Larry Robinson

Larry Robinson
Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Nickname(s)	Big Bird
Height Weight	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 225 lb (102 kg)
Teams	Montreal Canadiens Los Angeles Kings
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1951-06-02)June 2, 1951, Winchester, ON, CA
NHL Draft	20th overall, 1971 Montreal Canadiens
Pro Career	1971 – 1992
Hall of Fame, 1995

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.

Career statistics

Playing career stats

				Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1969-70	Kitchener Rangers	OHA		1	0	0	0	0		1	0	0	0	0
1970-71	Kitchener Rangers	OHA		61	12	39	51	65		4	1	2	3	5
1971-72	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	AHL		74	10	14	24	54		15	2	10	12	31
1972-73	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	AHL		38	6	33	39	33		0	0	0	0	0
1972-73	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		36	2	4	6	20		11	1	4	5	9
1973-74	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		78	6	20	26	66		6	0	1	1	26
1974-75	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		80	14	47	61	76		11	0	4	4	27
1975-76	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		80	10	30	40	59		13	3	3	6	10
1976-77	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		77	19	66	85	45		14	2	10	12	12
1977-78	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		80	13	52	65	39		15	4	17	21	6
1978-79	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		67	16	45	61	33		16	6	9	15	8
1979-80	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		72	14	61	75	39		10	0	4	4	2
1980-81	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		65	12	38	50	37		3	0	1	1	2
1981-82	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		71	12	47	59	41		5	0	1	1	8
1982-83	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		71	14	49	63	33		3	0	0	0	2
1983-84	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		74	9	34	43	39		15	0	5	5	22
1984-85	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		76	14	33	47	44		12	3	8	11	8
1985-86	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		78	19	63	82	39		20	0	13	13	22
1986-87	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		70	13	37	50	44		17	3	17	20	6
1987-88	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		53	6	34	40	30		11	1	4	5	4
1988-89	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		74	4	26	30	22		21	2	8	10	12
1989-90	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		64	7	32	39	34		10	2	3	5	10
1990-91	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		62	1	22	23	16		12	1	4	5	15
1991-92	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		56	3	10	13	37		2	0	0	0	0
2006-07	New Jersey Devils	Alumni		1	1	2	3	4		0	0	0	0	0
AHL Totals				112	16	47	63	87		15	2	10	12	31
NHL Totals				1383	208	750	958	793		227	28	116	144	211

Coaching career stats

Team	Year	Regular Season							Post Season
		G	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	Finish	W	L	Win %	Result
LA	95/6	82	24	40	18	-	66	6th in Pacific	-	-	-	-
LA	96/7	82	28	43	11	-	67	6th in Pacific	-	-	-	-
LA	97/8	82	38	33	11	-	87	2nd in Pacific	0	4	.000	Conference Quarter-Finalist
LA	98/9	82	32	45	5	-	69	2nd in Pacific	-	-	-	-
LA Total		328	122	161	45	-	289	-	0	4	.000	1 Playoff Appearance
NJ	99/00	8	4	4	0	0	8	2nd in Atlantic	16	7	.696	Won Stanley Cup
NJ	00/1	82	48	19	12	3	111	1st in Atlantic	15	10	.600	Runner up
NJ	01/2	51	21	20	7	3	52	-	-	-	-	-
NJ Total		141	73	43	19	6	171	-	31	17	.646	2 Playoff Appearances 1 Stanley Cup
NJ	05/6	32	14	13	0	5	33	-	-	-	-	-
NJ Total		32	14	13	-	5	33	-	-	-	-	-
Combined NJ Total		173	87	56	19	11	204	-	31	17	.646	2 Playoff Appearances 1 Stanley Cup
Total		501	209	217	64	11	493	-	31	21	.596	3 Playoff Appearances 1 Stanley Cup

See also

• List of NHL seasons
• List of NHL players

Preceded by Pat Burns	Head Coaches of the New Jersey Devils 2005	Succeeded by Lou Lamoriello
Preceded by Robbie Ftorek	Head Coaches of the New Jersey Devils 2000–2002	Succeeded by Kevin Constantine
Preceded by Rogatien Vachon	Head Coaches of the Los Angeles Kings 1995–1999	Succeeded by Andy Murray

Preceded by Guy Lafleur

Winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy 1978

Succeeded by Bob Gainey

Preceded by Denis Potvin	Winner of the Norris Trophy 1980	Succeeded by Randy Carlyle
Preceded by Denis Potvin	Winner of the Norris Trophy 1977	Succeeded by Denis Potvin