Flyers' Laperriere One for the Ages
(from Versus.com)
By Adrian Dater
Special to Versus.com
May 23, 2010 - Ian Laperriere missed a few weeks with just your ordinary, everyday brain contusion. Just a little brain bruise, that's all. It couldn't even keep Lappy out a month.
Laperriere is the type of self-depricating guy who would be the first to joke about his injury, suffered April 27 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
"Fortunately, there isn't much brain there to bruise, so it was a quick heal."
If he hasn't said that yet, he probably will. I had the great privilege to cover Laperriere for four years while he played for the Colorado Avalanche, and there simply isn't a better guy in hockey. All the reasons why Flyer fans love Lappy, everybody in Denver already knew them, not to mention hockey fans in Los Angeles and St. Louis.
Laperriere's comeback from, seriously, a brain contusion in less than a month is one of hockey's great stories of physical courage. It's a rich tradition of the sport, of course, but you can't find many previous examples of guys missing less than a month from a publicly worded brain injury diagnosis.
Laperriere thought for sure he was done for the playoffs, and there was worry among his many friends at first that his career was in jeopardy. He dissolved into tears when, in the Boston series, his face was shown on the JumboTron at the Wachovia Center. He was grateful for the applause, but obviously in a stage of grief at having to miss a playoff game. Few players in recent history can match just how much Laperriere loves to play the game and every other aspect of his job.
He is ALWAYS the first player at the rink on a game day. He usually gets to a game four hours prior, to run through some elaborate taping rituals and run through the game in his mind. There never has been a game in which he didn't go full out. He would block a shot as readily in the end of a blowout regular-season loss as he would in a tied postseason game.
He would fight anybody, anytime, if it meant giving a boost to his team. There is a tendency to just regard Laperriere as a "locker-room guy", but the fact is he's been a very good player for long time now. He is a good defensive player, a very smart player and can score the occasional goal. He scored 21 for the Avs in 2005-06, in fact.
The best thing about Laperriere, though, is his realization that the fans are what makes his life possible. He only played for the Blues a couple of years in the mid-90s, but more than a decade later, I witnessed his post-game visits with a collection of Blues fans every time Colorado went into St. Louis. And when he went to L.A., he was always bombarded with autograph requests.
Now, Lappy is one win away from playing in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in his career. And you just know it would take quite an injury to keep him from missing that.