Larry Playfair

Larry Playfair (born June 23, 1958 in Fort St. James, British Columbia) is a retired former professional ice hockey player with a reputation as a hard-working, pugnacious defender. He played for the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings over the course of his career, and since his 1990 retirement due to chronic back problems, has worked as a color analyst for Sabres television broadcasts.

Larry Playfair played his junior hockey for the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League from 1976 to 1978.

The Buffalo Sabres selected him 13th overall in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. After a stint with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, he then settled into a role as the club's enforcer.

Playfair understood that his ticket to the NHL came via his ability to fight. He was one of the best in the league, but he was also a hard-working consistent player who could pot the odd meaningful goal and play a defensively sound game.

He remained at the antagonistic centre of the Sabres' defense until midway through the 1985-86 season when he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. Playfair put in parts of three campaigns before returning to Buffalo where, because of a ruptured disk in his back, he was forced to retire in 1989.

Career statistics
--- Regular Season ---  Playoffs Season  Team                        Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM -- 1974-75 Langley Lords               BCJHL   0    0    0    0    0 1974-75 Kamloops Chiefs             WCHL    1    0    0    0    0  --  --  --  --  -- 1975-76 Langley Lords               BCJHL   0    0    0    0    0 1975-76 Kamloops Chiefs             WCHL   --   --   --   --   --   3   0   0   0   0 1976-77 Portland Winter Hawks       WCHL   65    2   17   19  199   8   0   0   0   4 1977-78 Portland Winter Hawks       WCHL   71   13   19   32  402   8   0   2   2  58 1978-79 Hershey Bears               AHL    45    0   12   12  148  --  --  --  --  -- 1978-79 Buffalo Sabres              NHL    26    0    3    3   60  --  --  --  --  -- 1979-80 Buffalo Sabres              NHL    79    2   10   12  145  14   0   2   2  29 1980-81 Buffalo Sabres              NHL    75    3    9   12  169   8   0   0   0  26 1981-82 Buffalo Sabres              NHL    77    6   10   16  258   4   0   0   0  22 1982-83 Buffalo Sabres              NHL    79    4   13   17  180   5   0   1   1  11 1983-84 Buffalo Sabres              NHL    76    5   11   16  209   3   0   0   0   0 1984-85 Buffalo Sabres              NHL    72    3   14   17  157   5   0   3   3   9 1985-86 Buffalo Sabres              NHL    47    1    2    3  100  --  --  --  --  -- 1985-86 Los Angeles Kings           NHL    14    0    1    1   28  --  --  --  --  -- 1986-87 Los Angeles Kings           NHL    37    2    7    9  181  --  --  --  --  -- 1987-88 Los Angeles Kings           NHL    54    0    7    7  197   3   0   0   0  14 1988-89 Los Angeles Kings           NHL     6    0    3    3   16  --  --  --  --  -- 1988-89 Buffalo Sabres              NHL    42    0    3    3  110   1   0   0   0   0 1989-90 Buffalo Sabres              NHL     4    0    1    1    2  --  --  --  --  -- --        NHL Totals                        688   26   94  120 1812  43   0   6   6 111