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| Born | December 7, 1976 , Montreal, QC, CAN |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 245 lb (111 kg; 17 st 7 lb) |
| Position | Right wing |
| Shoots | Right |
| NHL team F. teams |
free agent Edmonton Oilers Phoenix Coyotes Pittsburgh Penguins Montreal Canadiens |
| NHL Draft | 31st overall, 1995 Edmonton Oilers |
| Playing career | 1996 – present |
Georges Laraque (French pronunciation: [ʒɔʁʒ laʁak]; born December 7, 1976) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward, and a radio host for CFRN.
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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.
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.
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.[1] On January 21, 2010, the Montreal Canadiens officially announced that they will buy out the final season of his contract and have asked him to stay away from the team for the rest of the season.[2]
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.[3] 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.
Laraque's parents were both born in Haiti.[4] He is known as "Big Georges" or simply "BGL". Laraque became a vegan to protest animal abuse by the meat industry.[citation needed]
Georges was recently announced as the new spokesperson for Chatham, Ontario based Internet and landline phone provider, TekSavvy Solutions, Inc.[5]
On 2010-02-12 Laraque announced that he was joining the Green Party of Canada.[6]
| 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 | ||||
   | hockeyfights.com - Georges Laraque - Gilbert Brule - hockeyfights.com |
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