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The People's Choice

(from the LA Kings Game Night Magazine, January 1998)

By Jon Cooper

The Kings’ power play unit is scrimmaging against the penalty killers in preparation for their game the following night against the New Jersey Devils at Continental Airlines Arena. Wearing an orange pinney over his white practice jersey to distinguish him as a penalty killer, No. 22 skates at the top of the right face-off circle, swiveling his stick back and forth along the ice, trying to distract pointman Steve McKenna while also attempting to cut off both passing lanes.

McKenna passes down the boards, setting up a shot for Luc Robitaille, which is stopped by goalie Frederic Chabot. The rebound hops over center Don MacLean’s stick and ends up on Laperriere’s, about 10 feet in the slot. He slaps a backhander out of the zone. But the puck doesn’t make it all the way down ice—Head Coach Larry Robinson, observing the drill at center ice, stops it and sends it back into the zone to McKenna.

Laperriere glares at the smiling Robinson, almost as if to say “Thanks a lot,” then he smiles and refocuses on his defense of the L.A. goal.

Hockey is fun again for Ian Laperriere.

That’s one aspect of the game that was missing last season. It started well, with his getting a regular shift in St. Louis, the team that drafted the 6-1, 196-pound center with its seventh pick in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft (158th overall). Laperriere had made quite a splash during the final 37 games of 1994-95 season, tallying 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points, leading the league in shooting percentage (24.5%), and chalking up 85 penalty minutes. He added four assists in the playoffs, as the Blues came within an overtime goal by Steve Yzerman of upsetting the mighty Detroit Red Wings. The future looked bright in the city known as the Gateway to the West. He loved the city, and the fans loved him.

“It’s a big city, but it’s like a small city,” he reminisced. “Everybody seems like they know the players—they know everybody. They cheer for you if you play good, if you play bad they’re going to cheer for you. I won’t lie to anyone, it’s something I miss.”

There was another thing Laperriere would miss about St. Louis.

“I played with Guy Carbonneau. He was one of my idols when I was younger,” said Laperriere. “It’s a good thing I played with him, because I learned a lot.”

But one thing he wouldn’t miss about St. Louis was the man who drove him out of there, Mike Keenan, who was hired in November as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks. Keenan shipped Laperriere to the New York Rangers on December 28, 1995, for Stephane Matteau.

Laperriere, however, never changed his game. His demolition-derby style electrified Madison Square Garden.

The problem was, he wasn’t getting a regular shift.

“I didn’t expect a lot of ice time because of all the big names they had,” he remembered. “But I didn’t get why they traded for me. They wanted to go younger, but then you need to play your younger players to make sure they’ll be better players.”

He played 28 games for the Rangers, scoring one goal and two assists and garnering 53 penalty minutes. But playing on the fourth line was extremely frustrating for a fierce competitor like Laperriere, whose game thrives on emotion.

Then suddenly, a light at the end of the Lincoln Tunnel appeared. It was the day that things began to change for the better. On March 14, 1996, Laperriere was acquired by the Kings, along with Mattias Norstrom, Ray Ferraro, Nathan Lafayette and a 1997 fourth round pick in a trade for Jari Kurri, Shane Churla and Marty McSorley.

“It’s a good thing they traded me,” said Laperriere, who will turn 24 in January. “I’m glad they did it to a young team like L.A. They gave me a chance. Everybody’s young and everyone wants to be better.”

The Kings certainly are glad to have him.