Michel Larocque

This article is about the ice hockey player born in 1952. For the player born in 1976, see Michel Larocque (ice hockey, born 1976).

Michel Larocque
Born	(1952-04-06)April 6, 1952 Hull, QC, CAN
Died	July 29, 1992(1992-07-29) (aged 40) Hull, QC, CAN
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	Montreal Canadiens Toronto Maple Leafs Philadelphia Flyers St. Louis Blues
NHL draft	6th overall, 1972 Montreal Canadiens
Playing career	1972–1985

Michel Raymond "Bunny" Larocque (April 6, 1952 – July 29, 1992) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey League.

Playing career

In his junior hockey days, he played with the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1968 to 1972. He led the league in shutouts for the last 3 of those years. He was also one of the most penalized goalies, and was regularly involved in fights. In 1973 he played with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the American Hockey League (AHL), his first taste of professional hockey. For his outstanding play, Larocque was awarded the Hap Holmes Memorial Award with teammate Michel Deguise and was selected to the Second All-Star Team. In 1972, he was selected 6th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft.

Larocque started his National Hockey League (NHL) career in 1974. He was mainly the backup for the Canadiens as Ken Dryden was one of the top goalies in that era. He dedicated himself to his role of back-up, although as a top backup Larocque could have been the number one goalie for most NHL teams. Larocque was co-winner of four Vezina Trophies. During that era, the trophy was given to the principal goalies on the team allowing the fewest goals in the regular season. The first three were largely because of the all-star play of Ken Dryden. In 1977, Larocque led the NHL with a 2.09 goals against average, but with Dryden ahead of him in the Canadiens net, he only managed to play 26 games.

In 1979, Ken Dryden retired from hockey, which forced the Canadiens to find a new number one goalie. They acquired Denis Herron and he shared his duties with Larocque, leading to the fourth and final Vezina Trophy of Larocque's career, shared with Herron and Richard Sevigny in 1981. Larocque won a total of four Stanley Cups with Montreal in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979.

Near the trade deadline in 1981, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenceman Robert Picard. Larocque played 50 games the following season with a struggling Leafs team. Larocque was in net when the Buffalo Sabres scored a NHL record of 9 goals in one period in a 14-4 game. He was again traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1983 for goaltender Rick St. Croix, and finished his NHL career with the St. Louis Blues in 1984 after being sold by the Flyers, who had settled on Pelle Lindbergh in goal. Larocque retired from hockey in 1985 after playing 13 games with the Peoria Rivermen in the International Hockey League (IHL).

Retirement and death

After his playing career ended, he served as general manager of the Victoriaville Tigres of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) during the 1989–90 season and won QMJHL executive of the year for 1989–90. He was vice president of the QMJHL during the 1991–92 season and still held the position at time of his death.

He died of brain cancer at age 40 in his hometown of Hull, Quebec.

Awards and achievements

• Selected to the OHA-Jr. Second All-Star Team in 1971.
• Selected to the OHA-Jr. First All-Star Team in 1972.
• Hap Holmes Memorial Award winner in 1973 (shared with Michel Deguise).
• Selected to the AHL Second All-Star Team in 1973.
• Vezina Trophy winner in 1977*, 1978*, 1979*, 1981 (shared with Denis Herron and Richard Sevigny).
• Stanley Cup championship in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979.
• John Horman Trophy winner in 1990.

* Shared with Ken Dryden.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1967–68	Ottawa 67's	OHA-Jr.		4	—	—	—	210	32	0	9.14	—
1968–69	Ottawa 67's	OHA-Jr.		4	—	—	—	190	24	0	7.58	—
1969–70	Ottawa 67's	OHA-Jr.		51	—	—	—	3060	185	3	3.63	—
1970–71	Ottawa 67's	OHA-Jr.		56	—	—	—	3345	189	5	3.39	—
1971–72	Ottawa 67's	OHA-Jr.		55	—	—	—	3287	189	4	3.45	—
1972–73	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	AHL		47	—	—	—	2705	113	1	2.50	—
1973–74	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		27	15	8	2	1431	69	0	2.89	.908
1974–75	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		25	17	5	3	1480	74	3	3.00	.891
1975–76	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		22	16	1	3	1220	50	2	2.46	.907
1976–77	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		26	19	2	4	1525	53	4	2.09	.910
1977–78	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		30	22	3	4	1729	77	1	2.67	.896
1978–79	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		34	22	7	4	1986	94	3	2.84	.888
1979–80	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		39	17	13	8	2259	125	3	3.32	.880
1980–81	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		28	16	9	3	1623	82	1	3.03	.881
1980–81	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		8	3	3	2	460	40	0	5.22	.854
1981–82	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		50	10	24	8	2647	207	0	4.69	.862
1982–83	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		16	3	8	3	835	68	0	4.89	.850
1982–83	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		2	0	1	1	120	8	0	4.00	.857
1983–84	Springfield Indians	AHL		5	5	3	2	301	21	0	4.18	—
1983–84	St. Louis Blues	NHL		5	0	5	0	300	31	0	6.20	.811
1984–85	Peoria Rivermen	IHL		13	7	3	3	786	41	0	3.13	—
NHL totals				312	160	89	45	17,615	978	17	3.33	.882

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1969–70	Ottawa 67's	OHA-Jr.		11	4	6	1	625	36	3	3.46	—
1971–72	Ottawa 67's	OHA-Jr.		18	8	7	3	1029	55	1	3.29	—
1972–73	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	AHL		13	—	—	—	760	36	0	2.84	—
1973–74	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		6	2	4	—	364	18	0	2.97	.909
1978–79	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		1	0	0	—	20	0	0	0.00	1.000
1979–80	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		5	4	1	—	300	11	1	2.20	.923
1980–81	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		2	0	1	—	75	8	0	6.40	.750
NHL totals				14	6	6	—	759	37	1	2.92	.903

External links

Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

• Official Canadiens History Site
• Hockey Draft Central
• Society for International Hockey Research