Laperriere Will Have His New Teammates' Backs
(from CSNPhilly.com)
By Tim Panaccio
CSNPhilly.com
July 14, 2009 - Ian Laperriere has spent a fair amount of his 15-year NHL playing career in the penalty box.
The versatile winger has racked up 1,794 penalty minutes. Despite being just 6-foot-1, 197 pounds, most of Laperriere's minutes are fighting majors — 177 regular season fights.
"What can I say? I'm a dirty player," Laperriere kidded.
"It's something I can add to my game. I don't know if I'm old school, but if I see stuff out there happening, I got that little guy on my shoulder [saying] 'Let's go, you gonna do something about it?'
"Whenever a player gets a cheap shot on the ice I don't agree with, I'll be there. It doesn't mean I will win that fight. But I will be there."
The 35-year-old Laperriere is a player who the Flyers' feel will perfectly complement Chris Pronger along the blue line.
"I have the scars somewhere on my face to show you," Laperriere said of Pronger. "We started out careers together in St. Louis...When they made that move, even before I knew they were interested in me, I thought, 'They're going for it.'
"And when they [Flyers] called me, I was even more excited. They got Pronger, Ray Emery, all those guys and the team they have together already, it just shows you they want to win the Cup."
According to hockeyfights.com, Laperriere has had 118 different fighting opponents including, current Flyers Scott Hartnell, Arron Asham and Pronger.
Laperriere spent four seasons in Colorado playing alongside Joe Sakic, a future Hall of Famer who retired last week. He thinks he picked up on a few things from Sakic that could help him as a Flyer.
"Commitment off the ice," Laperriere said. "What people don't know about Joe is how much time he puts in the gym. After practice, after games. Little things. He's a gifted individual. He didn't get to play at 39 by luck.
"I learned, even when I was 31, and started playing with him, just the little details he does off the ice which makes me a better player and it's why I'm still playing at 35."
Laperriere, signed last week via free agency, was officially introduced to the media Tuesday afternoon at Skate Zone.
"Ian is a player that I coveted a long time," said Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, a veteran fighter with a broken nose much like Laperriere's. "The best way I can sum up Ian and what he brings to our team is, he comes to play.
"I think the fans in Philadelphia are going to love his style of play and his enthusiasm and effervescent game."
Already Laperriere has impacted on the Flyers in a way he probably never imagined. He took rookie prospect Kevin Marshall under his wing this summer in Montreal and imparted to the 20-year-old defenseman what Sakic had taught him about training.
"When I go to the gym, I go to work," Laperriere said. "He looks at me and sees a 35-year-old veteran with 15 years in the league. What I like about him is, Kevin, you can see when a young kid get's it. Kevin is one of those guys. He knows he needs to make sacrifices to be in the NHL."
It's amazing what you can do in hockey if you become a specialist.
Laperriere is one of the better penalty killers, which is how he got a three-year, $3.5 million contract. His role will be to gobble up minutes on the PK that used to go to Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.
"That's the way the game is today; you need certain guys to do a certain job," Laperriere said. "You look at a winning team, like the Penguins last year. They had guys [like Bill Guerin] who did a certain job and did it well. They won the Cup. It's a big puzzle and you need different pieces to make that big puzzle."
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net