Garry Lariviere

Garry Lariviere (born December 6, 1954 in St. Catharines, Ontario) is a retired Canadian ice hockey defenceman.

Playing Career
Lariviere started his National Hockey League career with the Quebec Nordiques in 1979. He also played for the Edmonton Oilers. He left the NHL after the 1983 season.

Lariviere was chosen 83rd overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft after a solid junior career with the hometown St. Catharines Black Hawks of the OHA. In 1975 he was named to the CHL first all-star team after recording 53 points for the Tulsa Oilers.

Lariviere joined the WHA's Phoenix Roadrunners on a full time basis in 1975-76 and later played an important playmaking role on the Quebec Nordiques. The clever rearguard remained with the Nords when they merged with the NHL in 1979-80 and was a decent two-way player though the club failed to make the post-season.

In March 1981 he joined the Vancouver Canucks for a few minutes before he was sent to the Edmonton Oilers. Lariviere supplied savvy and accurate passes on the speedy Oilers and played one playoff game in 1983 when they reached the Stanley Cup final. Eventuallt he was relegated to the minors and starred for the AHL's St. Catharines Saints for three seasons before retiring in 1986. In 1984 the veteran blueliner was named to the AHL first all-star team, voted the league MVP and presented the Eddie Shore Award as the top defenceman in the AHL. After retiring Lariviere entered the realm of coaching and became a much-travelled assistant coach in the minors and NHL.

Coaching

 * Assistant Coach for the St. Catharines Saints in 1985, and 1986.
 * Assistant Coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1987 - 1990.

Awards

 * 1983-84 Eddie Shore Award (best defenceman - American Hockey League)
 * 1983-84 Les Cunningham Award (most valuable player - American Hockey League)