Playing Career
Larry Robinson played Junior 'A' hockey with the Brockville Braves of the CJHL and Juniors with the Kitchener Rangers then turned professional, spending 1971 to 1973 with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the American Hockey League before making it to the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens.
Nicknamed "Big Bird" in part for his size (6'4" and 225 pounds), Robinson was a big and strong defenceman yet highly mobile. He played 17 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens and another three seasons for the Los Angeles Kings, until his retirement after the 1992 season. He won the James Norris Memorial Trophy twice as the league's most outstanding defenceman and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 1978 playoffs. Robinson was a dominant player whose talent and leadership helped lead the Canadiens to six Stanley Cups.
Robinson was a member of Team Canada in the 1976, 1981 and 1984 Canada Cup tournaments and was an international All-Star team selection in the 1981 IIHF World Championships. During his career, he played in ten of the league's All-Star games and ended his 20-year career having scored 208 goals, 750 assists and 958 regular-season points as well as 144 points in 227 playoff games, a remarkable achievement for a defenceman. He holds an impressive career rating of +730, the NHL career record, including an overwhelming +120 in 1976–77 (second only to Bobby Orr's record plus-124 in 1970–71, and with Orr, the only two players to have a plus-minus rating of +100 or greater for a season). He won six Stanley Cups with the Canadiens 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1986, and also has the NHL record for playing 20 consecutive seasons in the playoffs, 17 of them with the Canadiens.
Robinson has been honoured for his playing career. In 1995, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was ranked number 24 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. In 2000, he was inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame. On November 19, 2007, the Canadiens retired Robinson's No. 19 jersey before a loss against the Ottawa Senators. Larry Robinson's name appears on the Stanley Cup 9 times, as a player/coach/scout.
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