Height: 5-8
Weight: 155
Shoot: L
Born: 23 Sep 1947, Noranda PQ
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1972-73 | Winnipeg | |||||||||||
| 1973-74 | Winnipeg | |||||||||||
| 1974-75 | Winnipeg | |||||||||||
| Quebec | ||||||||||||
| Totals (2 teams) | ||||||||||||
| 1975-76 | Quebec | |||||||||||
| 1976-77 | Quebec | |||||||||||
| 1977-78 | Quebec | |||||||||||
| 1978-79 | Quebec | |||||||||||
| Totals: |
• Brother of Paulin Bordeleau
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Prestige is nice, but Pepe plays for pay • by Vic Grant • The Hockey Spectator • March 16, 1973
Christian Bordeleau was a star before he threw in with the World Hockey Association, but no one took advantage of it. Bordeleau flowered above and beyond the expectations of the Winnipeg Jets, not to mention the WHA. Chris Bordeleau, "Pepe" to his teammates and fans, stands as one of the best acquisitions the Jets made in their inaugural costruction of a major league hockey team. Bordeleau draws a salary somewhere in the $60,000 range and he's already proven to be worth every penny. Who do you think carried the Jets on his back while they waited patiently for Robert Marvin Hull? Bordeleau led by example. He remained as one of the league's top scorers through the first half of the season and did everything and more that Hull and Assistant Coach Nick Mickoski asked of him in those times of waiting for Super Jet. The load he burdened then may take its toll in the latter part of the season. With 14 games left on the schedule Bordeleau had accumulated 40 goals and 40 assists, good for eighth position in the scoring race. In his first league game as a Jet, he scored four times against New York Raiders and that was just an inkling of what kind of output Winnipeg was to get from Pepe. If the WHA comes up with an award comparable to the NHL's Lady Byng, then Bordeleau's in the running because after 63 games the diminutive conterman bad only eight minutes in penalties. Bordeleau isn't overpowering. He's only 5-9, and at his heaviest is 172 pounds, His best years are still abead of him because he won't be 26 until the WHA's second season has started. Bordeleau had his shots in the NHL with Montreal, St. Louis and Chicago. His best year was with the Blues in 1971 when he collected 53 points. The next year, Sid Abel took a sudden dislike for Bordeleau and shipped him off to the Black Hawks. He led all the Black Hawks, including Bobby Hull, in points scored during last year's playoffs. The reason Pepe is a shining star this year may be because he's being utilized more and he's shooting more. Jets use Pepe as Mr. Everything. He plays a regular shift, kills penalties, and is the centerman on power plays. He uses his stick more than his body, which makes his stick his strong forte. Pepe is probably the best stickchecker in the league. He has the uncanny knack of stealing the puck and if he'd cashed in on all his breakaway opportunities he'd have 50 goals instead of 40. Pepe makes no bones about the fact that he doesn't play this game for the sake of prestige. "You don't play for prestige. I can't see players saying they want to stay in the NHL because of the prestige. The NHL owners gave the players the run around for 50 years and now the players say they're playing for prestige. Players are playing for money now, just as I am. As long as they get a good paycheck, then they're happy. Sure, I'm having a much better year than I thought I would have. I didn't set any goals for myself or anything, it's just that things have gone well this year." "Anyone playing alongside Bobby Hull would have his point production go up. I'm getting ample opportunity to play and, of course, the fact that I'm playing with Bobby makes a difference. It's made a difference to both myself and Norm Beaudin, our linemate. "In St. Louis I was on a checking line and killing penalties but in the second year Abel didn't like me so I was traded. I didn't play that much when I got to Chicago until the playoffs. It was then that 1 found out what Bobby can do for his linemates. "You can see it, How many times do you see opposing players all go for Bobby and leave me a clear path to the net to score? I decided when the season started that I'd shoot more and I did, more than I ever bad before. Now that Bobby's going full tilt again, though, I don't have to shoot as often. Bobby's really moving now and it's to our advantage to get him the puck when he's open. It's basic, if you never see the puck, you don't score. If you see the puck you score." They say Pepe followed Hull to Winnipeg. It's more a case of going where the money was. It's doubtful Chicago would have matched the salary Winnipeg offered. Pepe takes every game as if it was the seventh game of a Stanley Cup final. You could tell the pros and the minor pros by using Bordeleau as an example. He's mentally prepared for every game. A player jumping from minor ranks is mentally prepared for about half as many. Bordeleau isn't moody in the true sense of the word. You talk to Bordeleau two hours before a game and the most you'll get is a stern eye and a grunt. Talk to him after a victory and you'll have enough conversation to write two novels." Bordeleau didn't know what the WHA would be like when he first signed on, but for the kind of money he signed for he was prepared to see for himself. "I really didn't know what type of league it would be then but I guess I would have to say now that it's stronger than what I may have thought it might have been. If there's a weakness in the league, it's on defense and I'll bet it will be corrected next year." |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander's Complete Hockey Handbook, 1975-76 (by Reyn Davis)
Owns a farm and purebred cattle ... Has invested heavily ... Has two brothers in the NHL — J.P. with the Chicago Blackhawks and Paulin with the Vancouver Canucks ... Tied Houston's Mark Howe and Minnesota's Mike Walton for the most short-handed goals for in 1974-75 ... Acquired by the Nordiques in a one-for-one trade that sent defensemen Alain Beaule to the Winnipeg Jets ... Flits like a wasp as he comes down the ice ... Uses a stick that tests the limits of the legal curve in the WHA ... Has a hard slap shot that he unloads in a hurry ... nickname is "Pepe". |
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Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1976-77 (by Dan Proudfoot)
Chris Bordeleau is the smallest of three small brothers, weighing somewhere between 150 and 160 pounds, but like the rest of his family he has enough ambition and skill to make up for his lack of size. "He isn't intimidated by the big guys," offers Maurice Filion, the Nordique manager, "He can't use his body, that would get him nowhere, but he can roll with the checks and he isn't frightened." Bordeleau's statistics indicate that he's the master of most any situation: he earned 109 points on 37 goals and 72 assists. He stood fourth among WHA centers in setting up goals. "Chris always has been a real worker with us. Best of all, he's as effective on the road as he is at home." |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander's Guide to Pro Hockey, 1978-79 (by Reyn Davis)
Given less than a 50-50 chance of full use of his left shoulder after an operation last season to correct a 15-year old injury ... May retire if play is inhibited ... "If I can't play my best, I don't want to play," he says ... Older brother of Paulin and J.P. ... A WHA original ... Scored four goals in Winnipeg Jets' first-ever game ... Owns a ranch near Noranda where he raises breeding stock ... Centers Quebec's No. 1 line with Marc Tardif and Buddy Cloutier ... Very honest interview |
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