Kukla's Korner Hockey
Entries with the tag: georges+laraque
Survival
by Paul on 01/05/09 at 02:55 PM ET
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from Georges Laraque at Sportsnet,
I want first to offer my condolences to Don Sanderson’s family. Don is the 21-year-old man who passed away on Friday after hitting his head on the ice in a hockey fight on Dec. 14....
So this incident brings the first subject that I wanted to talk about and that’s simply that fighting is not just the toughest job in hockey, but in all professional sports. Fighting is not easy, not easy physically nor mentally. During a fight, you pretty much fight for your life because as you know, many things can happen and on top of that, you are being watched by millions of people. And whether or not someone watches your game live, your fight will end up on YouTube forever.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Georges+Laraque,
Laraque the “Toughest in the League”
by Alanah McGinley on 10/02/08 at 05:44 PM ET
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From the Canadian Press,
Several NHLers consider Laraque the league’s top heavyweight and make sure to give the six-foot-three, 245-pounder ample space.
“He’s probably the toughest in the league,” says Ottawa Senators enforcer Chris Neil. “He’s strong, he’s powerful. It’s one of those things where you watch his fights, meanwhile, when he’s out there on the ice, he’s coming after you, so you’ve got to be aware.”
Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla, no stranger to the rough stuff, agrees.
“I wouldn’t want to get caught in a line brawl with him,” he says with a smile.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: fighting, georges+laraque,
Morning Line
by Paul on 09/07/08 at 08:03 AM ET
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“I admire Zack because he’s an agitator and he fights ... it’s not easy doing both. But he knows he’s not a true heavyweight. He’s trying to fill a role and he does a good job at it. Man, he had 25 fights last year. Even in my rookie year as an Oiler, I never did that. I fought 16, 17 times, tops. People should admire Zack for doing what he’s doing. If everybody had his heart. ...
-Georges Laraque on Edmonton’s Zack Stortini. More from Laraque from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Georges+Laraque, Zack+Stortini,
Laraque Takes Mom’s Advice
by Paul on 08/20/08 at 07:28 AM ET
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from Derek Van Diest of the Edmonton Sun,
“It’s still surreal. I live here in Edmonton and I haven’t lived in Montreal in a long time and I haven’t really gone back there in the summer.
“I think it’s going to hit home when I get there, when training camp starts and I get to wear the jersey for the first time. I don’t think it’s totally sunk in yet."…
“My dad lives in Edmonton, my mom lives in Montreal. My mom was begging me to come back home.
“I love it here, if it wasn’t for the fact that my mom was there, I would have stayed here.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Georges+Laraque,
Pittsburgh Won’t Forget Laraque
by Paul on 07/10/08 at 06:41 AM ET
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from Empty Netters,
Laraque was unlike anything we’ve seen here in Pittsburgh. He was a black hockey player of Haitian heritage who had corn rows, spoke two languages and dominated just about any fight he was a part of. He was so dominant of a fighter, many opposing goons just simply weren’t all that eager to drop the gloves with “BGL.” And when Laraque did get a chance to go at it, more often than not his fights were fairly boring due to Laraque’s immense strength.
Our first chance to see Laraque ply his craft came in a game against the Rangers March 10, 2007. Colton Orr was the brave soul who decided he wanted to test Laraque:
more with many fight videos…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Georges+Laraque,
Habs Sign Georges Laraque, 3 Years
by Alanah McGinley on 07/03/08 at 03:44 PM ET
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From TSN’s tracker:
Montreal Canadiens sign UFA forward Georges Laraque (3-year, $1.5 million)
3:50pm ET: TSN --
The native of Montreal, Quebec has signed a three-year contract with the Canadiens, reportedly worth $4.5 million. The deal includes a partial no-trade clause.
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Tags: georges+laraque,
Laraque Says No To Nashville
by Paul on 07/03/08 at 08:52 AM ET
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from John Glennon of the Tennessean,
Predators General Manager David Poile said on Wednesday the team made an offer to Georges Laraque, but that the player’s agent, Steve Kotlowitz, told Nashville that Laraque was looking to sign elsewhere....
Some of the tough guys still on the unrestricted free agent market include Atlanta’s Eric Boulton, Tampa Bay’s Andre Roy as well as Aaron Downey and Darren McCarty of Detroit.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Nashville Predators | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Georges+Laraque,
Laraque is Running the Show—Off the Record
by Alanah McGinley on 06/23/08 at 04:21 PM ET
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From Channel Canada:
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Georges Laraque drops the gloves and calls the shots when he slides into the main chair as guest host of Off The Record (OTR), tonight at 6 p.m. ET on TSN.
Not one to back down from a good fight – or a good debate – Laraque will ask the hard-hitting questions to the show’s guests, which include Penguins teammate Gary Roberts, who will be featured in-studio during the Up Front and Next Question segments of the show. [...]
The other guests on tonight’s show will include Detroit Red Wings Senior Vice-President Jim Devellano. Together, Laraque and the guest panelists will take on the key newsmakers and hottest sports topics of the day, including NHL free agency.
In nearly 2,600 episodes, Laraque is the first NHLer to ever host the show.
This is appearing on Canada’s OTR only, not the ESPN version. But it should be available in the online video archives at TSN after the show, for anyone (Pens fans!?) who may be interested.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL Media | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: gary+roberts, georges+laraque, jimmy+devellano,
Laraque’s Purpose in Life
by Alanah McGinley on 05/30/08 at 12:57 PM ET
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From Daniel Malloy at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
Away from the ice, though, the ferocity disappears, replaced by an aggressive philanthropic spirit.
Mr. Laraque doesn’t turn down a request for his time—“There are no bad charities,” he says—and spends about four days a week during the season working in the community, mostly with children.
“A lot of athletes will talk about doing good things, a lot of them do good things, but Georges takes that to an entirely different level,” said Cliff Benson, who has collaborated with Mr. Laraque on various charitable initiatives around town.
“He makes that a purpose in his life. That makes him different from most.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: georges+laraque,
Morning Line
by Paul on 05/22/08 at 06:55 AM ET
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“At the end of the day, what really defines you?” he said. “Is it how much money you make? How many Cups you’ve won? No, what matters is your community. There are people out there without parents. People who can’t afford to go to a hockey game. People who can’t afford cable to even watch a hockey game.
“I wasn’t always fortunate when I was a kid. But, with the image we have as hockey players, it’s amazing the impact we can have. How fortunate am I to play in the NHL? What percentage of people get to do that? I just want to show that I appreciate it. That stuff is important, more important than hockey.”
-Georges Laraque
more on Laraque at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette…
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Laraque Is A Wanted Man
by Paul on 05/01/08 at 10:56 PM ET
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from Lynda Klym at Black Athelete,
Georges Laraque had just checked into a hotel in Calgary. Hadn’t even unzipped his bag when a secretary of a friend called his cellphone. Everybody gets Georges’ cell number.
“She asked me if I could come to Edmonton,” he said. “There was this kid who was going to die. He had a couple hours to live, they thought, and his last wish was to see me.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Georges+Laraque,
Laraque Gets Three Games
by Paul on 03/13/08 at 07:03 PM ET
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via TSN,
Georges Laraque has been suspended 3 games for his elbow on Buffalo’s Nathan Paetsch.
More to follow.
added 7:07, from TSN (same link as above),
The incident occured during the second period of Wednesday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Penguins’ and the Sabres. Laraque appeared to deliver an elbow to Paetsch’s face as he skated past the Buffalo defencemen. Laraque was given a five-minute major for elbowing and was ejected from the game.
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Tags: Georges+Laraque,
Yoga Makes the Fighter
by Alanah McGinley on 02/21/08 at 01:51 PM ET
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From Marcie Garcia at NHL.com,
Four years later, Laraque credits yoga for sharpening his competitive edge against the younger, bigger foes trying to make a heavyweight name for themselves in the NHL.
“Most guys that fight use the weights, weights, and weights, and they’re so big in their bodies that the muscle doesn’t matter,” Laraque said. “Yoga helps your core strength and that is way better than weights. I’m not the strongest guy weight-wise with enforcers in the NHL, but I’m strong, but not because I bench press six plates. If you do yoga, you don’t need to do weights that much because it’s like a weight exercise, but instead of using weights, you’re using your body.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: fighting, georges+laraque, training, yogo,
No Suspension For Laraque
by Paul on 01/30/08 at 09:08 AM ET
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from the Courier Post,
As a player, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren made a living out of checking opponents into the third row.
So he chose his words carefully Tuesday when asked about Colin Campbell’s decision to let Georges Laraque’s hit from behind on Steve Downie last week go unpunished.
“The fact that Steve was able to come back, does that mean there shouldn’t be a suspension?” Holmgren asked rhetorically. “I’m sure there’s something to that.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Georges+Laraque,
Laraque Hit On Downie
by Paul on 01/25/08 at 07:48 AM ET
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via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
The only thing on which the Penguins and Flyers could agree was that Laraque was assessed a major penalty for hitting from behind and a game misconduct. Get past that, and everything became a matter of partisan perspective.
When Flyers coach John Stevens looked at the sequence, for example, he saw “a vicious incident” and “a very, very dangerous play.”
When Laraque reflected on it, he saw an incident in which he pushed Downie, not cross-checked him, and did so with absolutely no malice, let alone intent to injure.
“If I want to hit somebody from behind,” Laraque said, “he’s not going to get up.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Georges+Laraque, Steve+Downie,
