Montreal Canadiens: Looking Back at the Greatest Defencemen #8
The man affectionately referred to as “Lappy” was a fixture on the Montreal Canadiens where he patrolled the blueline for over a decade.
As one of the most storied franchises in sports, the Montreal Canadiens have seen their fair share of players come and go. The Habs have had some great blueliners over the last century, so let’s take a look at who the 10 best defenders in team history are.
On Wednesday, we took a look at Jean-Claude Tremblay. Today, we profile Jacques Laperrière, who is the eighth best defenceman in Canadiens history.
Laperrière was a member of the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens during his junior days (as so many Habs of old were). His final season with the team was a good one. Laperrière scored 27 points in 40 games and garnered enough attention to make his way into six games with Montreal during the 1962-63 season.
He would make the jump to the Canadiens roster full-time the next year, where he appeared in 65 games and had 30 points.
Laperrière never played for another team other than the Canadiens. He spent 11 full seasons with the Habs.
The Rouyn-Noranda native stood tall at 6’2″, 190 pounds and never shied away from physical play, but played with smarts and knew that he didn’t just have to hit to be effective. He played a stay-at-home style of game that was popular in the NHL at the time.
His most impressive performance was in the 1970-71 playoffs where Laperrière played the final five games of the Stanley Cup Finals with a broken bone in his arm. He still managed to nab three assists to go along with his 13 points during that postseason.
Laperrière played in 691 career NHL games, where he scored 282 points and had 674 penalty minutes.
After his retirement, Laperrière got into coaching. He became the Head Coach of the Montreal Juniors of the QMJHL in 1975. He stayed there for the next two seasons before he returned to the Canadiens organization, this time as an assistant coach. Laperrière spent the next 16 seasons behind the Habs bench.
He left the Canadiens in 1997 to take an assistant coaches job with Boston. Since then, he has coached for the Bruins, Islanders, and Devils.
Laperrière took a new role with the Devils as a special assignment coach in 2007. He is still in this role today at 75 years old.
He will surely go down as one of the greats. Laperrière won six Stanley Cup’s as a member of the Canadiens, and will always be remembered for his contributions to both the organization and hockey as a whole.
Next: Montreal Canadiens: Taking A Chance on Jaromir Jagr
What is your favourite memory of Laperrière? Were you a fan of him? Let us know your thoughts below!