Legends For The Fan: Penguins Great Pierre Larouche
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - KDKA-TV's Bob Pompeani sat down with Penguins' great Pierre Larouche on Wednesday at the Capital Grille for the latest edition of Legends for the Fan.
Larouche was the Pittsburgh Penguins' first-round pick in the NHL draft and the 8th overall selection in 1974.
He was a fan favorite right away and a real heartthrob for the ladies upon his arrival in Pittsburgh.
"I was on a date with Pierre contest hosted by Myron Cope," Larouche said. "It turned out to be fun, but they made me do a lot of stuff when I got here."
Larouche scored 53 goals for the Penguins just a year later.
"Everywhere I went I could put points on the board," Larouche said.
That is why he is on the all-time list for the Penguins, Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers.
Larouche told Bob that he felt like he had success against everyone in the league except for one goalie that gave him fits.
"Gilles Meloche," Larouche said. "I could not score on him."
Larouche is now back with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization as part of the ownership group and he works on behalf of the organization with the corporate community.
He knows as part of this group how important it is to win the Stanley Cup, and despite all of the success the team has had, they had only won cup and that caused changes to be made to the Pens leadership with the hiring of head coach Mike Johnston and General Manager Jim Rutherford.
"The expectation is the Stanley Cup. Changes had to be made, and so far so good." Larouche said. "The pressure is there. This team was built to win and it's tough, but we have to do it."
Larouche also talked about how the game has changed for the better because the speed has increased, but he is not a fan of eliminating fighting in hockey.
"This is how the players police themselves," Larouche said. "You can't have your best players abused."
Larouche also tells Bob that he is not a fan of the shootout to decide an overtime, but rather would like to see a 4-on-4 and then a 3-on-3 overtime.
Listen to the full one-hour special here:
You May Also Be Interested In These Latest Stories From The Fan
Like The Fan On Facebook
Follow The Fan On Twitter