Reed Larson

Reed Larson
Date of birth	July 30, 1956
place of birth	Minneapolis , Minnesota , USA
size	183 cm
Weight	88 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Right
Draft
WHA Amateur Draft	1974 , 14th round, 191st position Minnesota Fighting Saints
NHL Amateur Draft	1976 , 2nd lap, 22nd position Detroit Red Wings
Career stations
1974-1977	University of Minnesota
1977-1986	Detroit Red Wings
1986-1988	Boston Bruins
1988	Edmonton Oilers
1988-1989	New York Islanders
1989	Minnesota North Stars
1989-1990	HC Alleghe
1990	Buffalo Sabers
1990-1991	HC Alleghe
1991-1992	HC Milano Saima
1992-1994	HC Courmaosta
1994-1995	Minnesota Moose

Reed David Larson (born July 30, 1956 in Minneapolis , Minnesota ) is a retired American ice hockey defender who played for the Detroit Red Wings , Boston Bruins , Edmonton Oilers , New York Islanders , Minnesota North Stars and Buffalo Sabers in the National Hockey League was active.

Career

Reed Larson began his career for the ice hockey team at Roosevelt High School from Minneapolis and was selected by the Minnesota Fighting Saints in the 1974 WHA Amateur Draft in the 14th round at position 191. Larson decided against the step into the professional field for the time being and went to the University of Minnesota , where he played for the college team. In his first year he moved with the Minnesota Gophers in the finals of the national university championship of the NCAA , but where they were subject to the Michigan Technological University .

In the 1975/76 season there was revenge and this time Minnesota emerged victorious from the final. Larson had become the best defender on his team that year and was also noticeable for his skills on the offensive. The Detroit Red Wings finally selected him in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft in the second round at position 22.

Larson played the first half of the following season for the university team, but finally made his professional debut on February 12, 1977 in the NHL when he met the Minnesota North Stars with the Detroit Red Wings in his hometown .

1977/78 he played his first full season in the NHL and had no problems establishing himself. Especially in the majority game, he was a solid support of the Red Wings, where he could use his hard slap shot and ended the season as the team's third-best scorer with 60 points from 75 games. He also set the NHL record for the rookie defender with the most points scorer.

In the following seasons he built on these achievements. In nine seasons for Detroit he stayed below the 60 point mark only once, scored more than 20 goals in five consecutive years and had his best season in 1982/83 with 74 points scorer. He was therefore invited to the NHL All-Star Game three times, but there was no success with the team, as the Red Wings with Larson only reached the playoffs three times .

During the 1985/86 season , the Detroit Red Wings transferred him to the Boston Bruins . Larson was the record holder as the highest point defender in franchise history at the time of his departure from Detroit .

In Boston, due to injuries, Larson could no longer match the performance of the previous years. In 1988 he reached the final of the Stanley Cup with the Bruins , where they lost, however, and he left the team just a few weeks later. Larson then received a contract with the Edmonton Oilers , which released him after ten players and he moved to the New York Islanders in December 1988 . But after three months, his time with the Islanders was over, who gave him to the Minnesota North Stars, where he finally ended the season. For all three teams together he got 38 points in 54 games. Nevertheless, he was initially no longer a contract in the NHL.

In 1989 Larson went to Europe, where he played in the Italian Serie A at HC Alleghe . In the spring of 1990 he returned to North America, where the Buffalo Sabers gave him a contract until the end of the season, but he was only used in one game.

Larson spent the next four years in Italy again, playing for Alleghe, HC Milano Saima and HC Courmaosta , which he also coached at the same time.

In the 1994/95 season he made another comeback in North America when he completed nine games for the Minnesota Moose from the second-rate IHL . After that, he finally ended his career.

In 1996, Reed Larson was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame and in 2006 received the Lester Patrick Trophy for his services to ice hockey in the United States.

International

Reed Larson took part in two international tournaments with the US national team. At the 1981 World Cup he reached fifth place with the US team and played a few months later at the 1981 Canada Cup again in his home country's jersey.

In a total of 13 international matches, he scored six goals and prepared two more goals.

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	14th	904	222	463	685	1,391
Playoffs	7th	32	4th	7th	11	63

Achievements and Awards

• 1975 NCAA Tournament First All-Star Team
• 1976 NCAA championship with the University of Minnesota
• 1976 WCHA First All-Star Team
• 1978 NHL All-Star Game
• 1980 NHL All-Star Game
• 1981 NHL All-Star Game
• 1995 inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame
• 2006 Lester Patrick Trophy

Records and milestones

Reed Larson set several records in the course of his career, but most of them no longer hold.

He set highs for the most goals, assists and points of any American-born player. He also led the list of the best defenders of the Detroit Red Wings with 570 points and set franchise records with 52 assists and 74 points by a defender in the 1982/83 season . All these records have already been surpassed by other players.

Larson is still the record holder at the Detroit Red Wings as a defender with the most goals in a season, when he scored 27 goals in 1980/81 , and as a rookie defender with the most goals and points, which he now shares with Nicklas Lidström who also scored 60 times in his debut season.

Web links

• Reed Larson at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Reed Larson at hockeydraftcentral.com