Career Vitals

Career NHL Statistics

Teams: Montreal, Quebec
Years: 1969-1973, 1979-1983. Playoffs: 1971-1983

Pre-Draft Highlights

Played in the 1967 Memorial Cup tournament with the Thetford Mines Canadiens at age 17. ... Named to 1966-67 QJHL All-Star First Team. ... Had outstanding final junior season on a line with Rejean Houle and Gilbert Perreault for Montreal (OHA).

Pro Career Highlights

Played on 1969-70 Montreal Voyageurs team that won AHL regular-season title. ... Represented Los Angeles in WHA All-Star Game in 1974. ... Represented Canada as one of WHA All-Stars who faced Soviet Union in 1974 Summit Series, appearing in five of the eight games. ... Represented Quebec in WHA All-Star Game in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979. ... Tied for WHA playoff lead with 10 goals for Quebec in 1975. ... Named to WHA All-Star Second Team with Quebec in 1974-75. ... Won Gordie Howe Trophy as WHA MVP with Quebec in 1975-76. ... Won W.D. (Bill) Hunter Trophy as WHA leading scorer (148 points) with Quebec in 1975-76. ... Named Sporting News WHA MVP for 1975-76. .... Led WHA with 71 goals for Quebec in 1975-76. ... Led WHA with 77 assists for Quebec in 1975-76. ... Named to WHA All-Star First Team with Quebec in 1975-76. ... Named to WHA All-Star First Team with Quebec in 1976-77. ... Won WHA AVCO World Trophy with Quebec in 1977. ... Scored 109 points for Quebec in 1976-77, his second of three consecutive 100-points seasons. ... Played on Quebec team that competed in December 1977 Izvestia Tournament at Moscow, assisting on all three of his team's goals in 5-3 loss to Soviets. ... Named co-MVP (with Mark Howe) of 1978 WHA All-Star Game at Quebec City, where he led reigning WHA champion Quebec to a 5-4 win over WHA All-Star team with five assists, including the primary assist on Matti Hagman's game-winner. ... Won Gordie Howe Trophy as WHA MVP with Quebec in 1977-78. ... Won W.D. (Bill) Hunter Trophy as WHA leading scorer (154 points) with Quebec in 1977-78. ... Named Sporting News WHA MVP for 1977-78. ... Set WHA single-season points record with 154 for Quebec in 1977-78. The 154 points were also the most ever scored in major-league hockey at the time, eclipsing the former NHL record of 152 held by Phil Esposito. ... Led WHA with 65 goals for Quebec in 1977-78. ... Led WHA with 89 assists for Quebec in 1977-78. ... Named to WHA All-Star First Team with Quebec in 1977-78. ... Played on WHA All-Star team that swept Moscow Dynamo in three-game series at Edmonton in January 1979. ... Held WHA records for career goals (316), points in one season (154 for Quebec in 1977-78), and assists in one season by a left wing (89 for Quebec in 1977-78) when league folded in 1979. He also held the league's second-highest single-seasn point total with 148 for Quebec in 1975-76. ... Was one of only four WHA players to score 70 goals in a single season at time league folded. ... Was Quebec Nordiques' captain when team entered NHL as part of NHL-WHA merger in 1979 and served as captain in 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons. ... Represented Quebec in 1982 NHL All-Star Game. ... Inducted into the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

Transaction History

June 5, 1973 -- Signed WHA contract with Los Angeles. Dec. 8, 1974 -- Traded by Michigan (WHA) with Steve Sutherland to Quebec in exchange for Alain Caron, Pierre Guite, and Michel Rouleau. June 9, 1979 -- Reclaimed by Montreal from Quebec prior to NHL Expansion Draft since Montreal continued to own his NHL rights. June 13, 1970 -- Claimed by Quebec from Montreal in NHL Expansion Draft.

Tardif Goes to the WHA

In June 1973, Tardif became one of the biggest NHL names to defect to the rival World Hockey Association when he signed a three-year contract with the Los Angeles Sharks. Coming off a 25-goal season with Stanley Cup champion Montreal and a year reemoved from a 31-goal season, Tardif said he was surprised that the Canadiens didn't seem to want to keep him. Montreal made little effort to counter the lucrative deal Tardif was getting from the WHA. The deal was reportedly worth a guaranteed $350,000 over three years -- a huge jump over Tardif's 1972-73 NHL salary of roughly $40,000. Tardif said he also took the Los Angeles offer because it included a no-movement clause, which was something the Canadiens refused to give him. Less than a week after Tardif left the Canadiens, Montreal still felt it was important to protect him from exposure to the NHL Intra-league draft. The Canadiens made the move as insurance in case the WHA deal did not work out for Tardif. He would go on to win two WHA MVP awards and become the league's all-time goal-scoring leader. Six years after Tardif left, Montreal was able to reclaim him when the WHA merged with the NHL, but they immediately left him unprotected for the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft, which enabled them to protect an addiitonal member of their 1979 Stanley Cup championship team. In fact, the Canadiens had no choice. Tardif was on record saying he would not play for any team other than Quebec, and only months earlier had said he would retire from pro hockey if the Nordiques weren't part of the WHA's merger with the NHL.

Unhappy Days in Quebec

Although Tardif was one of the greatest players in the team's WHA history, his association with Quebec did not end well over the team's early years in the NHL. The situation bubbled over during the 1980-81 season, when Tardif took a leave of absence from the team in January 1981. At the time, Tardif had three full seasons remaining on the five-year contract he had signed prior to the 1979-80 season, but he also had a no-trade clause. Tardif was unhappy with the climate under new coach Michel Bergeron, who had come from the junior ranks. Quebec wanted to trade him, but Tardif didn't want to go to another team. Earlier in the season, Quebec had attempted to put Tardif on waivers, but there were no takers because of his contract. During Quebec's first seasn in the NHL, former coach Jacques Demers had been critical of Tardif's effort, but Bergeron was even more public in his frustration. Bergeron and Nordiques general manager Maurice Filiion accused Tardif of not putting 100 percent effort into his game and being a negative example for other players. They demanded he waive the no-trade clause or accept a buyout if he wouldn't step up his level of play. Tardif reportedly wanted $800,000 in a buyout -- the full value of what was left on a contract that paid him $250,000 per season. That contract had resulted from the renegotiation of the remainder of a 10-year deal he had signed with the Nordiques during his WHA heyday in December 1975. He was also upset that the team was not surrounding him with good players, instead, loading up the line that featured future Hall of Famer Peter Stastny and his brothers. The Nordiques offered only $400,000 for Tardif to walk, but he refused to accept that amount. The situation was eventually resolved with Tardif's return to the team and his renewed commitment to the game. He was placed on a line with Real Cloutier and Peter Stastny, and immediately began to flourish, scoring a hat trick against the Islanders in his first game back with the team on Jan. 31, 1981. Despite all of this, he kept indicating he was not happy in Quebec. He  eventually leaft the NHL with a year on his contract because Quebec exposed him to the 1983 NHL Waiver Draft without informing him. This new hostility led to a negotiation to enable Tardif to retire before the Waiver Draft and take a two-year position as a special ambassador for the team.

Retired Sweater Number

Prior to their Nov. 1, 1983, game vs. Los Angeles, the Quebec Nordiques retired Tardif's No. 8, making him the organization's second player (along with J.C. Tremblay) to have his number retired and the first to have played with the team in the NHL. The emotional ceremony lasted 35 minutes and helped to bury some of the bad feelings between Tardif and team management, as the team gave him the gift of a $20,000 sailboat. When the Nordiques relocated to Denver in 1995 and became the Colorado Avalanche, No. 8 was unretired for use by Colorado players, but Tardif is still officially recognized by the franchise as having a retired uniform number from the team's Quebec era. 

Significant Injuries

Missed part of 1968-69 season (draft year) with separated shoulder. ... Suffered head injury when attacked by Calgary's Rick Jodzio during 1976 WHA playoffs. The injury kept him out of the remainder of 1976 playoffs, the 1976 Canada Cup tournament, and start of the 1976-77 regular season. ... Missed 22 games during 1979-80 season with injured left knee. ... Missed start of 1980-81 season recovering from elbow surgery to correct bursitis condition.

The Jodzio Attack

On April 11, 1976, at 6:16 of the opening period of Game 2 of the WHA first-round series between Tardif's Quebec Nordiques and the Calgary Cowboys at Le Colisee in Quebec City, Tardif was the victim of one of the more brutal attacks in pro hockey history. Quebec was trailing the series 1-0 after losing the opener on home ice, but had taken an early Game 2 lead on a Tardif goal at 3:43 of the first period. Calgary responded less than three minutes later when Rick Jodzio viciously charged Tardif, knocking him to the ice, where he lay semi-conscious for a long time. He was taken off on a stretcher and hospitalized with a concussion. Quebec City police began an assault investigation against Jodzio, whose unprovoked assault shocked Quebec coach Jean-Guy Gendron. "In 20 years of hockey, I've never seen the likes of it," Gendron told reporters after the game. Jodzio had left the Calgary bench six seconds before the attack, and made a beeline for Tardif. Ignoring the play, Jodzio went straight for Tardif and hit him in the face with his stick. Tardif went down, and Jodzio dropped to the ice to repeatedly punch Tardif in the head. Both benches emptied for a massive brawl that continued as doctors helped Tardif off the ice to get him to the hospital. Jodzio was charged with assault, and the Nordiques asked the WHA to suspend him for life. The Nordiques also complained that Calgary coach Joe Crozier had ordered the beating, although police did not see enough evidence for that.  Jodzio was suspended indefinitely by the WHA, and Crozier was suspended for the balance of the 1976 playoffs. Jodzio faced a court hearing in May 1976 and later pleaded guilty to a lesser assault charge (intent to wound) in August 1977. He was fined $3,000. Tardif, who was diagnosed with slight brain damage, also filed a civil suit against Jodzio, whose WHA suspension was lifted shortly before he pleaded guilty to the assault charge. Tardif's $150,000 lawsuit against Jodzio was filed in March 1977 and apparently settled out of court.

Life Outside the NHL

Full Name: Marc Gerard Marquis Tardif

Other Post-Draft Teams: Montreal (AHL); Los Angeles/Michigan, Quebec (WHA)

Career Beyond Hockey: Worked in auto sales after retirement and eventually became owner of a Toyota dealership in Charlesbourg, Quebec, in 1997. He added a Kia dealership in Charlevoix, Quebec, in 2002. Management of both dealerships was taken over by his son, Macr-Andre Tardif, as Tardif resides for much of the year in Florida.

Family: Father of former Canadian junior and U.S. college tennis player Marc-Andre Tardif.

Miscellaneous:

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