Larry Robinson

Larry Robinson

Born: June 2, 1951
Age: 73
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Biography

Larry Clark Robinson (born June 2, 1951) is a former ice hockey player and coach in the National Hockey League. Robinson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995 and is currently the associate coach for the San Jose Sharks. He has also served as head coach for the New Jersey Devils on two separate occasions, as well as for the Los Angeles Kings. Larry Robinson was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

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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 the Stanley Cup six times with the Canadiens, in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1986. Together with Nicklas Lidström, Robinson holds the NHL record for most consecutive playoff seasons with 20, 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.

Coaching

Following his retirement, Robinson was hired as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils in 1993. After winning the Stanley Cup in 1995 with the Devils, he was hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, the same year he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He left the Los Angeles team at the end of the 1998-99 season and signed on as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils once again. Named interim head coach of the New Jersey Devils on March 23, 2000, Robinson guided his team to win the 2000 Stanley Cup. He recounted to journalist Scott Morrison:

Considering how long I played hockey and how many Cups I got to win as a defenseman with Montreal, it was my first Stanley Cup win as a head coach that is actually my greatest day in hockey.

He stayed on as head coach for the next year and again guided the Devils to the Stanley Cup finals, where they lost against the Colorado Avalanche in seven games.

Robinson was fired during the 2001-02 season, but returned as an assistant coach just before the 2002-03 season to win his 9th Stanley Cup in 2003.

When Pat Burns suffered a recurrence of cancer, Robinson again assumed the mantle of head coach on July 14, 2005. This stint came to an end on December 19, 2005, when Robinson resigned, citing stress and other health problems.

Robinson returned to the Devils prior to the 2007-08 season as an assistant coach under Brent Sutter. Prior to the 2008-09 season, Robinson left from behind the Devils' bench to become a special assignment coach between the organization's prospects in Lowell, Mass., and the Devils.

Robinson's contract ended with the New Jersey Devils in the summer of 2012. He indicated he was interested in becoming an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens, however that post was filled with former Hab J.J. Daigneault soon after. Robinson then was appointed an associate coach with the San Jose Sharks on July 10, 2012. On May 23, 2014, the Sharks added director of player development to Robinson's role.

Polo/Horse racing

Larry Robinson was raised on a Marvelville, Ontario farm and as a boy he grew up with a love of horses. While living in the rural area of St-Lazare outside of Montreal, Robinson became a co-founder with former teammate Steve Shutt, Michael Sinclair-Smith and local veterinarian Dr. Gilbert Hallé of the Montreal Polo Club at Sainte-Marthe, Quebec.

While playing in Los Angeles, Robinson became involved in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing through a partnership with Kings owner Bruce McNall's Summa Stable. Among their racing successes, Down Again won the 1990 Monrovia Handicap at Santa Anita Park.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1969-70 Brockville Braves CJHL 40 22 29 51 74
1969-70 Ottawa M&W Rangers CJHL 5 2 1 3 2
1970-71 Kitchener Rangers OHA-Jr. 61 12 39 51 65 4 1 2 3 5
1971-72 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 74 10 14 24 54 15 2 10 12 31
1972-73 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 38 6 33 39 33
1972-73 Montreal Canadiens NHL 36 2 4 6 20 11 1 4 5 9
1973-74 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 6 20 26 66 6 0 1 1 26
1974-75 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 14 47 61 76 11 0 4 4 27
1975-76 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 10 30 40 59 13 3 3 6 10
1976-77 Montreal Canadiens NHL 77 19 66 85 45 14 2 10 12 12
1977-78 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 13 52 65 39 15 4 17 21 6
1978-79 Montreal Canadiens NHL 67 16 45 61 33 16 6 9 15 8
1979-80 Montreal Canadiens NHL 72 14 61 75 39 10 0 4 4 2
1980-81 Montreal Canadiens NHL 65 12 38 50 37 3 0 1 1 2
1981-82 Montreal Canadiens NHL 71 12 47 59 41 5 0 1 1 8
1982-83 Montreal Canadiens NHL 71 14 49 63 33 3 0 0 0 2
1983-84 Montreal Canadiens NHL 74 9 34 43 39 15 0 5 5 22
1984-85 Montreal Canadiens NHL 76 13 34 47 44 12 3 8 11 8
1985-86 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 19 63 82 39 20 0 13 13 22
1986-87 Montreal Canadiens NHL 70 13 37 50 44 17 3 17 20 6
1987-88 Montreal Canadiens NHL 53 6 34 40 30 11 1 4 5 4
1988-89 Montreal Canadiens NHL 74 4 26 30 22 21 2 8 10 12
1989-90 Los Angeles Kings NHL 64 7 32 39 34 10 2 3 5 10
1990-91 Los Angeles Kings NHL 62 1 22 23 16 12 1 4 5 15
1991-92 Los Angeles Kings NHL 56 3 10 13 37 2 0 0 0 0
NHL totals 1384 207 751 958 793 227 28 116 144 211

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1976 Canada CC 7 0 0 0 0
1979 NHL All-Stars Exhib. 3 1 0 1 0
1981 Canada WC 6 1 1 2 2
1981 Canada CC 7 1 0 1 2
1984 Canada CC 8 1 2 3 2
Senior totals 31 4 3 7 6

Coaching career statistics

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T OTL Pts Finish W L Win % Result
LA 1995-96 82 24 40 18 - 66 6th in Pacific - - - -
LA 1996-97 82 28 43 11 - 67 6th in Pacific - - - -
LA 1997-98 82 38 33 11 - 87 2nd in Pacific 0 4 .000 Conference Quarter-Finalist
LA 1998-99 82 32 45 5 - 69 5th in Pacific - - - -
LA total 328 122 161 45 - .441 - 0 4 .000 1 playoff appearance
NJ 1999-2000 8 4 4 0 0 (103) 2nd in Atlantic 16 7 .696 Won Stanley Cup
NJ 2000-01 82 48 19 12 3 111 1st in Atlantic 15 10 .600 Lost in Stanley Cup Final
NJ 2001-02 51 21 20 7 3 (95) - - - - (fired)
NJ total 141 73 43 19 6 .606 - 31 17 .646 2 playoff appearances
1 Stanley Cup
NJ 2005-06 32 14 13 0 5 (101) - - - - (resigned)
NJ total 32 14 13 - 5 .516 - - - - -
Combined NJ total 173 87 56 19 11 .590 - 31 17 .646 2 playoff appearances
1 Stanley Cup
Total 501 209 217 64 11 .492 - 31 21 .596 3 playoff appearances
1 Stanley Cup

[ Source: Wikipedia ]


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