Background
Larouche, Pierre Roland was born on November 16, 1955 in Taschereaw, Quebec, Canada. Came to the United States, 1974. Son of Rene and Lucienne Larouche.
Larouche, Pierre Roland was born on November 16, 1955 in Taschereaw, Quebec, Canada. Came to the United States, 1974. Son of Rene and Lucienne Larouche.
Graduate, Amos High School.
Larouche played junior ice hockey with the Sorel Éperviers of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Larouche set the Canadian Hockey League record at the time, which is now second only to Mario Lemieux"s 282 points ten years later. Larouche was drafted 8th overall by the Penguins in the 1974 National Hockey League Amateur Draft.
In 1976, he became the 16th player ever to reach the 50-goal mark.
At the time he was the youngest player to hit the 50-goal and 100-points plateau. His record was broken by Wayne Gretzky in 1980.
He was first player to score 50 goals in a season with two different teams: he scored 53 with Pittsburgh in 1975-1976 and 50 with Montreal in 1979-1980. and is the only National Hockey League player to have scored more than 45 goals with three separate teams, also scoring 48 with the New York Rangers. Larouche is also one of the few players to score at least a point-per-game average in their final National Hockey League season.
He scored 12 points in 10 games, during the 1987-1988 National Hockey League season, his last in the league.
In the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons, 2009) by Russian Cohen, John Halligan and Adam Raider, the authors ranked Larouche Number. 94 on the all-time list of New York Rangers. On December 31, 2010 he served as one of the coaches for the alumni game of the 2011 National Hockey League Winter Classic at Heinz Field between the Penguins and Washington Capitals.
He was the youngest player in National Hockey League history to score 100 goals (21 years, 61 days) until he was surpassed by Wayne Gretzky (20 years, 40 days).
He was the youngest player in National Hockey League history to score 50 goals (20 years, 139 days) and 100 points (20 years, 129 days) in a season until he was passed by Wayne Gretzky in both categories. He was the youngest player in National Hockey League history to score 200 points (21 years, 32 days) until he was surpassed by Wayne Gretzky (19 years, 347 days).
He was the youngest player in National Hockey League history to score 300 points (22 years, 133 days) until he was surpassed by Bryan Trottier (22 years, 102 days). Holds the Montreal Canadiens record for most goals in a season by a center with 50 goals in 1979-1980
Holds the New York Rangers record for most goals in a season by a center with 48 goals in 1983-1984
1st player in National Hockey League history to score 50 goals with 2 different teams (PIT & MTL) as well as 45 goals with 3 different teams (PIT, MTL & NYR).
Held the QMJHL record for points in a season with 251 in 1973-1974 until he was surpassed by Mario Lemieux with 282 points in 1983-1984.
Holds the QMJHL record for assists in a season with 157 in 1973-1974.
Married Cynthia Audia, March 28, 1978.