Lonnie Loach

Lonnie Loach
Born	(1968-04-14) April 14, 1968 New Liskeard, Ontario, Canada
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Left wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Ottawa Senators Los Angeles Kings Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
NHL draft	98th overall, 1986 Chicago Blackhawks
Playing career	1988–2006

Lonnie Loach (born April 14, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Loach spent the majority of his career in the IHL but also played briefly in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings, and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He played left wing and shot left-handed.

Playing career

After one season with the Guelph Platers of the OHL Loach was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the fifth round, 98th overall in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft. After being drafted, Loach returned to the Platers and played another 2 years with the team. Loach then turned pro and played the next 3 years in the IHL. During the 1990–1991 season, Loach led the IHL with 131 points in 81 games and helped lead the Fort Wayne Komets to the Turner Cup Finals.

Following the 1990–1991 season, Loach signed as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings. He spent one year with the Red Wings' minor league affiliate Adirondack Red Wings, scoring 86 points in 67 games during the 1991–1992 season. In 1992 Loach was claimed in the Expansion Draft by the Ottawa Senators.

The 1992–1993 season saw Loach finally make his NHL debut. He appeared in 3 games with the Senators early in the season, but was eventually released. Loach was quickly picked up by the Los Angeles Kings however, and he earned a spot on the Kings roster. He played in 50 games, scoring 23 points. Following the season, Loach was again claimed in the Expansion Draft, this time by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He was unable to crack the Mighty Ducks roster for the 1993–1994 season, spending the majority of the year with the San Diego Gulls while appearing in 3 games with the Mighty Ducks. This would be the last time Loach would play in the NHL.

Loach spent the next 5 years in the IHL. His most successful season during this time was during the 1995–1996 season when he scored 86 points with the Detroit Vipers. Loach would also make stops with the San Antonio Dragons, Long Beach Ice Dogs, and Kansas City Blades.

Loach then played from the 1999–2000 season until the 2002–2003 season with the Missouri River Otters of the UHL. Over 4 seasons he scored 310 points in 238 games with the River Otters. During the 2002–2003 season Loach also made an appearance with the Los Angeles Kings minor league affiliate Manchester Monarchs, playing 3 games. Loach retired from hockey following the 2002–2003 season. For the 2003–2004 season Loach was hired as the head coach of the River Otters and coached the team for the majority of the year, but was replaced after 70 games and a dismal 16–47–7 record.

Loach came out of retirement for the 2005–2006 season with the River Otters, skating in 21 games with the team before retiring again in 2006. He had his #33 retired by the River Otters, the only player to have his number retired by the team.

Awards

• 1986: OHL Rookie of the Year
• 1991: IHL Second All-Star Team
• 1991: Leo P. Lamoureux Memorial Trophy (leading scorer in IHL)

Community involvement

For several years during the mid 1990s, Lonnie Loach had helped hundreds and hundreds of children across Northern Ontario by running his own hockey school for kids. He started this while playing for the Detroit Red Wings and brought along with him former teammate Keith Primeau.

Lonnie's hockey school was a huge success amongst the Northern Ontario crowd. It ran for three years and even spawned one professional NHL hockey player, Fellow Hockey Heritage North Alumni, "The Zack Morris" of KLCVI, Kurtis McLean.

Lonnie has also helped raise money for local charities in Northern Ontario by lending his services to charity hockey tournaments in Northern Ontario. One in particular is the Canadian Tire Rino Robazza Memorial Hockey tournament.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1982–83	New Liskeard Cubs U18 AAA	GNML		1	1	0	1	2		—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	New Liskeard Cubs U18 AAA	GNML		30	17	26	43	39		—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Haileybury 54's	NOJHL		2	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	St. Marys Lincolns	WOHL		44	26	36	62	113		—	—	—	—	—
1985–86	Guelph Platers	OHL		65	41	42	83	63		20	7	8	15	16
1986–87	Guelph Platers	OHL		56	31	24	55	42		5	2	1	3	2
1987–88	Guelph Platers	OHL		66	43	49	92	75		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Saginaw Hawks	IHL		32	7	6	13	27		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Flint Spirits	IHL		42	22	26	48	30		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Indianapolis Ice	IHL		3	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Fort Wayne Komets	IHL		54	15	33	48	40		5	4	2	6	15
1989–90	Canadian National Team	Intl		9	3	1	4	2		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Fort Wayne Komets	IHL		81	55	76	131	45		19	5	11	16	13
1991–92	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL		67	37	49	86	69		19	13	4	17	10
1992–93	Ottawa Senators	NHL		3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		50	10	13	23	27		1	0	0	0	0
1992–93	Phoenix Roadrunners	IHL		4	2	3	5	10		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	NHL		3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	San Diego Gulls	IHL		74	42	49	91	65		9	4	10	14	6
1994–95	San Diego Gulls	IHL		13	3	10	13	21		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Detroit Vipers	IHL		64	32	43	75	45		3	2	1	3	2
1995–96	Detroit Vipers	IHL		79	35	51	86	75		11	1	5	6	8
1996–97	San Antonio Dragons	IHL		70	24	37	61	45		9	1	3	4	10
1997–98	ZSC Lions	NLA		15	1	5	6	6		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	San Antonio Dragons	IHL		52	7	29	36	22		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Long Beach Ice Dogs	IHL		30	12	9	21	18		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Kansas City Blades	IHL		22	9	5	14	6		3	1	0	1	0
1998–99	Olimpija Ljubljana	SLO		11	4	10	14	12		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Missouri River Otters	UHL		58	29	56	85	20		3	3	2	5	2
1999–00	Chicago Wolves	IHL		1	0	0	0	0		8	0	3	3	0
2000–01	Missouri River Otters	UHL		56	27	37	64	29		4	2	6	8	2
2000–01	Chicago Wolves	IHL		—	—	—	—	—		2	0	0	0	0
2001–02	Missouri River Otters	UHL		56	35	49	84	26		4	3	2	5	2
2002–03	Missouri River Otters	UHL		69	29	48	77	48		3	0	1	1	0
2002–03	Manchester Monarchs	AHL		3	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
IHL totals				621	265	378	643	449		69	18	35	53	54
NHL totals				56	10	13	23	29		1	0	0	0	0

Coaching statistics

Season  Team                  Lge       Type GP  W  L T OTL   Pct 
2003-04 Missouri River Otters UHL Head Coach 70 16 47 0   7 0.279 

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database