Reed Larson

Reed Larson
Born July 30, 1956 (1956-07-30) (age 55)
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
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
NHL Draft 22nd overall, 1976
Detroit Red Wings
WHA Draft 220th overall, 1974
Minnesota Fighting Saints
Playing career 1976–1990

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.

Contents

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 player to score 200 goals and he appeared in the 1978, 1980 and 1981 NHL All-Star Games 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 achievements

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1974–75 University of Minnesota NCAA 41 11 17 28 37
1975–76 University of Minnesota NCAA 42 13 29 42 94
1976–77 University of Minnesota NCAA 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 7 0 2 2 4
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 54 74 104
1983–84 Detroit Red Wings NHL 78 23 39 62 122 4 2 0 2 21
1984–85 Detroit Red Wings NHL 77 17 45 62 139 3 1 2 3 20
1985–86 Detroit Red Wings NHL 67 19 41 60 109
1985–86 Boston Bruins NHL 13 3 4 7 8 3 1 0 1 6
1986–87 Boston Bruins NHL 66 12 24 36 95 4 0 2 2 2
1987–88 Maine Mariners AHL 2 2 0 2 4
1987–88 Boston Bruins NHL 62 10 24 34 93 8 0 1 1 6
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 3 0 0 0 4
1989–90 Buffalo Sabres NHL 1 0 0 0 0
1989–90 HC Alleghe Italy 43 24 50 74 51
1990–91 HC Alleghe Italy 36 13 38 51 24
1993–94 HC Courmaosta Italy 25 10 23 33 54
1994–95 Minnesota Moose IHL 9 2 2 4 11
NHL totals 904 222 463 685 1391 32 4 7 11 63

External links

Preceded by
Dale McCourt
Detroit Red Wings captains
198082
with Errol Thompson, 1980–81
Succeeded by
Danny Gare