Georges Laraque

Georges Laraque (French pronunciation: [ʒɔʁʒ laʁak]; born December 7, 1976) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey forward, who last played with the Montreal Canadiens before his contract was bought out in 2010. He is also a host for CFRN and deputy leader of the Green Party of Canada. During his NHL career he played for the Edmonton Oilers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Montreal Canadiens. Georges Laraque was born in the city of Montreal, Quebec.

Hockey career

Georges Laraque
Position	Right wing
Shoots	Right
Height Weight	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 253 lb (115 kg)
Teams	Edmonton Oilers Phoenix Coyotes Pittsburgh Penguins Montreal Canadiens
Born	(1976-12-07)December 7, 1976, Montreal, QC, Canada
NHL Draft	31st overall, 1995 Edmonton Oilers
Pro Career	1996 – 2010

Laraque entered the QMJHL, where he played for a variety of teams. In 173 games at the junior level, Laraque stockpiled 107 points and 661 penalty minutes. Laraque was a member of the 1996 Granby Prédateurs team which won the Memorial Cup.

After finishing junior, Laraque spent parts of three seasons with the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs.

Despite concerns about his skating, Laraque showed enough at the AHL-level for Edmonton to bring him to the NHL. Although he was something of a power forward in junior, Laraque is considered primarily as an enforcer at the NHL level. His 6'3" frame and his habit of fighting made him one of the most feared forwards in the league. He was unanimously awarded the 'Best Fighter' award from The Hockey News in 2003. He was named the number one enforcer by Sports Illustrated in 2008. Despite his reputation as a fighting-only player, Laraque has had offensive bursts during his career and on February 21, 2000, Laraque scored a hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings and was also named the game's first star.

During the NHL lockout, he played in Sweden, signing on with AIK. In the 2006 off-season, Laraque was up for free agency and wanted to stay in Edmonton and play. He even said he was willing to take a salary cut if the Oilers accepted on giving him a long-term, no-trade clause deal. The Oilers did not agree with Laraque's demand for a no-trade clause thus the contract was never signed. On July 5, 2006, Laraque signed with the Phoenix Coyotes. He scored his first goal as a Coyote against Edmonton on October 26, 2006. Laraque was then traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 2007-08 season.

On July 3, 2008, Laraque signed a contract as a free agent with the Montreal Canadiens. He elected to wear number 17 with the Canadien Hockey Club rather than his usual 27, which was Alex Kovalev's number at the time. One of the main reasons why Montreal sought Laraque was to add toughness; in the previous year's playoffs, they had been outplayed physically by the Philadelphia Flyers, and in the first round, they had difficulty countering Boston Bruin Milan Lucic. On November 21, 2009 Laraque was suspended 5 games after hitting Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall with a knee to knee hit. On January 21, 2010, nine days after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the Montreal Canadiens released Laraque and announced they were planning to buy out the remainder of his contract. His contract was officially bought out on June 15, 2010. Because Laraque had been suffering from two herniated discs in his back during the last season and a half that he had been playing, he subsequently announced his retirement from professional hockey. Laraque took advantage of being released by the Canadiens to offer his help to Haiti, his country of ancestry, and began raising money to rebuild the Grace Children's Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in association with World Vision and the NHLPA..

While playing with the Oilers, Laraque was famous for his "Laraque Leap", in which he would smash his body against the glass at the Rexall Place after the Oilers scored a goal.

Personal life

Laraque's parents were both born in Haiti. He is known as "Big Georges" or simply "BGL". Laraque became a vegan to protest animal abuse by the meat industry.

In the off-season, Laraque resides in Edmonton, which he considers his home away from home. On Fridays during the off-season, Laraque can often be heard hosting Team 1260 in Edmonton. Laraque also commits a lot of his time to local charity work to help the local people of Edmonton, Pittsburgh and in response to the 2010 earthquake, the people of Haiti.

In February, 2010, Laraque was announced as a "goodwill ambassador" for TekSavvy Solutions, an internet and landline phone provider based in Chatham, Ontario.

In 2011, Laraque took part in the CBC's Canada Reads literary competition as the celebrity defender for author Angie Abdou's The Bone Cage.

Laraque struggled as a young Black athlete in a predominately white sport. He faced numerous challenges growing up, and was always forced to deal with the racism around him. The racism got so bad and hate-filled when finally George’s dad pulled him out of hockey for a year when he was 12. Laraque loved hockey and decided to play again despite the fact that he was treated poorly by his opponents, who swore and spit at him on the ice. Laraque was widely known for fighting in the NHL, which he learned out of necessity as he grew up always having to defend himself. Laraque dedicated the fact that he made the NHL to all the people that verbally abused him growing up.

On May 21, 2010, Georges Laraque squared off with mixed martial artist Georges St.-Pierre for 3 rounds of grappling for takedowns on TSN TV show Off The Record. Laraque did not score a single takedown.

Laraque became vegan since he joined the Green Party of Canada.

Transactions

• Signed with Phoenix as a free agent in 2006
• Traded to Pittsburgh in 2007.
• Signed with Montreal as a free agent on July 3, 2008
• Retired on August 2, 2010

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1993–94	Saint-Jean Lynx	QMJHL		70	11	11	22	142		4	0	0	0	7
1994–95	Saint-Jean Lynx	QMJHL		62	19	22	41	259		7	1	1	2	42
1995–96	Laval Titan Collège Français	QMJHL		11	8	13	21	76		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Saint-Hyacinthe Lasers	QMJHL		8	3	4	7	59		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Granby Prédateurs	QMJHL		22	9	7	16	125		18	7	6	13	104
1996–97	Hamilton Bulldogs	AHL		73	14	20	34	179		15	1	3	4	12
1997–98	Hamilton Bulldogs	AHL		46	10	20	30	154		3	0	0	0	11
1997–98	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		11	0	0	0	59		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		39	3	2	5	57		4	0	0	0	2
1998–99	Hamilton Bulldogs	AHL		25	6	8	14	93		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		76	8	8	16	123		5	0	1	1	6
2000–01	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		82	13	16	29	148		6	1	1	2	8
2001–02	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		80	5	14	19	157		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		64	6	7	13	110		6	1	3	4	4
2003–04	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		66	6	11	17	99		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		72	2	10	12	73		15	1	1	2	44
2006–07	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		56	5	17	22	52		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		17	0	2	2	18		2	0	0	0	0
2007–08	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		71	4	9	13	141		15	1	2	3	4
2008–09	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		33	0	2	2	61		4	0	0	0	4
2009–10	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		28	1	2	3	28		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				695	53	100	153	1126		57	4	8	12	72

External links

• Georges Laraque official site
• Georges Laraque official twitter account
• Georges Laraque's NHL player profile
• Georges Laraque at TSN.ca
• Georges Laraque's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Georges Laraque's fight info - hockeyfights.com