Playing Career
In his junior hockey days, he played with the Ottawa 67's of the 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 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 NHL career in 1974. He was mainly the backup for the Montreal Canadiens as Ken Dryden was one of the top goalies in that era. He dedicated himself to his role of back-up, although Larocque was considered a top backup and could have been the No.1 goalie for most NHL teams. Larocque would be 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, he 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 1980, Ken Dryden retired from hockey, which forced the Canadiens to find a new goalie. They picked Denis Herron and he shared his duties with Larocque. His fourth and final Vezina Trophy was shared with Denis Herron and Richard Sevigny in 1981. He 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 next season with a struggling Leafs team. Michel was in net when the Buffalo Sabres scored a NHL record of 9 goals in one period in a 14-4 loss. 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'd settled on Pelle Lindbergh in goal. Larocque finally retired from hockey in 1985 after playing 13 games with the Peoria Rivermen in the IHL.
Read more about this topic: Michel Larocque (ice Hockey B. 1952)
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