Larry Robinson

Larry Clark Robinson (born June 2 1951, in Winchester, Ontario, Canada) was a star player and a coach in the National Hockey League. He is currently an assistant coach of the New Jersey Devils.

Playing career
He played Junior 'A' hockey with the Brockville Braves and Juniors with the Kitchener Rangers then turned professional, spending 1971 to 1973 with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the American Hockey League before making it to the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens.

Nicknamed "Big Bird" for his height (6'4", and 225 pounds) and his resemblance to Sesame Street's Big Bird which is due to his blond hair and size, Robinson was a big and strong defenceman yet highly mobile. He played 17 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens and another three seasons for the Los Angeles Kings, until his retirement after the 1992 season. Twice he won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league's most outstanding defenceman and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 1978 playoffs. Robinson was a dominant player whose talent and leadership helped lead the Canadiens to six Stanley Cups.

Larry Robinson was a member of Team Canada in the 1976, 1981 and 1984 Canada Cup tournaments and was an international All-Star team selection in the 1981 World Championships. During his career, he played in ten of the league's All-Star games and ended his 20-year career having scored 208 goals, 750 assists and 958 regular-season points as well as 144 points in 227 playoff games, a remarkable achievement for a defenceman.

In 1998, he was ranked number 24 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. The Canadiens retired Robinson's #19 jersey on November 19, 2007 before a 4-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators.



Coaching
Following his retirement, Robinson was hired as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils in 1993. He was hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings in 1995, the same year he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He left the Los Angeles team at the end of the 1998-99 season and signed on as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils once again. Named interim head coach of the New Jersey Devils on March 23, 2000, Robinson guided his team to the Stanley Cup. He stayed on as head coach for the next year and again guided the Devils to the finals, where they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in seven games. Robinson was fired during the 2001-02 season, but returned as an assistant coach just before the 2002-03 season.

When Pat Burns suffered a recurrence of cancer, Robinson again assumed the mantle of head coach on July 14, 2005. This stint came to an end on December 19, 2005, when Robinson resigned, citing stress and other health problems.

Robinson returned to the Devils prior to the 2007-08 season as an assistant coach under Brent Sutter.