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Post by blny on Jan 28, 2015 15:44:48 GMT -5
Interesting move. Goc never really lived up to his draft hype. Lapierre was a huge thorn in the side of the Pens when he was a Hab. It will be interesting to see how he fits in the room.
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Post by Polarice on Jan 28, 2015 15:50:10 GMT -5
I remember Crosby in an interview saying he hated him!!
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Post by CentreHice on Jan 28, 2015 17:00:38 GMT -5
Lappy continues to be a player of value.
I wonder what really happened to several of our younger players at that time. How could most of them be perceived as problems?
Lats, Ribs, the Kostitsyns, Grabovski, even Lappy was in that group…or so it appeared to me.
Was it just their character/attitude….or were they not given the proper mentoring by the Gainey/Gauthier regime?
Whatever it was, it appears to be a non-issue under MB.
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Post by Polarice on Jan 28, 2015 17:10:23 GMT -5
Lappy continues to be a player of value. I wonder what really happened to several of our younger players at that time. How could most of them be perceived as problems? Lats, Ribs, the Kostitsyns, Grabovski, even Lappy was in that group…or so it appeared to me. Was it just their character/attitude….or were they not given the proper mentoring by the Gainey/Gauthier regime? Whatever it was, it appears to be a non-issue under MB. From what I remember it had a lot to do with hanging out too much at Chez Parée and the owners. Especially the Kostitsyns. |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jan 28, 2015 17:19:51 GMT -5
Lappy continues to be a player of value. I wonder what really happened to several of our younger players at that time. How could most of them be perceived as problems? Lats, Ribs, the Kostitsyns, Grabovski, even Lappy was in that group…or so it appeared to me. Was it just their character/attitude….or were they not given the proper mentoring by the Gainey/Gauthier regime? Whatever it was, it appears to be a non-issue under MB. From what I remember it had a lot to do with hanging out too much at Chez Parée and the owners. Especially the Kostitsyns. Did someone mention beer? Cheers. |
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Post by Polarice on Jan 28, 2015 17:28:46 GMT -5
From what I remember it had a lot to do with hanging out too much at Chez Parée and the owners. Especially the Kostitsyns. Did someone mention beer? Cheers. They sell beer?  |
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Post by jkr on Jan 28, 2015 17:48:09 GMT -5
Gauthier traded him to Anaheim for Festerling ( who never played for MTL) and a 5th; pretty much a giveaway. I think the Habs tried to spin it as Lapierre asked for a trade. I think Lapierre's response was that he just asked for clarification of his role. Knowing Gauthier, I believe Lapierre.
In any case, ML is not yet 30 and now on his 5th team.
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Post by blny on Jan 28, 2015 17:48:27 GMT -5
I never considered Lappy to be a 'problem child'. There were red flags about other guys though. The younger Kostitsyn, Higgins, etc. There were definitely some who had trouble with the distractions that are present in Montreal.
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Post by seventeen on Jan 28, 2015 20:48:30 GMT -5
I liked Lappy too. He tended to do something really stupid sometimes, and his aggravator act got a little tiring, but he had speed and size and was a decent checker. One of my favourite recent memories is him beating the Cap's defender to the puck and feeding Dominic Moore for a goal (was it a shorthanded one?) in that Halak series. Oh, what a feeling, what a rush.
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Post by PTH on Jan 28, 2015 21:26:18 GMT -5
I always liked Lapierre (see my pic...)
That being said, he never seemed to take that next step. At one point I thought he could be a borderline 2nd line center, but he always seemed to regress to the 3d/4th line, agitator/strong forechecker type of role. But I also remember he and Latendresse being relentless on the forecheck.
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Post by frozone on Jan 29, 2015 7:31:30 GMT -5
I always liked Lapierre (see my pic...) That being said, he never seemed to take that next step. At one point I thought he could be a borderline 2nd line center, but he always seemed to regress to the 3d/4th line, agitator/strong forechecker type of role. But I also remember he and Latendresse being relentless on the forecheck. Lapierre and Latendresse were great together. They had some really strong chemistry with either Begin or Kostopoulos (or maybe both? Can't remember). I think it was when Jacques Martin came in that things changed. But until then, I really thought that Lapierre had a long career with the Habs ahead of him, which I thought would include a letter on his jersey. He also had offseason ankle surgery the summer before JM arrived if I'm not mistaken. It seems like ankle surgery really takes its toll on a player's game (see Higgins, Leblanc...), so maybe that contributed to his poor year. |
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Post by BadCompany on Jan 29, 2015 7:44:32 GMT -5
I liked Lapierre too, but like seventeen said I think his aggravator act eventually wore on his own teammates too.
I also think that he could have really benefited from the Bergevin school of kisses and cuddles while coming into the league. Along with guys like Higgins and to a lesser extent Latendresse. The team just did such a terrible job of developing players in those days. It's one thing to take care of them on the ice, coaching and all, but you also have to realize that times are different and 20 year old kids are not the same now as they were in the 60s or even 70s. Actually, check that, because I don't think that's true. You can't tell me the 70s Habs didn't party just as hard as any college kids today do. The difference is that back then every team did that, so they were still on equal terms, and of course there wasn't the money and fame that there is today (at least not to the same level). Nowadays teams are sheltering their kids, and if one team doesn't (as we didn't) then that puts you at a disadvantage.
So all that to say that I think Lapierre could have really benefited from a guiding hand telling him when to hold them, and when to fold them. Somebody who could channel his natural talents (including his ability to irritate) into a perhaps more productive role.
Or maybe he's just naturally a jerk. Who knows?
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