The Book On ... Ian Laperriere
(from the Sporting News)
By Larry Wigge
The Sporting News
March 13, 1995 - He dreamed of playing for his hometown Canadiens and was devastated when they told him his skating wasn't good enough--to even play in the NHL. That skating deficiency was the reason Laperriere wasn't selected until the 158th pick of the 1992 draft. But all of the teams that passed on Laperriere failed to measure the size of his heart.
"He never quits working," Blues right wing Brett Hull says. "It's the same every night. And boy does he get under opposing players' skin. Look at (Maple Leafs defenseman) Garth Butcher. He asked me the other night, 'What's with that kid?' after Ian ran him into the boards several times."
Butcher, on Laperriere's pesky style of play: "All I can say is they're growing those mosquitoes big in Quebec. He shows a lot of guts. Some young players hit and run. He'll give a hit and then take one for the team."
Laperriere recorded 44 goals and a Quebec Major Junior League-leading 96 assists for Drummondville in 1992-93, playing for former Canadiens defenseman Jean Hamel. Now, he watches and learns the finer points of the game from Guy Carbonneau, another of his boyhood idols.
"When a player like Guy gives you pointers on faceoffs or the defensive end of the game, you listen to every word," Laperriere says. "I know if I work hard and play the game physically I'll get my share of goals and assists. My goals aren't pretty like the kind Brett Hull scores, but they count just the same."
After those early rejections, Laperriere, 21, was smart enough to know he had to improve his skating. So he spent $1,000 of his money last summer and enrolled in a school conducted by Canadian speed-skating champion Gaetan Boucher. The training, which included three weekly workouts for almost three months, focused on building the strength in his legs to help him get a better jump-start on his skates.
It obviously has worked. Laperriere's six goals and seven assists puts him ahead of more highly touted rookies Peter Forsberg and Paul Kariya. Not bad for a guy most scouts said wouldn't make it to the NHL.