Claude Larose (ice hockey, born 1942)

Claude David Larose (born March 2, 1942[1] in Hearst, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 943 career NHL games for the Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota North Stars and St. Louis Blues. He also served as an assistant coach for the Hartford Whalers after his retirement. He won 6 Stanley Cups during his career 1965, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1973 (as a player with Montreal), 2006 (as a Scout) with Carolina.

Claude Larose
Born (1942-03-02) March 2, 1942
Hearst, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for Montreal Canadiens
Minnesota North Stars
St. Louis Blues
Playing career 19621978

Prior to his joining the Montreal Canadiens, the team suffered from a lack of toughness. Claude Larose was one of those players Sam Pollock thought could add toughness without sacrificing speed and scoring and he was right. Over a 16-year career, 10 with the Canadiens, Larose scored 226 goals and added 257 assists for 483 points in 943 NHL games. He also had 887 career penalty minutes and led the Canadiens in penalties during the 1971 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when Montreal upset both the defending champion Boston Bruins and the powerful Chicago Black Hawks. "We became the toughest team in the League in 1963–64, which dismayed the opposition," Canadiens captain Jean Beliveau wrote in his autobiography.

Statistics say some things about a player, but not everything. Claude Larose was instant chemistry for his linemates. Many players of that era had their best years while skating with Larose. Ralph Backstrom finished second in Montreal scoring in Larose's rookie year. Danny Grant won the Calder Memorial Trophy with Larose on his line. Playing on a line with Minnesota North Stars teammates Grant and Danny O'Shea, Larose scored the tying, final goal in the 1969 NHL All-Star Game.

Returning from an injury in 1974, Larose was thrown onto a line with the Mahovlich brothers, Frank and Peter, and scored four goals against Pittsburgh's Gary Inness. He got a hat trick the next game while playing the right wing with Jacques Lemaire and Steve Shutt. Paired with them again, he got two goals the following game.

"I think that's still a Canadiens' record, nine goals in three games," Larose said recently. "I'd just come back from the broken leg I suffered the year before. I started playing around Jan. 15. Yvan Cournoyer then got hurt and they put me in his place. A lot of people still remind me about that. We could not figure out what was happening. I'd shoot, they'd go in. We were playing for Scotty Bowman. You know, if he thought you were too hot, he'd put you on another line!

Today he is a pro scout for the Carolina Hurricanes. He is the father of NHL player Guy Larose.[2]

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1959–60 Peterborough Petes OHA-Jr. 48 9 10 19 34 12 2 7 9 17
1960–61 Peterborough Petes OHA-Jr. 46 36 27 63 108 5 5 0 5 31
1961–62 Peterborough Petes OHA-Jr. 50 18 36 54 150
1961–62 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens EPHL 1 0 1 1 2 6 3 1 4 6
1962–63 Montreal Canadiens NHL 4 0 0 0 0
1962–63 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens EPHL 49 19 24 43 42 3 1 0 1 2
1963–64 Montreal Canadiens NHL 21 1 1 2 43 2 1 0 1 0
1963–64 Omaha Knights CPHL 47 27 22 49 105 8 8 6 14 17
1964–65 Montreal Canadiens NHL 68 21 16 37 82 13 0 1 1 14
1965–66 Montreal Canadiens NHL 64 15 18 33 67 6 0 1 1 31
1966–67 Montreal Canadiens NHL 69 19 16 35 82 10 1 5 6 15
1967–68 Montreal Canadiens NHL 42 2 9 11 28 12 3 2 5 8
1967–68 Houston Apollos CPHL 10 6 7 13 32
1968–69 Minnesota North Stars NHL 67 25 37 62 106
1969–70 Minnesota North Stars NHL 75 24 23 47 109 6 1 1 2 25
1970–71 Montreal Canadiens NHL 64 10 13 23 90 11 1 0 1 10
1971–72 Montreal Canadiens NHL 77 20 18 38 64 6 2 1 3 23
1972–73 Montreal Canadiens NHL 73 11 23 34 30 17 3 4 7 6
1973–74 Montreal Canadiens NHL 39 17 7 24 52 5 0 2 2 11
1974–75 Montreal Canadiens NHL 8 1 2 3 6
1974–75 St. Louis Blues NHL 56 10 17 27 38 2 1 1 2 0
1975–76 St. Louis Blues NHL 67 13 25 38 48 3 0 0 0 0
1976–77 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 29 19 48 22 4 1 0 1 0
1977–78 St. Louis Blues NHL 69 8 13 21 20
NHL totals 943 226 257 483 887 97 14 18 32 143

See also

Preceded by
Elmer Vasko
Minnesota North Stars captain
1969–70
Succeeded by
Ted Harris

References

  1. Following to some sources, 1943
  2. HHOF. "Legends of Hockey; Guy Larose". database. HHOF. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
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