Michel Larocque
Born (1952-04-06)April 6, 1952
Hull, Quebec, Canada
Died July 29, 1992(1992-07-29) (aged 40)
Hull, Quebec, Canada
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. He was a four-time Stanley Cup winner with the Montreal Canadiens.

Playing career

Larocque played junior hockey with the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1968 to 1972, and led the league in shutouts for the last three of those years. He was also one of the most penalized goalies, and was regularly involved in fights. In 1972, he was selected sixth overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft. 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.

Larocque started his National Hockey League (NHL) career in 1974 with the Canadiens. That was the season that Ken Dryden, one of the top goalies in that era, sat out to complete his law degree. Larocque shared playing time during the season with Michel Plasse and Wayne Thomas, but was the starting goalie in the playoffs. Dryden returned in 1975, and Larocque settled down as his back-up, sharing four Vezina Trophy wins, in an era when the award was given to the principal goalies on the team allowing the fewest goals in the regular season. The first three were largely because of Dryden's all-star play. 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. The Canadiens won four Stanley Cups during that stretch, but Larocque's only action in the playoff was for one period in the 1979 playoffs; Dryden was in front of the nets the rest of the time. The Stanley Cup wins were in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979.

In 1979, Dryden retired. Larocque saw more action as a result, and won his fourth and final Vezina Trophy, sharing duties with Richard Sévigny and newly-acquired Denis Herron in 1981. Near the trade deadline during that season, 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 an NHL record of 9 goals in one period in a 14-4 game. He was again traded, this time to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1983, in return 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).

Nickname

Larocque reputedly acquired the nickname "Bunny" as an infant. It was his mother's pet name for him which stuck for the rest of his life.

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

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 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 — 11 4 6 1 625 36 3 3.46 —
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 — 18 8 7 3 1029 55 1 3.29 —
1972–73 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 47 — — — 2705 113 1 2.50 — 13 — — — 760 36 0 2.84 —
1973–74 Montreal Canadiens NHL 27 15 8 2 1431 69 0 2.89 .908 6 2 4 — 364 18 0 2.97 .909
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 1 0 0 — 20 0 0 0.00 1.000
1979–80 Montreal Canadiens NHL 39 17 13 8 2259 125 3 3.32 .880 5 4 1 — 300 11 1 2.20 .923
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 2 0 1 — 75 8 0 6.40 .750
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 14 6 6 — 759 37 1 2.92 .903

"Larocque's stats". The Goaltender Home Page. Retrieved 2017-08-04.

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