Born in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1931 Lesieur became the first American-born player to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. Lesieur played most of his professional hockey career with the Providence Reds of the Canadian–American Hockey League (Can-Am) and the International American Hockey League (IAHL/AHL), where he led the Reds to 3 Fontaine Cup titles and 2 Calder Cup championships as a player, team captain and/or player coach.
In 1941, just days after the attack on Pearl Harbor and midway through the hockey season, Art became a national celebrity as the first U.S.-born professional hockey player to be drafted into the armed forces, turning in his team colors for Army drab. He served nearly five years, of which 32 months were in combat overseas commanding artillery batteries in both the European and North African theaters.
Lesieur was inducted into the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of fame in 2021.

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