PIERRE LAROUCHE (Hockey’s Forgotten Star)

[Vanzig]

Younger fans will not be aware of this underrated ALL STAR forward but my my was he a Talent!!!. This guy had so much SKILL but he had his Hang-Up’s, Not just with INJURIES but he liked to Party & when he wanted to play he played well, If he didn’t feel like playing he would either “Float, Not play well Defensively”
Unfortunately he Retired early @ AGE 31 & had Great Single Season & Career Numbers for a Player that Missed a lot of games every season.
GUY LAFLEUR said that LAROUCHE was 1 of the Most SKILLED Players he ever saw in his life, LAROUCHE and GRETZKY are one of the few “Players to Score 50+ Goals with Two different teams and He ALMOST did it with 3 teams with (48) goals with the Rangers in 1983-84 season. Larouche was a Junior Star & Holds some QMJHL Records including “Most Assists in a Season” with (157). Holds NHL Club Team Records that’s till stand & until Gretzky came along was the Youngest Player to score 50 Goals, 100 Points etc etc. He is the FIRST PLAYER EVER to Score 50+ GOALS in a Season with 2 Different Teams (Almost had 3 50-Goal Season with 3 different teams but fell short by scoring 48 Goals with NY Rangers).
LED Team Canada in Scoring in (1977) World Championships with (7-8-15) in 10 Games.
LAROUCHE was so gifted but being young & having all that $$$ in the 1970’s/Early 1980’s was a lot for a young guy, I have some Games with Larouche & some games he Just DOMINATED the Game (Like KENT NILSSON) but then something would set him off & if he felt that he didn’t get enough power-play time or was respected he would not try. I have read a lot of Interviews over the years with the guy & people who knew him & they say the same, party party party, girls girls girls,
Yes INJURIES don’t help but still he finished his career with incredible numbers with

(GP 812) “395 Goals - 427 Assists - 822 Points”
3 times TOP TEN in Goals
1 time TOP TEN in Points
2 Stanley Cups,
(111) Points in a Single Season
11 times (20+ Goals)
8 times (25+ Goals)
5 times (30+ Goals)
3 times (45+ Goals)
2 times (50+ Goals)
(14) Career NHL “HAT TRICKS”
Only Played 70+ Games in a Season (5) times
Only Played 60+ Games in a Season (10) times
AVERAGED only (58) Games a Season in his Entire NHL Career.

Larouche probably would have hit 550-600 Goals had he played longer & Injuries etc didn’T cut his Great Career short.

WHO ELSE REMEMBERS watching him and also remember him being GUY LAFLEURS Center for a bit. This guy has the KENT NILSSON factor but unfortunately was cut short.
So looking back in Hockey HJistory who else Remembers LAROUCHE? And what you think?

Click to read more...

 

[Bluesguru]

I know Charles Barkley rated him highly. Forgot where I read that, but he was quoted raving about Pierre Larouche and I read that not too long ago. Now who would of thought that? Barkley must know something about hockey to be raving about Larouche. Got his rookie card when I was a kid. Great player. Should of been even better.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Can't speak to that directly but Barkley routinely mentions that he likes hockey and that the NHL playoffs are better than the NBA playoffs...

 

[FerrisRox]

Not just that LAROUCHE and GRETZKY are the “Only” Players to Score 50+ Goals with Two different teams

No, they aren't.

 

[BobbyAwe]

That's funny because I always heard he wasn't as good as his numbers seem to indicate?

Larouche did not see as much ice time as he would have liked under coach Scotty Bowman. His lack of interest in playing defence was a source of friction between the two, but Larouche still managed to see some action in the playoffs and win two Stanley Cup rings.(Legends of Hockey -- NHL Player Search -- Player -- Pierre Larouche)

 

[SabbathBloodySabbath]

LAROUCHE and GRETZKY are the “Only” Players to Score 50+ Goals with Two different teams

No, they aren't.

Six, by my count -- Pavel Bure, Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Pierre Larouche, Alexander Mogilny, and Teemu Selanne.

 

[FerrisRox]

Six, by my count -- Pavel Bure, Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Pierre Larouche, Alexander Mogilny, and Teemu Selanne.

Pat Lafontaine did it too. And while it was technically the same franchise, they were different teams for Keith Tkachuk who scored fifty in Winnipeg and in Phoenix.

 

[Vanzig]

Six, by my count -- Pavel Bure, Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Pierre Larouche, Alexander Mogilny, and Teemu Selanne.

Yes MY BAD, lol, i made a mistake, yes their were more than 2 players to get 50 goals with two different teams,
I just thought with this section of HF Boards (History of Hockey) would be the right place to discuss players of the past.
I like to hear other hockey nuts like me their opinion’s on certain players, I like to talk about players who have not been talked about or forgotten.

I think he is 1 of 2 players to have hit 45+ Goals with 3 Different Teams?? But I don’t know for sure.

I just thought for the older guys who saw footage of hijab or watched him during his hey day would remeinsince of his days.
Thank You for correcting me

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

A flash and dash player. Plenty of skill but little substance. Didn't care for hard work, contact or playing defense. Coach's nightmare.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Quit on the Penguins too...

 

[The Panther]

 

[Boxscore]

I liked Larouche. He was a "fun" who was enjoyable to watch. I guess a modern day comparison could be Matt Duchene, as in he looked better doing his job than he actually was.

 

[DannyGallivan]

Remember him with Pittsburgh, and of course my Habs. He did produce points, at least for awhile. A legacy wasted.

 

[solidmotion]

Six, by my count -- Pavel Bure, Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Pierre Larouche, Alexander Mogilny, and Teemu Selanne.

he's probably thinking that larouche was the first to do so, which seems to be the case—in itself a bit of trivia that would probably stump lots of people.

 

[brachyrynchos]

I only remember him vaguely from his time with the Smurfs/Rangers. Played pretty good for them from what I recall. Hall of Very Good, decent numbers but like mentioned, poor defensively.

 

[feffan]

Fun thread about a fun player!

 

[FerrisRox]

he's probably thinking that larouche was the first to do so, which seems to be the case—in itself a bit of trivia that would probably stump lots of people.

He is in fact the first to do it. In 1986, after he was recalled from the minors and scored 20 goals in 28 games for the Rangers, he declared the following year he would pot 50 and become the first guy to do it for three different teams.

He fell well short, managing 28 goals in 73 games. Ten (productive) games into the following season, he suffered a back injury and missed the rest of the year.

The following year he didn't report to the Rangers training camp and announced his retirement. It's because of Larouche that you can find some posed photographs (and some actions ones as well, from a pre-season game) of Guy Lafleur wearing #44 for the Rangers. When Larouche retired, Lafleur claimed his familiar #10, but when he first arrived on Broadway, it was taken by Larouche so he opted for #44.

Interestingly, Larouche also has the distinction of scoring 20 goals for two different teams in two different leagues in the same season because he managed 22 in 32 games for the Hershey Bears of the AHL and then 20 in 28 games with the Rangers of the NHL.

 

[Shutt22]

Totally forgot about this site Wondering why Larouche retired injury I suppose back & neck again as he had 3 goals 9 assists in 12 games in 87-88. Larouche, Tim Kerr, Viave and Wilf Paiement the top 4 underrated of the 80's

 

[Big Phil]

Funny thing is, Phil Esposito in his book who rants about a lot of former players actually liked Pierre Larouche when he was with the Rangers while Espo was the GM/interim coach. Funny how that works. A lot I have read about Larouche is that he wasn't a coaches delight. But definitely some skill for sure. Maybe similar to a Marc Savard type..........high batting average, not a lot of RBIs.

However, he put up points right up until the time he retired.

 

[voyageur]

I thought Pierre Mondou was better