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Maurice Benoit

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Maurice Benoit
Born (1932-07-26)July 26, 1932
Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada
Died December 10, 2013(2013-12-10) (aged 81)
Dayton, Ohio, USA
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Omaha Knights
Toledo Blades
Dayton Gems
National team  Canada
Playing career 1955–1970
Olympic medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing  Canada
Silver medal – second place 1960 Squaw Valley Ice hockey
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1959 Prague Team

Joseph Maurice Leo "Moe" Benoit (July 26, 1932 – December 10, 2013) was a Canadian professional hockey defenseman.

Benoit was born in Valleyfield, Quebec, and started playing professional hockey in 1948 for the Montreal Royals. After a five-year break, he began playing again for the Trois-Rivières Lions. He had successful seasons with the Belleville McFarlands—the 1959 Team Canada that won the World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. and also played for the Kingston Frontenacs in the late 1950s. Benoit helped the Canadian Olympic Hockey Team get the silver medal in the 1960 Winter Olympics.

After his Olympic success, he moved to the United States, where he was a player (and also a coach) for the Omaha Knights and Toledo Blades. In 1966, Benoit joined the Dayton Gems, with whom he played until his retirement in 1970. He won the Turner Cup twice—with the Blades in 1964 as the player-coach and with the Gems in 1969, also sharing the IHL 1968–69 best defenseman award with his teammate Alain Beaulé. Benoit also coached numerous youth hockey teams in Dayton throughout the 1970s. Benoit was inducted into the Dayton Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973 and died December 10, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio.

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