Georges Laraque
Georges Laraque ( born December 7, 1976 in Montreal, Quebec ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League, among others, for the Montreal Canadiens, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers 1997-2010.
Career
The 1.91 m wide winger played for various youth teams in the Canadian QMJHL before he was selected in the NHL Entry Draft in 1995 as 31 players in the second round by the Edmonton Oilers.
1996 won the right shooter with the prédateurs de Granby again the Memorial Cup, the Canadian Junior Championship, and then switched to the organization of the Oilers, where he was first employed at the Hamilton Bulldogs, a farm team in the American Hockey League. In the 1997/98 season Laraque first acquired the leap into the NHL squad the Edmonton Oilers. Now he was mostly used during his time as a junior power forward, he played mainly as enforcer. Due to his physical dominance and his mentality, he made also in numerous battles attention to himself, which he in 2003 the title of "Best Fighter ", awarded by the Hockey magazine "The Hockey News " earned. This meant that Laraques offensive qualities have often been misunderstood and he was mostly limited to his role as a fighter. This really did not like the refute with capacities on February 22, 2000, when he scored a hat trick in the game against the Los Angeles Kings.
During the lockout in the 2004/05 season the Canadians for the AIK played in the third Swedish League and returned to Edmonton, where in the following season he reached the Stanley Cup final with the Oilers, but there against the Carolina Hurricanes lost. After the season, the Edmonton Oilers Laraque featured on as a free agent, the attacker explained, however, necessarily remain in Edmonton and to ensure necessary want to miss out on content. Because Laraque but a get-out clause for the club did not agree, the contract was never concluded. Then the Canadians signed a contract with the Phoenix Coyotes, who transferred him to a season in exchange for Daniel Carcillo and a third-round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
With the Penguins Georges Laraque reached 2008 for the second time in his career the final of the Stanley Cup, again he failed, however, to win the North American Hockey Championship, as the Penguins Detroit Red Wings documents. For the 2008/09 season the Canadians signed a two -year contract with the Canadiens de Montréal. This gave in January 2010 that they had no more use for the winger, and paid him the remainder of his current contract until the summer of.
In August 2010, he ended his career as a hockey player.
Since 2010, Laraque is a member of the Green Party of Canada, and from 2010 to 2013 Vice party.
Career Stats
( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )
Trivia
- Since 2009, Georges Laraque is vegan.
- He has a small role in the film Goon - No film for pussies.