Vincent Riendeau played his junior hockey with the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL where he was selected as a Second-Team All-Star in 1986. And before the season had ended, he had already signed as a free agent with the Montreal Canadiens.
He turned pro in 1986-87 with the Sherbrooke Canadiens where he won the Harry "Hap" Holmes Trophy for allowing the fewest goals-against in the AHL. The following year, he appeared in one game with Montreal before returning to Sherbrooke where he again won the Holmes Trophy in partnership with Jocelyn Perreault.
During the off-season, the Canadiens determined that Riendeau was expendable and, as such, traded him to St. Louis. With the Blues, the rookie backstopper was pumped sky high for his debut. The first game was on the road in Hartford. His parents made the drive down from Quebec to watch their son's opening night. Their joy was dashed, however, as teammate Dave Lowry hit Riendeau's shoulder with a hard shot during the pre-game warm-up, putting the goalkeeper out of action for the night.
In his next, outing, he took a shot in the throat off the stick of defenseman Charlie Huddy. Riendeau joked that, henceforth, he was going to look for a safer line of work. He did, however, finally get his NHL career off the ground, picking up steady work with the Blues for the three seasons that followed. His best campaign came in 1990-91 when he posted 29 wins, nine losses and six ties.
But the following year, Curtis Joseph took command of the Blues' crease making Riendeau expendable. He was traded to the Detroit Red Wings where he served as a backup for parts of three seasons, although he never really caught on with the club. He then jumped to the Boston Bruins for a brief spell and then headed to the minors where he has since seen action in Providence, Manitoba, Anchorage, Germany, and Scotland.
