Rocket:

George Laraque was a magnet for the kids during the opening of the Montreal Canadiens first community rink at Francois-Perrault park in the borough of Villeray/St. Michel/Parc Extension. Georges Laraque has received awards from previous teams for his fine work in the community. It continues with the Canadiens.

Laraque appeared on TSN’s Off the Record during the All-Star break. Laraque is a favorite of Michael Lansberg and has even guest hosted the show in the past. Laraque can be a very entertaining.

Laraque was very outspoken during the U.S. presidential election race. The Gazette’s article was titled “Laraque drops his gloves for Obama.”

“The Rock’s Last Word” was Laraque’s final blog for Sportsnet.ca. It appeared in early January and was, in part, a response to the tragic death of Don Sanderson. Laraque defended the place of fighting within the game of hockey.

Last week, NHLPA’s Executive Director, Paul Kelly announced that he supported a review of the one-dimensional enforcer in the NHL. Georges Laraque called Kelly and then granted an interview to TSN’s Daren Dreger to air his views about this issue.

George Laraque clearly loves the media spotlight. And they love him..as they say he is ‘a good interview.’ But Laraque is being paid $4.5 million over the next three years to play hockey for the Montreal Canadiens. And all of the above distractions have some wondering if Laraque has lost his focus.

Bob Gainey was quite clear when announcing the signing of Laraque. Gainey was tired of his skilled players being abused by other teams. Laraque is a member of the Montreal Canadiens for the sole reason of protecting his teammates.

George Laraque was in the line-up the night that Kurt Sauer, Phoenix Coyotes delivered a headshot to Andrei Kostitsyn. Andrei’s concussion caused him to miss several games. Laraque chose not to challenge Sauer, as he said it was against the code to fight a smaller player. Sauer is 6’4″, 220 lbs.

Laraque was also in the line-up when opposition skaters were running Carey Price on numerous occasions. Laraque did nothing to deter the opposition from harassing his goalie.

The role of standing up for their teammates has been taken on by Tom Kostopoulos and Francis Bouillon. They never shy away from a challenge no matter the size of their opponent.

This year, Georges Laraque has played only 19 games for the Canadiens. He came to training camp out of shape and as a result, got hurt. Laraque has 38 minutes in penalties. All of his fights have been of the pre-arranged variety. The fights are exciting for George’s fans, are forgotten by the next shift, and have little or no impact on the game.

Laraque also has 2 points, 7 shots and a few hits but generally has been too slow to keep up to the play and his linemates. Parking Laraque in the crease on the power-play in the Toronto game was simply as act of desperation by coach Guy Carbonneau.

Georges Laraque has had too many excuses for not defending his teammates and spent too much time postulating about fighting in hockey. He needs to get his head in the game and work hard to be physically able to compete. And Georges has to refrain from getting so caught up in the media. His teammates need him.