lit a candle 8h agoMy dad used to talk about the Kid Line like it was poetry. Four Cups in four years. That's a different era. Rest easy, André.
Their story
André Joseph Armand Pronovost (9 July 1936 - 8 September 2026) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left wing best remembered as a four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Montreal Canadiens of the late 1950s and as the grandfather of NHL forward Anthony Mantha. Born in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, he…
André Joseph Armand Pronovost (9 July 1936 - 8 September 2026) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left wing best remembered as a four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Montreal Canadiens of the late 1950s and as the grandfather of NHL forward Anthony Mantha. Born in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, he came to the game late by hockey standards: family accounts say he did not get skates until age 11 because they were expensive, then spent every available outdoor and indoor ice hour catching up. Schooling took him through Collège Dominique-Savio in Belgoville, a tenth year at Immaculée-Conception near the Jacques-Plante arena, and technical studies at Shawinigan's Institut de technologie. In 1952-53 his juvenile team reached a provincial final at the Montreal Forum. There Sam Pollock noticed him and steered him toward the Montreal Junior Canadiens.
With the Junior Canadiens he became a force on the left side. In 1953-54, often skating with Phil Goyette, he scored 31 goals and 77 points in 54 games and was named junior rookie of the year. After three junior seasons and a brief Senior look with the Shawinigan Falls Cataracts, he joined the big-club Canadiens for 1956-57 at age 20. Toe Blake's dynasty already featured Maurice Richard, Jean Béliveau, Bernie Geoffrion, Doug Harvey, and Jacques Plante. Pronovost's job was to be a hard-working winger who could check, fight for pucks, and finish when chances came. Coach and teammates nicknamed him "Kid." When Goyette was recalled in February 1957, Blake reunited him with Pronovost and Claude Provost. The unit became the "Kid Line," a third line that quietly helped Montreal win Cups while stars took the headlines. Pronovost wore number 23. In four straight springtimes, 1957 through 1960, he raised the Stanley Cup. Across five seasons in Montreal he played 290 regular-season games with 48 goals and 61 assists (109 points) and added playoff production in every championship run.
He later called his favourite hockey memory an overtime goal in Game 3 of the 1958 playoff series against Detroit: a Doug Harvey pass, a move around defenseman Marcel Pronovost (a fellow Shawinigan native, not a relative), and a finish past Terry Sawchuk. On 27 November 1960 Montreal traded him to the Boston Bruins for Jean-Guy Gendron, a shock for a still-young Cup winner. He spent parts of three seasons in Boston (138 NHL games, 26 goals, 21 assists), then on 3 December 1962 went to Detroit for Forbes Kennedy. In Detroit he again shared a dressing room with Gordie Howe and, for a time, with Marcel Pronovost. After limited NHL ice in 1964-65 he spent seasons in the AHL and Central league with Pittsburgh, Memphis, and other clubs, then was claimed by the Minnesota North Stars in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft. He closed his NHL ledger with Minnesota in 1967-68 (Hockey-Reference and Canadiens PR credit 557 career NHL games, 94 goals, 104 assists, 198 points, and 405 PIM; some older summaries round to 556 games). Minor-league stops continued through Muskegon of the IHL, where he put up a 50-goal, 107-point season in 1969-70 and earned IHL First All-Star Team honours, before he finished playing in the early 1970s.
Away from the NHL he managed Kentucky Fried Chicken and Red Lobster restaurants in the Montreal area for about 25 years, coached the Shawinigan Dynamos of the QMJHL in 1973-74, and kept skating with Canadiens alumni and Old Timers. Around 1998 he returned to live in Shawinigan. He married Marie-Paule St-Germain; they raised three sons, André Jr, Daniel, and Michel. Through Daniel and Suzie Mantha he became grandfather to Anthony Mantha and to AHL on-ice official Elizabeth Mantha, as well as to sisters Kim and Barbara. On 24 March 2016, at Joe Louis Arena, Pronovost sat with family as Anthony scored his first NHL goal for Detroit against Montreal. Broadcast cameras caught the 79-year-old Cup winner wiping tears while filming the celebration on his phone. CBC, NHL.com, and national sports desks made the moment iconic. In January 2026, after the deaths of Phil Goyette and other dynasty mates, Le Nouvelliste profiled Pronovost as the last living regular from the core of Montreal's late-1950s Cup run. "Je n'ai plus personne avec qui jaser de ça," he said, returning to old photographs and Cup memories.
André Pronovost died on 8 September 2026 at age 90. The Montreal Canadiens announced the news the next day, noting he had been the sixth-oldest among Canadiens Alumni and thanking the public for sympathy on behalf of the family. The club's release did not state a cause of death or a resting place. What remains clear is the arc of a Shawinigan kid who skated into the Forum's golden age, won four Cups before his mid-twenties, and lived long enough to cry happy tears for a grandson's first NHL goal.
This memorial is for the NHL Montreal Canadiens left wing born 1936 only. It is not Marcel, Claude, or Jean Pronovost, and it is not the different André Pronovost (1943-2026) of Trois-Rivières / Hélène Courchesne funeral notices.
Biography adapted from Wikipedia; NHL.com Canadiens PR; Hockey-Reference; Elite Prospects; CBC; Le Nouvelliste; La Presse; histoireshawinigan.org.
In their own words
“Je n'ai plus personne avec qui jaser de ça.”
January 2026 interview with Le Nouvelliste after Phil Goyette's death, reflecting on being among the last witnesses of the late-1950s Canadiens dynasty.
“Ça fait en sorte que je replonge dans mes portraits que j'ai de cette époque. Je repense à ça, à ces conquêtes de la Coupe Stanley. Je me rappelle ces souvenirs. Je n'ai pas d'autre chose que ça.”
Same January 2026 Le Nouvelliste conversation about memory, photographs, and Cup years.
“J'ai mentionné à plusieurs reprises comment j'ai été chanceux d'arriver au bon moment pour vivre tout ça. Nous avons appris des plus vieux comment faire partie de cette équipe.”
Reflecting on joining Montreal's dynasty and learning from veterans; Le Nouvelliste, January 2026.
“Mon but en prolongation de la 3è partie de la série contre Détroit au printemps 1958. J'avais reçu une passe de Doug Harvey pour ensuite contourner Marcel Pronovost, célèbre défenseur, et loger la rondelle dans le coin le plus rapproché du filet pour déjouer Terry Sawchuk.”
Naming his favourite hockey memory in a 2009 Le Nouvelliste conversation quoted by the Shawinigan historical society.
“It's unbelievable. Obviously my grandparents were very happy, my parents also.”
Anthony Mantha after scoring his first NHL goal with Pronovost in the building, 24 March 2016 (NHL.com / Red Wings quotes).
“Who knows how many more games he'll see.”
Anthony Mantha on how much it meant to have his then-79-year-old grandfather at that first-goal game (CBC Sports / New York Post).
Photos
1André Pronovost, Montreal Canadiens left wing, 1950s portrait.
by People Forever
The part about going to church with his line mates says everything about who he was.