Feisty Laperriere Adds Spice To Ranger Stew
(from the NY Daily News)
By John DellaPina
Staff Writer
January 7, 1996 - "I made it!" Ian Laperriere proclaimed in mock triumph. "I made it!"
This was last Wednesday night in yet another victorious Rangers' locker room. And the modest achievement the newest Ranger was celebrating was having finally made it to the end of a game without being ejected in his third try since being acquired from St. Louis last Thursday.
"Leave the kid alone," Laperriere's road roommate Luc Robitaille jokingly scolded reporters. "He's tired. He just played a full game."
Not only that, Laperriere displayed the full array of his talents and shortcomings. To be sure, there will be few dull moments of Ranger hockey when Ian Laperriere is on the ice.
"He is feisty, there's no doubt about it," coach Colin Campbell said of Laperriere, who scored his first goal as a Ranger in Friday night's 4-4 tie at Washington. "I can also see how maybe Mike (Keenan) would get infuriated with him at times. But he's someone that should be tapped and used properly."
According to Paul MacLean, who coached Laperriere last season at Peoria of the IHL, there are specific guidelines that should be used when tapping the 21-year-old center. However, MacLean still raves about the player he calls "a '90s version of a Sutter."
"He's a strong skater but he lacks the technique for stamina," MacLean said. "That can become evident if he overstays his shift. But if he can limit the length of his shifts, he can be very effective.
"The best time to use him, for me, was when the game needed a shift in momentum. You want him on the ice right after any goal is scored to either maintain momentum in your way or to get it back going your way."
Laperriere proved MacLean's scouting report to be remarkably accurate within a 15-minute span of his Garden debut.
Sent onto the ice for the faceoff that followed a Ray Ferraro goal, Laperriere instantly ensured that momentum would remain in the Rangers' favor.
Plowing behind the Montreal net, he pancaked Canadiens' defenseman Marko Kiprusoff with a chest-to-chest hit. When Kiprusoff's partner Lyle Odelein retaliated by cross-checking Laperriere from behind, a penalty was drawn and the Rangers scored 11 seconds into the subsequent power play to begin breaking the game open.
"When I came back to the bench, all the guys said, 'Oh yeah! Good job!' " the effervescent Laperriere reported. "That's my game. I work hard, that's for sure. I'm going to take penalties. But their guys are going to take penalties on me, that's for sure."
"I think he could be a very good acquisition for the New York Rangers," MacLean said. "His youth brings enthusiasm to a team that has some age on it.
"Sometimes, the passion to play dims a little bit and an older team can get complacent with their work ethic and can convince itself that, 'Yeah, we're working hard.' Then you bring in a kid like Ian and he can take that work ethic to another level. Older players can look at his enthusiasm and passion and say, 'Look at him go! I can do that.' "