Martin Lapointe
Martin Lapointe ( born September 12, 1973 in Montreal, Quebec ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played Senators in the National Hockey League during his career 1993-2008 for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa.
Career
Martin Lapointe began his career in 1989 in the Canadian Junior Football League QMJHL with the Laval Titan. In his first year he proved his talent, scoring 96 points in 65 games and was the brand in increase it to 98 points. In addition there were several awards for his achievements. In the NHL Entry Draft 1991, he was subsequently selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the first round at position ten.
In the following two years he played mostly in the QMJHL Laval, but also came to his first appearances for Detroit in the NHL and their farm team, the Adirondack Red Wings in the AHL. In 1993 he moved permanently to the pros and played until 1995, alternately in the NHL and the AHL, where he was one of the Topscorern the Adirondack Red Wings.
In the 1995/96 season he made then the final breakthrough in the NHL and established itself under coach Scotty Bowman to a hard -playing striker who particularly in battles in the corners behind the goal had its strengths. 1996/97 he won with the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup. In the playoffs, the 1997/98 season Lapointe sat in the offensive accents and scored nine goals. Including the winning goal in the Stanley Cup final, which led to the title defense.
He played another year in Detroit until he left the team after the 2000/ 01 season. It was the person most successful NHL season of his career with 27 goals and 57 points.
He signed in the summer of 2001, a contract with the Boston Bruins. There he continued to be physically tough game and gained a lot of penalty minutes. However, he was again slowed by injuries.
The NHL season 2004/ 05 dropped out because of the lockout and Lapointe was the summer of 2005, a free agent and received a new contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. In his first year in Chicago, he led the team from time to time as team captain on the ice, because the real captain Adrian Aucoin has long been violated. In February 2008 he was forced to leave Chicago when he was transferred to the Ottawa Senators, where he played the rest of the season.
After his contract was not renewed in the summer of 2008, Lapointe is currently an unrestricted free agent.
Martin Lapointe is known as a two -way forward, who in addition to offensive actions also works a lot on the defensive. Through his hard game he has already gained a lot of penalty minutes. During his NHL career, he was never able to build on the scorer qualities of his junior career. Lapointe is considered as a player with great leadership skills.