to exclude the East Germany national team, to avoid embarrassing the Government of Canada due to travel visa issues for East Germany that had occurred at the 1962 World Championships hosted in the United States.

Lionel Fleury explained that the decision not to host the B-division was not made due to its perceived lack of profitability, but rather it was political since the CAHA sought to restrict which countries participated in the A-division.

Lionel Fleury felt that European countries were against the presence of North American professionals due to concerns of the best European players being lured away.

Lionel Fleury was re-elected president in May 1965, and focused that year's general meeting on improvement to Canada's national team.

The CAHA continued the national team program based in Winnipeg, and Lionel Fleury expected to begin assembling players in September and keep them together for the winter to prepare for the 1966 World Championships.

Lionel Fleury sought for the players to be fully amateur instead of former professionals, and for them to be educated and or employed in Winnipeg.

Lionel Fleury felt that talking to juniors was acceptable, that no regulations had been broken, and did not blame any player for wanting to represent his country while continuing a university education.

Lionel Fleury dismissed continued complaints from Saskatchewan that Fran Huck had joined the national team, and was opposed to any suggestion for the NHL to have more influence in amateur hockey and assume control of the national team.

Lionel Fleury travelled with the national team to the 1966 World Championships in Ljubljana, and felt that the calibre of officiating was below the expected standard after a loss to the Czechoslovakian national team in which Canada was the more-penalized team.

Lionel Fleury felt that an end to sponsorship would interest more people in operating a junior team, and asked the NHL to terminate the existing professional-agreement rather than letting it in expire in 1968.

Lionel Fleury was hospitalized due to a recurring heart condition prior to the 1966 CAHA general meeting, but chose to travel to the meeting in Montreal against his doctor's orders.

Lionel Fleury ended fifteen years of unsuccessful negotiations to incorporate the Province of Newfoundland into the CAHA, when he reached an agreement with Don Johnson for the Newfoundland Amateur Hockey Association to become a branch member.

Lionel Fleury returned to the QAHA executive when he was elected a vice-president in September 1966.

Lionel Fleury was named to the committee for organizing the inaugural Canada Games hosted during winter in Quebec City in 1967.

Winnipeg and Montreal were chosen, and Lionel Fleury defended the choice of Montreal by stating its bid was the best of the Eastern Canadian cities, compared to Toronto, Ottawa, or Quebec City.

Lionel Fleury worked as a civil servant and a human resources advisor in the governments of Quebec and Canada.

Lionel Fleury was married to Raymonde Doyon, had three sons and three daughters, and resided in Sainte-Foy, Quebec City.

Lionel Fleury coached and managed baseball teams in the summer, and was an avid golfer.

Lionel Fleury was elected a member of the Province of Quebec Golf Association in 1960, as a representative of the Royal Quebec Golf Club.

Lionel Fleury served three two-years terms on the provincial association, and was chairman of the annual tournament for the Duke of Kent Trophy at the Royal Quebec Golf Club.

Lionel Fleury died at Universite Laval Hospital in Quebec City on July 12,1997.

Lionel Fleury's remains were cremated and interred in the mausoleum at La Souvenance Commemorative Park in Sainte-Foy.

Lionel Fleury was a lifetime member of the Province of Quebec Golf Association, and received the Laval Sportsmanship Award and the Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967.

Lionel Fleury was a life member of the QAHA, and was inducted into the inaugural class of the Hockey Quebec Hall of Fame in 1991.