Laperriere Beginning To Show Coaching Abilities
(from Philadelphia Sports Daily)
By Dave Isaac
Philadelphia Sports Daily
July 13, 2011 -Sean Couturier sat in his locker stall holding a copy of the book Talent Is Overrated, looking curiously at the cover in a rare private moment as media surrounded his roommate Brayden Schenn.
The book was a gift. Every one of the prospects got one courtesy of their leader for the past week, Ian Laperriere. The Flyer screamed, "Yo!" to get everyone's attention and thanked all the budding hockey players for their hard work throughout the week and wished them all safe travels on their respective flights home.
But it was he who had done a lot of the hard work, setting up the drills and coordinating with former Flyers Derian Hatcher and Riley Cote and he even scouted RDS television analyst and former NHL defenseman Joel Bouchard to help out on the ice.
Laperriere was out on the ice with the Flyers prospects all week with his gloves on and a stick in his hand. It pains him though, that he is in a sweat suit with a hat on instead of in padding and a helmet.
"I'm still hoping that I can get better, but while I have this much free time, I'm doing something constructive with my life," Laperriere said.
"I know I'm gonna stay in the game, I just want to figure out what I'm gonna do. This week was a great experience for me and hopefully those kids had a great week and a fun week."
At one point last year, while he continued his rehab from an eye injury he sustained two years ago, Laperriere traveled up to Glens Falls, N.Y. to meet with the Phantoms and provide a little advice for the players.
Then during the playoffs, he was on the ice again with the "Black Aces," a group of Phantoms who were called up for potential playoff duty. So Laperriere knew most of the players he guided through this week, but it was still a new experience.
"For me personally it was great," Laperriere said. "I did a little bit of that last year, working with the young guys. I love hockey. That's all I know and this week was a chance to hopefully help a couple young guys."
The 37-year-old winger still carries the battle scars of 1,083 NHL games, but he's still fighting the good fight. Just in case he can't return as a player, Laperriere has a Plan B. It starts with camps like he just ran with the squad of Flyers' prospects. But one day he might stand behind the bench.
"Coaching's another animal," Laperriere said with a smile. "You gotta deal with a lot more stuff than what I dealt with this week but for sure, some kind of coaching I'd love to do, but we'll see."
He's already getting into other aspects of the game. Last month, Laperriere joined an ownership group that includes Bouchard, Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Danny Briere that purchased the Montreal Juniors of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and moved them to Boisbriand, Quebec.
It's unclear how hands-on Laperriere will be with that venture, but for now he wants to stick around the Philadelphia area where he is studying for his U.S. Naturalization test. He even has an iPhone app to help him learn the 100-question pool the test pulls 10 questions from. For now, he's just fine with making an impression on the up-and-coming prospects.
"It's a lot of teaching and Lappy's been doing a great job with it all," said Flyer hopeful Tom Sestito. "He's a great guy who teaches all the young guys everything they need to know."
Even Sestito, 23, who has been to a few camps in his time, gained knowledge of a few things from the elder statesman.
"It doesn't matter if you're a third or a fourth liner, you're gonna play with the puck at one point," Laperriere said. "That's why the message I've tried to tell those guys is - those grinders like me - I wish a guy 20 years ago had come to me and said 'Listen, work on your hands because you'll need 'em.' And it's true.
"If you play at this level, you play with great players - their job is to score goals and make plays. You're gonna play with them, but at one point, you better to be able to make that play."
Perhaps Laperriere's gift is accurate. Perhaps talent is overrated. But if he has anything to say about it, the prospects will put in the time and effort until they can play like they have all the talent in the world.