Georges Laraque Autograph Card

I almost featured this one last night after he'd started following me on Twitter during the day, but opted to go to bed early instead. And when news broke of former enforcer Dale Purinton getting arrested for burglary and breaking and entering, it was really a cue to write about all-around good guy and idealist Georges Laraque, despite having done so a little over a year ago when I penciled him in as #17 in my Habs Numbers Project.

If you don't recall from my previous post, Laraque was pretty much always honest with his job as an enforcer in the NHL - he didn't like to fight, though he was willing to protect his teammates and act as a deterrent from opponents taking too many liberties on them, and to this day he still feels it's a crucial role on a hockey team.

He even admitted to fearing what could happen in a fight, the injuries he could sustain, and knowing his adversaries felt the same way (which is understandable considering he was the most feared tough guy in the league for a while, despite following a strict code of not fighting unwilling opponents nor starting fights for no reason).

Post-retirement, his work as a pillar in the community has been impressive, from advocating a vegan lifestyle to trying to affect change by running for the Green Party at the federal level to meeting with inner-city kids to volunteering his time in Haiti to advocating for animal rights and overall equality online and in the media.

Honestly, knowing how much he loved the Alberta capital when he played with the Edmonton Oilers and knowing he had a weekly radio show there, I thought he would relocate out West when he hung his skates, but I'm glad he didn't; his voice being heard here is an asset, and everything he says and does is genuine and comes straight from his heart - both when he's right, and wrong.

He has never won a Stanley Cup but went on three very deep runs: Cup Finals with the Oilers (2005-06) and Pittsburgh Penguins (2007-08), and the Conference Finals with the Habs in 2009-10, all built on the strength of good teamwork, good youngsters with veteran leadership to surround the core with, and tremendous goaltending from Dwayne Roloson, Marc-André Fleury and Jaroslav Halak, respectively.

Here he is sporting the Oilers' turn-of-the-millennium blue (then-away) uniform with the Oil Driller shoulder patch, in this card from Upper Deck's 2013-14 Edmonton Oilers Collection (it's card #FI-GL of the Franchise Ink sub-set, featuring a blue-sharpie on-sticker autograph with his Habs jersey number - 17 - tagged at the end):

Injuries may have forced him to retire at a lower level than he and his fans had been accustomed to, but his time with the Oilers will forever be remembered as not only when he was the NHL's top pugilist, but also a decent hockey player, what with a 13-goal season in 2000-01, a career in the pluses in +/- stats, over 100 points in just under 500 games in the Dead Puck Era, a unique closeness to the fans, and tons of moments of tremendous respect for his brethren such as this one:

Georges Laraque Autograph Card

I agreed on a trade with fellow blogger and collector Kyle lately that made me part ways with a number of cards I held dear and that, monetary value-wise, may have been lop-sided, but it enabled me to continue two de facto projects: player collections (which I don't really have per se, at least not in the way others do where they collect every possible card, I just try to get mine signed), as well as my Habs Numbers Project (where I want a collectible item - ideally an  autographed card - of players wearing every Montréal Canadiens jersey number possible), which is actually something I'm getting serious about.

Today, I get to knock #17 off that list with this card of Georges Laraque, from Upper Deck's 2009-10 Be A Player collection (card #S-GL of the Signatures sub-set), where he is seen wearing the team's white (away) uniform with the Centennial shoulder patch:

Other notable wearers of jersey #17s include John LeClair, Craig Ludwig, Rene Bourque (who hasn't returned my TTM request), Rod Langway and Benoît Brunet.

Laraque only played parts of two seasons with the Habs to close off an otherwise distinguished career that saw him win the Memorial Cup, and post an astounding winning fights record (from Hockey Fights, I gathered that from 2002-2010, he posted a 51-10-13 fight record, and I didn't have the patience to sort through the other 67 fights to keep counting).

He recently went through a CAT scan to test how his brain may have been affected by all those fights and was the only enforcer to not have a deteriorated brain. Then again, unlike his many opponents, he didn't get hit in the face all that often.

Throughout his career, despite being perhaps the most-feared enforcer of his generation, Laraque was always honest about his job: he didn't particularly enjoy fighting but was aware it was the only way he'd get a job in the NHL - and a job that he believes is essential to the game nonetheless; he also admitted to experiencing fear before each fight and most games, knowing full well that any punch could be potentially dangerous, but his reasoning was ''if I fear them, then I know they fear me''.

He still managed to score 53 goals in 695 NHL games. Fun fact: despite being one of the toughest guys of his era, he never reached 200 PIMs in a single season and ''only'' has 1126 for his career. Well, plus his 72 in the playoffs - in 57 games.

Since retiring from hockey after the Habs sent him home mid-season then bought out his contract, he has become a politician (candidate for the Green Party on the federal level), done a lot of charity work (including taking many trips to and raising money for Haiti) and continued to be an advocate against animal cruelty, for human rights, and a devout vegan. He's also a commentator and contributor for TVA Sports, which will show up to 22 Habs games per year starting next season.

He may get in trouble at times because he speaks a lot faster than he thinks, but he's always honest and genuine, and seems like a really cool guy.