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
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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 -- -- -- -- --
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NHL Totals 688 26 94 120 1812 43 0 6 6 111