Laperriere Again Shows Toughness
(from CSNPhilly.com)
By Tim Panaccio
CSNPhilly.com
April 22, 2010 - NEWARK, N.J. – His nose looked a tad more crooked than usual, but Ian Laperriere insisted it wasn't broken.
The welt and 60 to 70 stitches it took to close the wound above his right eye, looked even worse.
At least Laperriere had survived with his sight and senses after laying out on the ice to block a Paul Martin shot with his face on Thursday night during the Flyers' 3-0 shutout – and closeout – victory over the Devils.
"It's done and I got to live with it," Laperriere said of the third period incident. "I will do whatever it takes to block shots and pay the price again. What are you going to do? I don't think twice about doing it. Come next game, I'll go down."
Back on Nov. 27, Laperriere blocked a shot from Jason Pominville of Buffalo and it cost him close to 100 stitches in the face and seven lost or damaged teeth. When he returned to the ice a day later, he was wearing a shield.
He wasn't wearing the shield in this game, but says that's going to change.
"I will wear a shield now," he said. "That was my last warning. I will wear one for the rest of my career. I am dead serious.
"It's stupid. I'm mad at myself and not the shooter. It's a position you don't want to be in. It's too bad I needed that to make me realize that I need to wear a shield."
Later, getting very serious, he said he asked trainer Jim McCrossin whether he still had a right eye since he could not see from it when he came off the ice. McCrossin assured him it was there.
"I want to see my kids grow up with two eyes," Laperriere said.
Lucky it wasn't Chris Pronger shooting. He broke Jeff Carter's right foot with a shot in Game 4.
"He's a bone breaker," Laperriere said. "I am lucky it wasn't Prongs."
Kidding aside, Laperriere gives the Flyers energy on the penalty kill. New Jersey was 0-for-8 on the power play while the Flyers' PK units killed off 28 of 32 penalties in the series.
"It's contagious, I believe in that," Laperriere said. "When you block shots, everybody does it and when you see [Blair] Betts and [Darrol] Powe and G [Claude Giroux] blocking shots, everybody shows that's what it takes in the playoffs.
"The less shots you allow them to put on net, the less chance to score goals."
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net