Reed Larson: Solid Blue Line Offense On Some Weak Red Wings Teams

Reed Larson was a great addition to the Detroit Red Wings starting in 1976-77. However, he wasn’t enough to bring the storied franchise back to glory. In fact, in his final year with Detroit, 1985-86, the team lost 57 games and totaled just 40 points under the coaching of Harry Neale. The following year marked the beginning of the Jacques Demers era and the Red Wings reached the semi-final.

A second round pick by Detroit out of the University of Minnesota, Larson went on to play just over 900 regular season games in the National Hockey League. He ended his career in Europe, playing for teams in Italy.

University and Minor Pro

NHL Career

Rookie Card

Career Stats

Reed Larson – University and Minor Pro

Reed Larson played three years of NCAA hockey with the University of Minnesota Gophers from 1974-75 to 1976-77. In his first year, he was named an All-Tournament Team Defenseman for the Division I NCAA Tournament. The Gophers won the Frozen Four championship for 1975-76 under head coach Herb Brooks.

After being suspended halfway through his third year with Minnesota, Larson was suspended for the remainder of the campaign for assaulting an official. At that point, he jumped to the NHL and the Red Wings, playing 14 games for Detroit in 1976-77.

Over his career, Reed spent little time in the minors. In 1987-88, he appeared in two American Hockey League games with the Maine Mariners. At the end of his time in Italy, Larson returned to North America and played nine games in the IHL with the Minnesota Moose.

His time in Italy spanned from 1989-90 to 1994-95.

Reed Larson – NHL

Between 1976-77 and 1989-90, Reed Larson played in 904 regular season NHL games with the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders, Minnesota North Stars and Buffalo Sabres. Over that time, Larson scored 222 goals and assisted on 463 for 685 points. In 32 Stanley Cup playoff games, he contributed eleven points.

The Red Wings selected Reed in the second round of the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft, 22nd overall. However, he was already a prospect of the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association. Larson was taken by the Fighting Saints in the 14th round of the 1974 WHA Amateur Draft, 220th overall.

After his career started with 14 games in 1976-77 as a member of the Red Wings, his career took off in 1977-78. In 75 games, he scored 19 goals and assisted on 41 for 60 points. This performance placed him fifth in the balloting for the Calder Trophy behind Mike Bossy, Barry Beck, Don Edwards and Detroit teammate Dale McCourt.

For five consecutive seasons from 1979-80 to 1983-84, Larson was a 20 goal scorer. His career high for goals came in 1980-81 with 27. His best for assists was 52 in 1982-83, the same year he topped out with 74 points.

Reed played with Detroit until the end of the 1985-86 NHL season. As mentioned, that year the Red Wings bottomed out with 57 losses and just 40 points. On March 10, 1986, Larson was traded to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Mike O’Connell. His time in Boston came to an end after the 1987-88 Stanley Cup playoffs.

1988-89 was a trying year for Larson, and virtually his last in the NHL. He split his season three ways, appearing in ten games with the Oilers, 33 games with the Islanders and eleven with the North Stars. He started 1989-90 with the Buffalo Sabres but appeared in just one game with the club, his last game in the league.

On the international stage, Reed played for the United states at the 1981 World Championships. The U.S. finished the tournament in fifth place. That year, he also played for U.S.A. at the Canada Cup with the team losing to Canada in the semi-final.

Reed Larson – Rookie Card

The Reed Larson rookie card appears as number 226 in the 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee NHL hockey card set. He is shown with the Detroit Red Wings. Larson’s final card is included in the 1988-89 O-Pee-Chee set as number 145. He is shown with the Boston Bruins. However, as mentioned above, his time with Boston ended after the 1987-88 playoffs and 1988-89 was split between the Oilers, Islanders and North Stars. His single game in 1989-90 with the Sabres did not warrant him a hockey card.

Reed Larson Career Stats

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1974-75	U. of Minnesota	WCHA	41	11	17	28	37
1975-76	U. of Minnesota	WCHA	42	13	29	42	94
1976-77	U. of Minnesota	WCHA	21	10	15	25	30
1976-77	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	14	0	1	1	23
1977-78	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	75	19	41	60	95
1978-79	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	79	18	49	67	169
1979-80	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	80	22	44	66	101
1980-81	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	78	27	31	58	153
1981-82	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	80	21	39	60	112
1982-83	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	80	22	52	74	104
1983-84	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	78	23	39	62	122
1984-85	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	77	17	45	62	139
1985-86	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	67	19	41	60	109
1985-86	Boston Bruins	NHL	13	3	4	7	8
1986-87	Boston Bruins	NHL	66	12	24	36	95
1987-88	Maine Mariners	AHL	2	2	0	2	4
1987-88	Boston Bruins	NHL	62	10	24	34	93
1988-89	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	10	2	7	9	15
1988-89	New York Islanders	NHL	33	7	13	20	35
1988-89	Minnesota North Stars	NHL	11	0	9	9	18
1989-90	Alleghe HC	Italy-A	43	24	50	74	51
1989-90	Buffalo Sabres	NHL	1	0	0	0	0
1990-91	Alleghe HC	Italy-A	36	13	38	51	24
1991-92	Milan	Italy-A	0	0	0	0	0
1993-94	Courmaosta HC	Italy-A	25	10	23	33	54
1994-95	Minnesota Moose	IHL	9	2	2	4	11
	NHL Totals		904	222	463	685	1391