Pierre Larouche

Pierre Larouche (born 16 November, 1955 in Taschereau, Quebec) is a retired professional centre who played in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Montreal Canadiens, Hartford Whalers, and New York Rangers.

Larouche played junior ice hockey with the Sorel Éperviers of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. During the 1973–74 QMJHL season, Larouche won the Jean Béliveau Trophy as the league's top scorer, with 94 goals, 157 assists, for a total 251 points. Larouche set the Canadian Hockey League record at the time, which is now second only to Mario Lemieux's 282 points ten years later.

Larouche was drafted 8th overall by the Penguins in the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft. In 1976, he became the 16th player ever to reach the 50-goal mark. At the time he was the youngest player to hit the 50-goal plateau. That record was broken by Wayne Gretzky in 1980. He was first player to score 50 goals in a season with 2 different teams: he scored 53 with Pittsburgh in 1975–76 and 50 with Montreal in 1979–80.

He was traded to Montreal in exchange for Pete Mahovlich and Peter Lee. He saw only limited ice time under coach Scotty Bowman but was a regular with the next coaches. He won 2 Stanley Cups with Montreal in 1978 and 1979.

Larouche finished off his career with the Hartford Whalers and the New York Rangers.

Records and Accomplishments

 * He was the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 goals (21 years, 61 days) until he was surpassed by Wayne Gretzky (20 years, 40 days).
 * He was the youngest player in NHL history to score 50 goals (20 years, 139 days) and 100 points (20 years, 129 days) in a season until he was passed by Wayne Gretzky in both categories.
 * He was the youngest player in NHL history to score 200 points (21 years, 32 days) until he was surpassed by Wayne Gretzky (19 years, 347 days).
 * He was the youngest player in NHL history to score 300 points (22 years, 133 days) until he was surpassed by Bryan Trottier (22 years, 102 days).
 * Holds the Montreal Canadiens record for most goals in a season by a center with 50 goals in 1979-80
 * Holds the New York Rangers record for most goals in a season by a center with 48 goals in 1983-84
 * 1st player in NHL history to score 50 goals with 2 different teams (PIT & MTL) as well as 45 goals with 3 different teams (PIT, MTL & NYR).