Larry Robinson
LARRY ROBINSON
By Ron Smith
If it was a movie script that was offered to Hollywood directors, they probably wouldn’t believe it.
But, it was certainly a Cinderella story when the St. Louis Blues went from last place in the National Hockey League in early January to hoisting the Stanley Cup in mid-June.
And, for Larry Robinson, the most accomplished player to ever wear a Brockville Braves uniform, it marked an impressive milestone achievement.
As a senior consultant/assistant coach for the Blues, this is the 10th time … six as a player with the Montreal Canadiens, three as a coach with the New Jersey Devils and one with St. Louis… that Robinson will have his name engraved on the sport’s most cherished trophy.
“It sure brought back a lot of memories for me, the whole story of where we were and where we came from,” said Robinson, “and the fact we were basically setting history for the franchise just made it all that much sweeter.”
The Blues fired the offensive-minded Mike Yo in January and replaced him with the more defensively-responsible Craig Berube.
“We just didn’t have the horses to play that way,” said Robinson of an offensive, run-and-gun game. “Craig came in and changed the way we played. The kid (goaltender Jordan Binnington) came in and we went on an 11-game winning streak. All of a sudden, we were back in the race.”
“He (Berube) wanted the guys to play as a team, not as individuals,” continued Robinson. “I’ve always believed that individuals win awards, teams win championships. That was the biggest turning point.”
From January to the end of the season, the Blues broke down the schedule into 10-game segments, wanting to win seven of the 10 games. Every game was playoff style for the Blues and they didn’t have to change anything when the post-season started.
The Blues shocked the heavily-favored Winnipeg Jets in the first round and the road to the Stanley Cup parade had begun. Even in the finals against the Boston Bruins, the Blues were the underdogs.
“It was amazing. This team never game up. The more the odds were against them, the better they played. When their backs were against the wall, that’s when they played their best,” praised Robinson, noting the depth and balance of the team was a key element in winning.
Watching from the team box was agony in the playoffs.
“I was playing every shift, blocking every shot, shooting every puck,” recalled Robinson. “The butterflies I had in my stomach never left me until there was seven seconds left in Game Seven.”
This was a memorable and special Stanley Cup win for Robinson, right up there with his first one with the Montreal Canadiens as a player in 1973 and then his first one as a coach with New Jersey in 1995.
He’s the only player-coach in the NHL to win a Stanley Cup over five decades.
It’s been an incredibly memorable career in hockey for Robinson.
He lasted 20 seasons in the NHL, 17 with Montreal and three with the Los Angeles Kings, playing 1,384 games with 208 goals and 750 assists. He counted another 144 points in 227 playoff games.
He won the Norris Trophy twice as the league’s best defenceman and the Conn Smythe once as the MVP of the playoffs. He was named as No. 24 in the top 100 greatest NHL players. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
Robinson has always been a pretty humble guy and that hasn’t changed.
“I’ve never really been like that,” he said when asked if he looks back at his amazing career. “If you’re looking back, you’re going to run into something in front of you. All those championships I was on, I was part of a team. I was just one person on a team where there was a lot of hard work and effort by a lot of people.”
Few people know how Robinson’s career began. In 1969, he was headed to a tryout camp for the Cornwall Royals but there was a snowstorm and he arrived late. The Royals told him not to bother but a Braves official was there and asked Robinson to come to their training camp.
The Braves only had two defencemen at the time and asked the big and raw Robinson to switch from forward to the blueline.
“That’s how my career got started,” said Robinson with a grin.
Despite battling health issues, the 68-year-old Robinson recently agreed to return to the Blues for another year, making it his 50th year in hockey.
