Steve Larouche


Steve Larouche is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Larouche played two seasons in the National Hockey League split between the Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers, and Los Angeles Kings from 1994–1996.

Playing career

Larouche was drafted 41st overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. He was a standout scorer in junior, playing for the Trois-Rivières Draveurs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, scoring 153 and 145 points in the 1988–89 and 1989–90 seasons, respectively. In 1990–91, now with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, he led the team to the Memorial Cup by leading the QMJHL in playoff goals, assists, and points.
The next season, Larouche advanced to the American Hockey League to play for the Fredericton Canadiens. However, after two solid seasons with the club, he never got called up to the NHL and he played the 1993–94 season for the Atlanta Knights of the International Hockey League, and continued his scoring success by scoring 96 points in the regular season, and leading the IHL in playoff goals and points in the playoffs as the Knights won the Turner Cup.
Larouche was signed by the Ottawa Senators in the fall of that year, but because of the 1994–95 NHL lockout he found himself back down in the AHL with the P.E.I. Senators. Nevertheless, he led the league in goals with 53 in only 70 games, and finally got a chance with the Senators late in the season. He did not disappoint, scoring eight goals and fifteen points in only eighteen games. However, before the next season started, he was traded to the New York Rangers for Jean-Yves Roy, and then later on to the Los Angeles Kings for Chris Snell. He was back in the minors permanently by the end of the season, and he continued on in the IHL, scoring at a prolific pace until the league disbanded in 2001. After this he went on to play hockey in Germany, Finland and Switzerland.

Awards