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Larry Pleau

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Larry Pleau
Pleau in 1976
Born (1947-01-29) January 29, 1947 (age 77)
Lynn, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for Montreal Canadiens
New England Whalers
National team  United States
Playing career 1968–1979

Lawrence Winslow Pleau (born January 29, 1947) is an American former ice hockey player who also was the senior advisor to the general manager for the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He formerly served as senior vice president and General Manager of the St. Louis Blues. He played in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens between 1970 and 1972, and in the World Hockey Association with the New England Whalers between 1972 and 1979. Internationally Pleau played for the American national team at the 1968 Winter Olympics and the 1969 World Championship.

High school and junior career

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Larry Pleau played for Lynn English High School Bulldogs in Lynn, Massachusetts from 1963 to 1964 before moving to Canada where he spent the next three seasons with the Montreal Junior Canadiens of the Ontario Hockey League from 1964 to 1967.

Professional career

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Pleau was one of the top American hockey players in the late 1960s and early 1970s, playing for the United States team at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble as well as the 1969 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament in Stockholm.

He spent the 1968–69 season with the Jersey Devils of the Eastern Hockey League, becoming the league's rookie of the year.

He then played three seasons for the Montreal Canadiens from 1970-1972. He was included on the team's championship photo and has a Stanley Cup ring, but did not play enough games to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. After being selected off waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the summer of 1972, he instead choose to sign a contract with his hometown New England Whalers of the upstart World Hockey Association (WHA). Pleau became one of the Whalers' early stars and appeared in the 1973, 1974 and 1975 WHA All Star Game as the Whalers representative. He was also a member of the United States team at the inaugural 1976 Canada Cup, although he did not appear in the tournament itself. He played seven seasons for the Whalers before retiring in 1979.

Coaching career

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He was the head coach of the Hartford Whalers from 1980-1983. He then coached the Binghamton Whalers of the American Hockey League from 1984–1988. He was re-hired by Hartford in 1987 and coached them until 1989.

Front office career

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Pleau joined the New York Rangers as assistant general manager of player development in 1989, and was later promoted to assistant general manager and director of player personnel. He stayed with the Rangers for eight years, including the Rangers' Cup-winning season in 1993–94.

He moved to the Blues in 1997 as general manager. The Rangers received winger Mike Peluso from the Blues as compensation.[1] While Pleau presided over the Blues' winning the Presidents' Trophy in 1999–2000, the Blues steadily declined over the next few seasons, culminating in finishing dead last in the league in 2005–06, missing the playoffs for the first time in 25 years and for only the fourth time in franchise history. Following the season, the Blues were sold to Dave Checketts. Pleau kept his job as general manager, but had to give most of his powers over hockey operations to John Davidson.

Pleau was also assistant general manager of the silver medal-winning American hockey team at the 2002 Winter Olympics, and was general manager of Team USA during the 2003 and 2004 IIHF World Championships and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

Pleau stepped down as general manager of the St Louis Blues on July 1, 2010, with Doug Armstrong taking his place. Pleau was then named senior advisor to hockey operations, and vice president, with the Blues after 13 years as the club's general manager, the longest tenure in franchise history.

Awards and achievements

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Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1963–64 Montreal NDG Monarchs MMJHL 44 8 22 30 33 18 5 10 15 12
1963–64 Montreal NDG Monarchs M-Cup — — — — — 13 4 10 14 14
1964–65 Montreal Junior Canadiens OHA 55 9 17 26 0 7 0 0 0 10
1965–66 Montreal Junior Canadiens OHA 40 13 11 24 47 10 0 6 6 6
1966–67 Montreal Junior Canadiens OHA 45 20 32 52 34 4 0 2 2 2
1967–68 United States National Team Intl — — — — — — — — — —
1968–69 Jersey Devils EHL 66 37 44 81 53 — — — — —
1969–70 Montreal Voyageurs AHL 50 15 16 31 19 — — — — —
1969–70 Montreal Canadiens NHL 20 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
1970–71 Montreal Canadiens NHL 19 1 5 6 8 — — — — —
1971–72 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 11 7 6 13 19 — — — — —
1971–72 Montreal Canadiens NHL 55 7 10 17 14 4 0 0 0 0
1972–73 New England Whalers WHA 78 39 48 87 42 15 12 7 19 15
1973–74 New England Whalers WHA 77 26 43 69 35 2 2 0 2 0
1974–75 New England Whalers WHA 78 30 34 64 50 6 2 3 5 19
1975–76 New England Whalers WHA 75 29 45 74 21 14 5 7 12 0
1976–77 New England Whalers WHA 78 11 21 32 22 5 1 0 1 0
1977–78 New England Whalers WHA 54 16 18 34 4 14 5 4 9 8
1978–79 Springfield Indians AHL 5 1 3 4 0 — — — — —
1978–79 New England Whalers WHA 28 6 6 12 6 10 2 1 3 0
WHA totals 468 157 215 372 180 66 29 22 51 42
NHL totals 94 9 15 24 22 4 0 0 0 0

International

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Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1968 United States OLY 7 2 4 6 2
1969 United States WC 10 5 0 5 8
Senior totals 17 7 4 11 10

NHL coaching record

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Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Finish Result
Hartford Whalers 1980–81 20 6 12 2 14 4th in Norris Missed playoffs
Hartford Whalers 1981–82 80 21 41 18 60 5th in Adams Missed playoffs
Hartford Whalers 1982–83 18 4 13 1 9 5th in Adams (interim coach)
Hartford Whalers 1987–88 26 13 13 0 26 4th in Adams Lost in 1st Rd.
Hartford Whalers 1988–89 80 37 38 5 79 4th in Adams Lost in 1st Rd.
Total 224 81 117 26

References

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  1. ^ Brown, Frank (22 June 1997). "RANGERS GET PELUSO AS COMP". nydailynews.com. New York Daily News. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
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Preceded by General Manager of the Hartford Whalers
1981–83 		Succeeded by
Preceded by General Manager of the St. Louis Blues
1997–2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Head coach of the Hartford Whalers
1980–81
1981–82 		Succeeded by
Larry Kish
John Cunniff
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