Playing Career
Lapointe was selected 10th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. He has played in 991 career NHL games (nine shy of the 1,000 game mark) as of the 2007–08 NHL season, scoring 181 goals and 200 assists for 381 points. He has also compiled 1,143 career penalty minutes. He has won 2 Stanley Cup championships as a member of the Red Wings, in 1997 and 1998.
In the summer of 2001, he signed a 4 year free agent contract with the Boston Bruins. Boston was widely criticized for the deal, and Lapointe became known as perhaps the league's most overpaid player. After the NHL lockout wiped out the entire 2004–05 season, he signed a 3 year free agent deal with Chicago in August 2005. He later served as Blackhawks' captain for the latter portion of the 2005–06 season due to an injury to Adrian Aucoin.
Lapointe had played in 209 consecutive games with Chicago and 254 straight overall before he sat out Jan. 16 against St. Louis with what was believed to be the flu. Prior to that, his last absence had been Dec. 29, 2003, with Boston.
On February 26, 2008, Lapointe was traded by the Chicago Blackhawks to the Ottawa Senators for a sixth round draft pick. He was acquired for his grit, leadership, and physical play. After the season, Lapointe was not re-signed by the Senators and became an unrestricted free agent.
Read more about this topic: Martin Lapointe
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