Reed Larson

Reed Larson
Born (1956-07-30) July 30, 1956
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Defense
Shot Right
Played for NHL
Detroit Red Wings
Boston Bruins
Edmonton Oilers
New York Islanders
Minnesota North Stars
Buffalo Sabres
AHL
Maine Mariners
Italy
HC Alleghe
HC Milano
National team  United States
NHL Draft 22nd overall, 1976
Detroit Red Wings
WHA Draft 220th overall, 1974
Minnesota Fighting Saints
Playing career 19761990

Reed David Larson (born July 30, 1956) is a retired professional ice hockey defenseman and former captain of the Detroit Red Wings who played 904 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1976 and 1990. He is a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

Youth

Larson grew up in a working class neighborhood in south Minneapolis, playing hockey at outdoor rinks and practicing his shooting in his garage. In the off-season, he water skied and did gymnastics, developing his arm strength and powerful slap shot. He played for Minneapolis Roosevelt High School and was their leading scorer in the 1973-1974 season when they went to the state tournament.[1]

College career

Larson spent three seasons under coach Herb Brooks at the University of Minnesota's Minnesota Gophers before being drafted by the Detroit Red Wings with the 22nd pick of the 1976 NHL Entry Draft. He was named one of the 50 greatest players in University of Minnesota hockey history as part of the "Legends on Ice" tribute in 2001.

Professional and international career

Larson joined Detroit near the end of the 1976–77 season after Minnesota suspended him for assaulting an official during a WCHA game. He appeared in 14 NHL games that season and was also named to Team USA for the 1977 World Ice Hockey Championships but missed the tournament due to shoulder injury. His first full NHL season (1977–78) was highly successful as he was runner-up for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, scoring the most points (60) by a rookie defenseman. A tough, offensive defenseman, he was particularly well known for his hard slap shot. Larson became the first American defenseman to score 200 goals and he appeared in the 1978, 1980 and 1981 NHL All-Star Game as the Red Wings representative. He finally made his international debut for the United States national team at the 1981 World Ice Hockey Championships tournament and also represented the U.S. at the 1981 Canada Cup.

Larson spent ten NHL seasons in Detroit until the Red Wings traded him to the Boston Bruins for Mike O'Connell in 1986. He played another two seasons for the Bruins before ending his NHL career in 1989–90 with the Buffalo Sabres His professional career continued overseas in Italy where he was a player-coach for four seasons before returning to his home state for a final nine games for the International Hockey League Minnesota Moose in 1994–95. He also played six games for Roller Hockey International's Minnesota team in 1994.

Post playing career

Reed Larson has mostly been working for the insurance business since his retirement. He has also been active in Oldtimers' charity hockey and has played in Heroes of Hockey games at several NHL All-Star weekends. He was elected to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996.

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1975 [2]
All-WCHA First Team 1975–76 [3]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1974–75University of MinnesotaWCHA4111172837
1975–76University of MinnesotaWCHA4213294294
1976–77University of MinnesotaWCHA2110152530
1976–77Detroit Red WingsNHL1401123
1977–78Detroit Red WingsNHL751941609570224
1978–79Detroit Red WingsNHL79184967169
1979–80Detroit Red WingsNHL80224466101
1980–81Detroit Red WingsNHL78273158153
1981–82Detroit Red WingsNHL80213960112
1982–83Detroit Red WingsNHL80225474104
1983–84Detroit Red WingsNHL78233962122420221
1984–85Detroit Red WingsNHL77174562139312320
1985–86Detroit Red WingsNHL67194160109
1985–86Boston BruinsNHL13347831016
1986–87Boston BruinsNHL661224369540222
1987–88Maine MarinersAHL22024
1987–88Boston BruinsNHL621024349380116
1988–89Edmonton OilersNHL1027915
1988–89New York IslandersNHL337132035
1988–89Minnesota North StarsNHL110991830004
1989–90Buffalo SabresNHL10000
1989–90HC AllegheITA34173249499718252
1990–91HC AllegheITA3613385124737106
1991–92HC Milano SaimaAlpenliga52246
1991–92HC Milano SaimaITA1751116612410148
1992–93HC CourmaostaITA-23230487883
1993–94HC CourmaostaITA1962026181257127
1994–95Minnesota MooseIHL922411
NHL totals 904 222 463 685 1391 32 4 7 11 63
ITA totals 106 41 101 142 97 40 19 42 61 23

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1981 United States WC 8 5 1 6 6
1981 United States CC 5 1 1 2 4
Senior totals 13 6 2 8 10

References

  1. "Reed Larson". Minnesota's 100 Greatest Hockey Players. Minneapolis StarTribune. Retrieved Jun 9, 2015.
  2. "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  3. "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
Preceded by
Dale McCourt
Detroit Red Wings captains
198082
with Errol Thompson, 1980–81
Succeeded by
Danny Gare
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