Bunny Larocque enjoyed great success with the Canadiens but mostly as a spectator from the players bench. Michel backed up Ken Dryden, who was in turn backed up by one of the greatest teams to ever assemble. When he finally stepped out of Dryden’s shadow, he was shipped to a horrendous Toronto Maple Leafs team where no goalie could excel.
Junior and Minor Pro
NHL Career
Hockey Card Collection
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Michel Larocque – Junior and Minor Pro
Larocque played five years in the OHA with the Ottawa 67’s from 1967-68 to 1971-72, the first five years of the team’s existence. He worked between the pipes for the bulk of Ottawa’s games in his final three years of junior. In 1969-70, he played in 51 of the 54 regular season games. The following year, it was 56 of 62 games. In 1971-72, Larocque appeared in 55 of 63 games.
In that 1971-72 season, the Bill Long coached 67’s reached the Robertson Cup finals for the first time in franchise history. Ottawa beat the London Knights and Oshawa Generals to earn a series against the Peterborough Petes in the finals. Peterborough came out on top to advance to the Memorial Cup.
The following year, the Montreal Canadiens prospect played for their AHL affiliate, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs. Michel was awarded the Harry ‘Hap’ Holmes Memorial Award, shared with teammate Michel DeGuise, for the lowest team goals against average. To qualify, a goaltender had to have played in a minimum 25 games.
Larocque played 47 games, posting a 2.50 GAA with one shutout. He played all 13 Calder Cup playoff games for the Voyageurs, putting up a 2.84 GAA. Nova Scotia swept the Providence Reds in four in the opening round, outscoring their opponents 22-10. In the semi-finals, it was another four game sweep, this time against the Boston Braves. The Voyageurs outscored the Braves 27-5. In the finals, they met their match in the Cincinnati Swords with Cincinnati taking the series in five games.
Michel returned to the AHL in 1983-84, playing five games for the Springfield Indians. In 1984-85, Bunny’s final year of pro hockey, he played 13 games in the IHL with the Peoria Rivermen.
Michel Larocque – NHL
Larocque was the sixth overall pick at the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft, going to the Habs. Drafted in front of him were Billy Harris by the New York Islanders, Jacques Richard by the Atlanta Flames, Don Lever by the Vancouver Canucks, Steve Shutt by the Canadiens and Jim Schoenfeld by the Buffalo Sabres.
Michel Larocque Collection
Michel played in the National Hockey League from 1973-74 to 1983-84 with the Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues. He has his name on the Stanley Cup four times as a member of Montreal’s dynasty from 1975-76 to 1978-79. However, Larocque played in just one playoff game over that time. His single game came during the 1978-79 season.
Because the Vezina goes to the goaltending duo with the lowest GAA, Larocque shared the trophy three times with Ken Dryden and once, in 1980-81, with Denis Herron and Richard Sevigny. Interestingly, he won the award as a member of the Canadiens but was traded mid-season to the Maple Leafs, in exchange for Robert Picard.
1981-82 was the only year Michel played more than 39 games in a season during his pro career. Larocque appeared in 50 games with the Maple Leafs. Toronto won just 20 of 80 games and ended the season with 56 points. Just the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Rockies finished with less points. Larocque posted a 4.69 GAA and .861 save percentage.
After that, his career fizzled out pretty quick. In 1982-83, after being traded for Rick St. Croix, Larocque played just two games for the Philadelphia Flyers. The following year, after being sold to the St. Louis Blues, he appeared in his last five games as a NHL goaltender.
I honestly didn’t remember until doing research for this article but Michel Larocque passed away in 1992 at the age of 40 from a brain tumour.
Michel Larocque – Rookie Card
The Michel Larocque rookie card appears as number 297 in the 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee set. The first Larocque hockey card is of some value at 2.5 times that of a common card.
Michel Larocque Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | A | PIM | SO | GAA |
| 1968-69 | Ottawa 67’s | OHA | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.58 |
| 1969-70 | Ottawa 67’s | OHA | 51 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 3.62 |
| 1970-71 | Ottawa 67’s | OHA | 56 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3.39 |
| 1971-72 | Ottawa 67’s | OHA | 54 | 0 | 20 | 4 | 3.45 |
| 1972-73 | Nova Scotia Voyageurs | AHL | 47 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2.50 |
| 1973-74 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.89 |
| 1974-75 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3.00 |
| 1975-76 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 22 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2.46 |
| 1976-77 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 26 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.09 |
| 1977-78 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 30 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2.67 |
| 1978-79 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 34 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2.84 |
| 1979-80 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 39 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3.32 |
| 1980-81 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 28 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3.03 |
| 1980-81 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.22 |
| 1981-82 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 50 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4.69 |
| 1982-83 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.89 |
| 1982-83 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.00 |
| 1983-84 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 1983-84 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.20 |