Georges Laraque is one of the best fighters in NHL history. He was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1990s and made his NHL debut during the 1997/98 season. Laraque recorded 34 points in his final full AHL season, but he was never known as a notorious goal-scorer or offensive force.
He was, however, a great enforcer, and he perfected the role, leading to a very solid NHL career. He also played for the Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Montreal Canadiens.
Laraque retired in 2010 but is still a huge hockey fan, often taking to social media to share his thoughts on current events, especially about the tough guys in the league. And right now, he’s not happy with Ryan Reaves.
Reaves was brought to Toronto on a four-year contract last summer to bring some toughness into the team, but his debut year with the Leafs wasn’t all great. He was a healthy scratch occasionally, but when the Leafs played their season-opener against Montreal earlier this week, he was in the lineup.
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During the game, Reaves was involved in an incident with Arber Xhekaj, which had Laraque fuming. When the Maple Leafs and Canadiens played in the pre-season, Cedric Pare injured Patrik Laine, who will be sidelined for a couple of months due to the incident. Xhekaj went after Pare in that game, and many expected Reaves to go after Xhekaj when they played now, in the regular season. And Xhekaj sure tried.
Xhekaj repeatedly hit Reaves into the boards at one instance in the game, but the Maple Leafs heavyweighter didn’t answer the bell, which led to some frustration with Laraque, who called Reaves ’afraid.’
”He’s afraid of him! After what Xhekaj did to the Leafs last game, he had to respond!” Laraque wrote, referencing the pre-season game.
”Xhekaj was ready for him and was expecting him last night, Xhekaj cross-checked him twice, backed up, waited for him and he wanted nothing to do with him.”
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When one of Laraque’s followers questioned Laraque and claimed that there was a ’context’ of the game and played, Laraque responded, ’Clearly you don’t understand the code, ask his teammates and you will see…’
Reaves played 7:36 of the Maple Leafs’ first game this season but wasn’t in the lineup during Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Devils.
