Joseph René Marcel Pronovost (June 15, 1930 – April 26, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and coach.

He played in 1,206 games over 20 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons for the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs between 1950 and 1970.

[3] Leo was a construction worker who worked with aluminum and occasionally moved around;[4] the family settled in the nearby town of Shawinigan Falls by the time Marcel was five years old.

The Detroit Red Wings sent scout Marcel Côté to sign Larry and John Wilson at a Quebec tournament.

[7] The Red Wings placed Pronovost with the Windsor Spitfires, one of their junior teams in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA), beginning in 1947–48.

Pronovost believed that the Spitfires would have won the league title and gone on to play for the Memorial Cup if they hadn't lost Sawchuk.

At the time an amateur league, the IHL based most of its teams in Detroit or Windsor and the majority of players were affiliated with the Red Wings.

[6] Upon starting his professional career in 1949–50, the Red Wings assigned Pronovost to the Omaha Knights of the United States Hockey League (USHL).

[12] Gordie Howe had suffered a serious injury early in Detroit's 1950 Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs forcing the team to move Red Kelly to forward and insert Pronovost into the lineup at defence.

[8] The Red Wings had been promoting Pronovost as their next great defenceman, but he suffered a broken cheekbone and a cracked bone in his ankle in separate incidents during the pre-season.

Not wanting to let the team down, he tried to play through the injuries but his performance suffered and by December 1950, the Red Wings demoted him to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Indianapolis Capitals.

[10] The Red Wings set a record that post-season by winning all eight games played – four by shutout – and the series spawned the Legend of the Octopus.

[20] The Canadiens even fêted him by holding "Marcel Pronovost Night" on March 5, 1960, in which he received gifts and was cheered by the opposing Montreal crowd.

Pronovost suffered a broken bone in his ankle that caused him to miss two games of the series and play the remainder in significant pain.

He was dealt to the Maple Leafs, along with Aut Erickson, Larry Jeffrey, Eddie Joyal and Lowell MacDonald in exchange for Andy Bathgate, Billy Harris and Gary Jarrett.

Pronovost became the seventh player in NHL history to play 1,000 regular season games in a November 28, 1965, contest against the Rangers.

[35] Sports Illustrated writer Pete Axthelm called Pronovost the best defenceman of the finals;[36] he and defensive partner Larry Hillman were on the ice for only one goal against at even strength during the entire post-season.

[10] He missed the majority of the season to injury, and it was at that time that Maple Leafs president Conn Stafford Smythe suggested Pronovost should be installed as a player-coach of one of Toronto's minor league affiliates.

[10] Supported by Tulsa's general manager Ray Miron, who helped him behind the bench, Pronovost appeared in 53 games for the Oilers in 1969–70 and coached the team to a 35–27–10 record.

[42][43] He ended his playing career after appearing in 17 games for Tulsa in 1970–71,[10] and coached two additional seasons for the Oilers before taking his first major league job.

[44] The Chicago Cougars of the newly founded World Hockey Association (WHA) announced Pronovost had signed a two-year contract to become the franchise's first head coach on July 6, 1972.

[46][47] Pronovost returned to coaching in 1975 as he was hired mid-season to take over the Hull Festivals of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

[52] Pronovost returned to Hull almost immediately, but left the team again in 1979 to become an assistant to head coach Bobby Kromm in Detroit.

[54] Lindsay was the official coach of the team for the final nine games of the season, but Pronovost worked behind the bench as the Red Wings won only two contests and lost seven.

[58] Pronovost's final season as a coach came in 1984–85 when he led the junior C Belle River Canadiens to the franchise's first league title and a Clarence Schmalz Cup win as Ontario provincial champions.

[64] New Jersey's goaltender for all three championships was Martin Brodeur, whom Pronovost helped convince the Devils to select with their first pick in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft.

[65] Known as an offensive defenceman at the outset of his NHL career,[66] Pronovost played an aggressive rushing style that led Red Wings fans to call him "Detroit's own Flying Frenchman".

[72] The Detroit Red Wings recognized Pronovost's contribution to their organization in 2009 by presenting him with a championship ring from their 2009 title season.