Roberto "Bob" Bissonnette (27 April 1981 – 4 September 2016) was a Canadian ice hockey player, as well as a singer known for his sports-themed songs and former co-owner of the Québec Capitales professional baseball team.

Bissonnette applying hockey tape to a guitar, as part of a shoot for the video "Mettre du tape su' ma palette" from his album Recrue de l'année.

Sports career

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Bissonnette was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1981. He was picked for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in Hull Olympiques becoming team captain. In 2001–2002, he was transferred to Acadie–Bathurst Titan. From 2002 onwards he played in various hockey leagues. Teams he played for include Patriots of Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Florida Everblades, Caron and Guay of Pont-Rouge, Summum Chiefs of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and others. He stopped playing competitively in 2010.[1]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1998-1999 Hull Olympiques QMJHL 44 7 6 13 183 23 4 4 8 33
1999-2000 Hull Olympiques QMJHL 60 5 15 20 318 15 1 1 2 22
2000-2001 Hull Olympiques QMJHL 71 31 31 62 381 3 1 1 2 4
2001-2002 Hull Olympiques QMJHL 44 16 22 38 248 - - - - -
Acadie–Bathurst Titan QMJHL 22 3 7 10 130 13 2 3 5 27
2002-2003 UQTR Patriotes CIS 20 9 12 21 54 - - - - -
2003-2004 Florida Everblades ECHL 13 0 0 0 33 - - - - -
2003-2004 Pont-Rouge Caron & Guay LHSMQ 18 2 3 5 111 9 0 1 1 6
2004-2005 Donnacona Métro Gagnon QSCHL-AAA 33 10 20 30 158 5 1 2 3 14
2005-2006 Shawinigan Xtrême QSCHL-AAA 13 1 4 5 56 16 0 0 0 117
2006-2007 Rivière-du-Loup CIMT QSCHL-AAA 2 0 1 1 6 - - - - -
Chandler Gaillard LHSEQ 14 7 9 16 85 4 1 1 2 54
2007-2008 Summum-Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Chiefs LNAH 18 1 2 3 123 - - - - -
2008-2009 Grand-Caraquet Acadiens LHSCN 13 7 12 19 109 3 3 2 5 24
2009-2010 Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts WCSHL 6 0 1 1 45 - - - - -

Singing career

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In 2010, Bissonnette launched a singing career[2] releasing three albums, Recrue de l'année (2010), Les Barbes de séries (2012) and Rockstar (2014). He had a number of singles including "Mettre du tape su' ma palette" (2010), "Recrue de l'année" (2010), "Y sont toutes folles" (2010), "Hockey dans rue" and "Chris Chelios" (2011), "Les Barbes de séries" and "La machine à scorer" (2012) and "Rockstar" (2014). He operated completely independently as a musician; he had no contract with any record company, nor did he receive any subsidies from the Canadian government.[3]

Other ventures

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Bissonnette was also a minority co-owner of Québec Capitales. He performed musical numbers for five years during the regular season of Capitales.[4]

Death

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On 4 September 2016, Bissonnette died in a helicopter accident in the Flatlands, near Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada. The crash also resulted in the death of the pilot, Frédérick Décoste. Michel Laplante(fr), president of the Capitales, was injured in the incident.[5]

References

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