Ian Laperrière

Ian Laperrière (born January 19, 1974) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey winger who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and serves as the current head coach for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the American Hockey League affiliate and primary development team for the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL.

Ian Laperrière
Laperrière with the Colorado Avalanche in 2007
Born (1974-01-19) January 19, 1974
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Right wing/Center
Shot Right
Played for St. Louis Blues
New York Rangers
Los Angeles Kings
Colorado Avalanche
Philadelphia Flyers
Current AHL coach Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Coached for Philadelphia Flyers (assistant)
NHL Draft 158th overall, 1992
St. Louis Blues
Playing career 1993–2010
Coaching career 2013–present

Laperrière spent nine seasons of his NHL career with the Los Angeles Kings and also played with the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche, and Philadelphia Flyers prior to his 2012 retirement.

Playing career

As a youth, Laperrière played in the 1988 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Montreal.[1]

Laperrière played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from 1990 to 1993 and was drafted by the St. Louis Blues of the NHL in the seventh round and pick number 158 in the 1992 draft. He made his NHL debut with the Blues on March 3, 1994. On December 8, 1995, he was traded to the New York Rangers for Stéphane Matteau. On March 14, 1996, he was traded with Ray Ferraro, Mattias Norström, Nathan LaFayette, and a draft pick to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Jari Kurri, Marty McSorley and Shane Churla. Laperrière was a mainstay on the Kings roster from 1996 until 2004. On July 2, 2004, Laperrière signed a free agent contract with the Colorado Avalanche.[2]

Laperrière, affectionately known as 'Lappy' to his fans, was an immediate success with Colorado in the 2005–06 NHL season, posting the best points totals of his career. He scored 21 goals and 24 assists for 45 points, far ahead of his previous bests of 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points in the lockout-shortened 1994–95 NHL season. He quickly became a favorite with the Avalanche fans.

Laperrière scored the 100th goal of his career on October 29, 2006, against the Minnesota Wild.[3] He also passed 800 career games on November 28, against the Calgary Flames in a 5–2 loss.

On April 1, 2009, Laperrière fought with David Hale of the Phoenix Coyotes for his 52nd hockey fight in an Avalanche jersey, passing Scott Parker in all-time franchise fighting majors. He was announced as the Avalanches' Masterton Trophy nominee for the 2008–09 season on April 3, 2009.[4][5] He played in his 1000th NHL game on April 11, 2009, against the Vancouver Canucks in a 0–1 home overtime loss.[6][7] He led the team that year with 163 penalty minutes, just one more minute than Cody McLeod.

Unable to agree to a new deal with the Avalanche, Laperrière signed a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on July 1, 2009.[8][9]

On November 27, 2009, Laperrière was hit with a slapshot in the mouth while killing a penalty at the end of the first period against the Buffalo Sabres. He sat out the second period receiving between 50 and 100 stitches but returned for the third period. He also played the following night against the Atlanta Thrashers. Laperrière lost seven teeth resulting from the incident (two fake and five real).[10] A similar event occurred during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs on April 22. Laperrière was hit in the face near the end of a New Jersey power play, resulting in an orbital injury, and a mild concussion. Laperrière was listed as out indefinitely and his return to the playoffs was considered unlikely.[11] However, after missing the Flyers second round series versus the Boston Bruins, he returned for game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Montreal Canadiens.[12] In the May 2010 edition of The Hockey News, Laperrière was awarded THN's John Ferguson Award for "Toughest Player in the NHL" in the 2009–10 season.[13]

Post-playing career

NHL retirement

During training camp in September 2010, Laperrière experienced symptoms of post-concussion syndrome and nerve damage to his eyes from being hit in the face twice by pucks the previous season. He was then out for the entire 2010–11 season after being put on injured reserve before the season began and then on long-term injured reserve in mid-December to free up salary cap space. Doctors advised Laperrière to retire, although he did not do so at the time.[14][15] The move was repeated again for the 2011–12 season to free up cap space when Laperrière's symptoms still had not subsided. His number 14 was reissued to rookie Sean Couturier. Despite never playing again after the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Laperrière continued to serve the Flyers off the ice as a mentor to younger players in the organization and in other capacities. For that, Laperrière was awarded the 2011 Bill Masterton Trophy for his perseverance in the sport of hockey. Laperrière officially retired June 12, 2012.[16]

Philadelphia Flyers

On June 29, 2012, Laperrière was named director of player development for the Philadelphia Flyers.[17] The following year, in 2013, he also began serving as an assistant coach for the Flyers.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach

On June 5, 2021, Laperrière was named head coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and the primary development team for the Flyers..[18]

Personal life

Laperrière is married to Magali and has two sons: Tristan, born in March 2002, and Zachary, born in April 2004.[19][20]

He was sworn in as a naturalized American citizen on August 30, 2011, in a ceremony in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.[21]

Following his retirement from hockey, he turned his attention to triathlon completing the Ironman North American Championship at Mont-Tremblant (Quebec) in 12 hours, 11 minutes, 55 seconds on August 19, 2013.[22] He also ran the Philadelphia Marathon in 2012.[23]

Laperrière and his family live in Haddonfield, New Jersey.[24]

Films

In 2005, Laperrière portrayed Montreal Canadiens Hall of Famer Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion in The Rocket, a film about the life of Maurice Richard who played with the Canadiens from 1942 to 1960.

In 2012, Laperrière appeared in the movie This Is 40 alongside Scott Hartnell, James van Riemsdyk, and Matt Carle.[25]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1989–90 Montréal-Bourassa QMAAA 22 4 10 14 10 3 0 1 1 6
1990–91 Drummondville Voltigeurs QMJHL 65 19 29 48 117 14 2 9 11 48
1990–91 Drummondville Voltigeurs MC — — — — — 5 3 1 4 10
1991–92 Drummondville Voltigeurs QMJHL 70 28 49 77 160 4 2 2 4 9
1992–93 Drummondville Voltigeurs QMJHL 60 44 96 140 188 10 6 13 19 20
1993–94 Drummondville Voltigeurs QMJHL 62 41 72 113 150 9 4 6 10 35
1993–94 St. Louis Blues NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1993–94 Peoria Rivermen IHL — — — — — 5 1 3 4 2
1994–95 Peoria Rivermen IHL 51 16 32 48 111 — — — — —
1994–95 St. Louis Blues NHL 37 13 14 27 85 7 0 4 4 21
1995–96 Worcester IceCats AHL 3 2 1 3 22 — — — — —
1995–96 St. Louis Blues NHL 33 3 6 9 87 — — — — —
1995–96 New York Rangers NHL 28 1 2 3 53 — — — — —
1995–96 Los Angeles Kings NHL 10 2 3 5 15 — — — — —
1996–97 Los Angeles Kings NHL 62 8 15 23 102 — — — — —
1997–98 Los Angeles Kings NHL 77 6 15 21 131 4 1 0 1 6
1998–99 Los Angeles Kings NHL 72 3 10 13 138 — — — — —
1999–2000 Los Angeles Kings NHL 79 9 13 22 185 4 0 0 0 2
2000–01 Los Angeles Kings NHL 79 8 10 18 141 13 1 2 3 12
2001–02 Los Angeles Kings NHL 81 8 14 22 125 7 0 1 1 9
2002–03 Los Angeles Kings NHL 73 7 12 19 122 — — — — —
2003–04 Los Angeles Kings NHL 62 10 12 22 58 — — — — —
2005–06 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 21 24 45 116 9 0 1 1 27
2006–07 Colorado Avalanche NHL 81 8 21 29 133 — — — — —
2007–08 Colorado Avalanche NHL 70 4 15 19 140 10 1 1 2 19
2008–09 Colorado Avalanche NHL 74 7 12 19 163 — — — — —
2009–10 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 82 3 17 20 162 13 0 1 1 6
NHL totals 1,083 121 215 336 1,956 67 3 10 13 102

See also

References
  1. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
  2. "Flames keep Simon, add ritchie". ESPN.com. 2004-07-02. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
  3. "Hejduk has another two-goal game as Avalanche tame Wild". cbssports.com. 2006-10-29. Archived from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
  4. Frei, Terry (2009-04-03). ""Lappy" is Masterton nominee". denverpost.com. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
  5. "Laperriere a whole different guy off the ice". nhl.com. 2009-03-22. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  6. Dater, Adrian (2009-04-11). "Lappy's 1000th game invokes look at future". denverpost.com. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  7. Dater, Adrian (2009-04-12). "Avs fighting to the finish". denverpost.com. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  8. Dater, Adrian (2009-07-01). "Avs shopping for Free Agents". denverpost.com. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  9. "Flyers agree to terms with Boucher, Laperriere". philly.com. 2009-07-01. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  10. "Laperriere skates, 7 teeth lighter". philly.com. 2009-11-29. Archived from the original on 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
  11. Frank Seravalli (2010-04-28). "Flyers' Laperriere likely done for season with brain contusion". Philadelphia Daily News. Archived from the original on 2010-07-04. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  12. "Laperriere returns to lineup with typical tenacity". Fox News.com. 2010-05-24. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  13. Dixon, Ryan (May 10, 2010), "09–10 THN Awards", The Hockey News, 63 (24): 31
  14. "njuries expected to force Ian Laperriere to retire". Sporting News. 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
  15. Tim Panaccio (2010-12-13). "Flyers Place Laperriere on Long-term injury reserve". CSNPhilly.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  16. "Laperriere Announces His Retirement". philadelphiaflyers.com. June 12, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  17. "Laperriere named Director of Player Development". philadelphiaflyers.com. June 29, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  18. "Ian Laperriere Named Phantoms Head Coach". Lehigh Valley Phantoms. June 5, 2021.
  19. Crowe, Jerry (2002-03-29). "Veterans Emerson, Buchburger reunited". LA Times. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  20. "Biography of Ian Laperriere". Itsallaboutlappy.com. 2010-06-07. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  21. "Flyers' Laperriere becomes U.S. citizen". Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  22. "Ian Laperriere completes Ironman competition".
  23. "Former NHL Player Enjoys Solo Challenge of Marathon, Triathlon". 2013-08-16.
  24. Philadelphia Flyers 2014-15 Media Guide, p. 21. Accessed November 30, 2017. "Laperriere and his wife Magali reside in Haddonfield, NJ with their sons Tristan and Zachary."
  25. Fox, Luke (December 20, 2012). "Watch: Maple Leaf, Flyers cameo in 'This Is 40'". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ian Laperrière.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.