Laperriere, Flyers Have Been a Perfect Fit
2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic - Flyers v. Bruins
(from NHL.com)
By John McGourty
NHL.com Staff Writer
December 31, 2009 - BOSTON - When teams sign free agents or make trades, hockey skills are an important consideration, but not the only one. NHL general managers also have to consider what kind of impact that player's personality will have on the team.
Sometimes, you want a player who brings a no-nonsense approach. Other times, you may want someone who is good at lifting the mood. If you want both, it usually takes two players. Sometimes, you need to add offense. Other times, defense. That also often requires two different players.
But the Flyers got all of the above last summer when they signed Ian Laperriere, 35, a 15-year veteran who previously played with St. Louis, the Rangers, Los Angeles and Colorado. Laperriere is a defensive specialist who in mid-career produced a 21-goal, 45-point season in his first year with the Avalanche in 2005-06.
Laperriere provides strong leadership skills and the Flyers immediately took advantage of that by placing rookie James van Riemsdyk's locker right next to Laperriere's.
Laperriere is also, pound-for-pound, one of the NHL's toughest players and to prove it, he's got the worst-looking nose this side of Kronk's Gym. Fortunately for Laperriere and everyone else, he's got a self-deprecating nature and a sense of humor that produces laughs in every conversation. He was asked this week how coach Peter Laviolette's crackdown on taking penalties affects him, usually a team leader in penalty minutes.
Laperriere interrupted the questioner, bursting into laughter as he did so.
"I go with five minutes. It's easier. I'm not taking two-minute penalties," Laperriere insisted. "I don't like to put my team in a bad position. If I do take penalties, I'll try to take somebody with me. Not taking too many two-minute penalties is a point of pride with me."
Laperriere is one of the NHL's good guys, a former nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for community involvement. He made a pretty strong bid for another Masterton nomination on Nov. 27 when he rushed to block a slap shot from the blue line by Buffalo's Jason Pominville and was hit directly in the mouth, losing seven teeth, including two implants, with 2:10 remaining in the second period.
Laperriere required almost 100 stitches but returned, wearing a face mask, to play in the third period. For those who think of him as a scrappy, antagonistic, broken-nosed hockey player, Laperriere surprised some people by prioritizing family concerns in his moment of pain. In his own, unique way.
He said his wife, Magali, wouldn't be too upset.
"She's my high school sweetheart. We've been together for 20 years. She's seen every single one of them," Laperriere said. "She hasn't missed any injuries in my career and that's the ugliest one. My nose was one thing, I got busted a couple of times. But this one was the most violent one and the ugliest one. But the doctor did an unbelievable job. You can barely see my scar on the inside. All the stitches are gone. It was a mess, but he did an unbelievable job."
Laperriere takes childhood antipathy for the Bruins into the Winter Classic game. He grew up in Montreal a Guy Carbonneau fan and has rooted against the Bruins from his earliest recollections. He said he never traveled to Boston as a child and has never been to Fenway Park.
"You never rooted for the Bruins?" he was teased. His eyes popped in surprise.
"Come on. That's was a big rivalry in Montreal. You don't cheer for another team in Montreal."
So, you probably don't want us telling the Boston fans that behind all those career penalty minutes is a big-hearted, generous guy who is among the league leaders in hospital visits to children? "Lappy" once told an interviewer that just because he has to be an @#$%^&*&^%$ on the ice, he doesn't have to be one off the ice.
"I've got a job to do on the ice and I have my private life and I try to do the best that I can," Laperriere said. "My spare time, if I can give back to the community, I'm happy to do it."
He said playing outdoors is going to be like old times.
"Back then our winters were a lot colder than now back in Montreal," Laperriere said. "We had a sheet of ice in the old baseball park, with boards and everything. I remember coming back from school, the first thing you'd do is your homework (rolls his eyes to his teammates' laughter) and pick up my skates and my helmet. My older cousin would pick me up and drive me to the outdoor rink. Everyone would be there. If it would be snowing, we'd pick up shovels and just shovel the ice. We'd put our sticks in the middle of the ice, get a stick and let's go."
Youth-hockey league games were all played in indoors, but Laperriere said outdoor games gave him a chance to measure himself against different age groups.
"What's good about it is that you'd play against older guys and better players too. Everyone had their pride and tried to do the best they can," he said. "I loved my experience playing outside. It's going to be a great time. It's going to bring back a lot of good memories, for sure."
So, now that the Laperriere family finally has a good reason to travel to Boston, will they be coming?
"Everybody, including my mother-in-law," he said. "And, I've got a bunch of friends that are coming down for the game. It's going to be a little distraction. They'll have to understand that about 9:30 the night before I'm going to have to leave. They're going to celebrate the New Year, but for me I'm it's going be a big game the next day and everybody needs to prepare themselves."
Just when you're having fun with "Lappy," he gets serious. That's why the Flyers hired him.
Contact John McGourty at jmcgourty@nhl.com