Larry Robinson

Larry Robinson
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1995
Robinson as part of the 2008 Legends Classic game.
Born	June 2, 1951 Winchester, ON, CAN
Height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight	225 lb (102 kg; 16 st 1 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Played for	Montreal Canadiens Los Angeles Kings
National team	Canada
NHL Draft	20th overall, 1971 Montreal Canadiens
Playing career	1971–1992

Larry Clark Robinson (born June 2, 1951) is a Canadian ice hockey coach, executive and former player. Robinson 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. For his play in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings, Robinson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995. Larry Robinson was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.^[1]

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 Lidstrom, Robinson holds the NHL record for most consecutive playoff seasons with 20, 17 of them with the Canadiens.^[2][3]

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.^[2] Larry Robinson's name appears on the Stanley Cup nine 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:^[4]

“

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.^[5]

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.^[6]

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.^[7] On May 23, 2014, the Sharks added director of player development to Robinson's role.^[8]

Polo/Horse racing

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.^[9] Among their racing successes, Down Again won the 1990 Monrovia Handicap at Santa Anita Park.^[10]

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

See also

• Notable families in the NHL

References

1. "Larry Robinson". oshof.ca/. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
2. "Larry Robinson joins Canadiens legends with retirement of his No. 19 jersey". The Canadian Press. 2001–2007. Retrieved November 22, 2007.
3. "Numbers help tell story of Lidstrom's brilliance". NHL.com. May 31, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
4. Morrison, Scott (2008). Hockey Night in Canada: My Greatest Day. Toronto: Key Porter Books. p. 178. ISBN 978-1-55470-086-8.
5. CBC Sports (December 21, 2005). "Larry Robinson resigns as Devils coach". CBC News. Retrieved November 21, 2007.
6. Rich Chere/The Star-Ledger (July 22, 2008). "Robinson won't be behind N.J. Devils' bench this season". Retrieved February 19, 2009.
7. Montreal Gazette (July 10, 2012). "Larry Robinson finds his way to San Jose". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
8. "Sharks Name Larry Robinson Associate Coach & Director of Player Development". San Jose Sharks. May 23, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
9. "HIGH WEIGHT MAY CAUSE BAYAKOA TO SKIP SANTA MARGARITA 'CAP". Daily News of Los Angeles. February 15, 1990.
10. "Down Again Lauded After Victory". Los Angeles Times. February 15, 1990.

External links

• Larry Robinson's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Larry Robinson's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database