Robitaille: Lucky AND Good

Robitaille: Lucky AND good
By Alex Carswell
Nov 6, 2001, 06:47

 

©BBS

Luc Robitaille cuts a dashing figure both on and off the ice. With his killer smile and killer shot, the 29-year-old left winger has become one of the most popular and feared snipers in the NHL. A star since his first season with the Hull Olympiques of the Quebec League in 1984, he shared Junior hockey’s Player of the Year award with Sylvain Coté in 1986. Lucky, as he is known around the rink, then stepped into the Los Angeles Kings lineup and skated off with the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 1987. His arrival in LA helped launch the long-suffering team’s rise to respectability, and his 45 goals would soon prove a merely average total by the standards he would set for himself. In 1992/93, as the Kings were marching to the Stanley Cup finals, Robitaille set the single-season record for goals by a left wing, with 63. But just a year later, the flashy forward found himself the scapegoat for a Kings team that failed even to make the playoffs, and was traded to Pittsburgh for Rick Tocchet.

If the July ‘94 trade fazed Robitaille, it didn’t show on the scoresheet. In the Lockout-shortened 1995 season, the perennial all-star notched 23 goals (second on the team) and added 19 assists while playing at a +10 rating. And in a touch of sweet revenge, his Penguins made the playoffs while LA missed the postseason for the second straight year. This season promises to be another great one for Robitaille, who shares some thoughts on his past and future career.

You were once considered the typical LA King. You were flashy, high-scoring, and played roller hockey at the beach. How have you adjusted to life in a more blue-collar town like Pittsburgh?

Well, I still play roller hockey, except I don’t play near the beach! But there are a few guys I play with. The practice rink that the Penguins just built has a roller rink. I’ve played there once and I’m going to go a lot more. It’s not like outdoors at the beach, but I’m still able to play. And I play with a few buddies of mine on the street down in front of my house.

 

The trade was the first of your career. How do you handle something like that?

It all depends on how it happens, I guess. I kind of knew it was coming, so we had time to get ready for it. My wife (Stacia) and I kept talking about it every day, but any time you change your whole lifestyle and you pick up and go from one place to another it’s always a big adjustment. And it was a big adjustment.

It was a little bit harder because we didn’t start playing (again) until January. I wish we could have started playing a lot earlier, but it was just one of those situations, with the Lockout. But all in all, when we got here people treated us so well, and it was such a good team, and somehow—I don’t know why—it seems like the fans in Pittsburgh have always treated me really well, even when I came here with the Kings. I remember in 1991, at the All-Star game, the people treated me really well.

 

There were some pointed words exchanged when you left LA. How’s the situation between you and the Kings now?

There is no situation between me and the Kings. I’m playing with Pittsburgh, and once you change teams there’s nothing left (behind you). I still have some friends (on the Kings) and I talk to them, but that’s about it. It’s the same as when I was with the Kings; I’d look at other teams and I couldn’t care less what happened to them. All I care about now is my team winning, and that’s what professional sports is all about. If you start caring about other teams, you might as well not be in this league.

You had surgery for a partially-fractured ankle in June of 1994. When did you get injured?

At the end of January I ran into the boards in a game against Anaheim. We were leading 5-1 as I recall, and I ran into the boards and missed the next game.

 

You came back immediately, though, and played more than half the season hurt. People don’t think of you as an “ironman,” but you are.

Yeah, I’ve only missed eight or 10 games in my career, and I think only three to injuries. There were a couple of suspensions, but we won’t talk about those!

 

Given that you sold out for the team and played hurt, do you resent being tagged as a “soft” player by Barry Melrose?

I think I said it when I left: I played hurt for the guy, I did everything he wanted me to do, and I think I got traded for other reasons. But that’s not even worth talking about to me. It’s in the past.

But no matter how you play, if you don’t miss a lot of games that means you’ve been playing hurt. I think I’ve been lucky enough that I haven’t had any major injuries in my career, but that one year I wish…well, I certainly wish it would have been worth it to play hurt that year.

 

It’s an unwritten rule that pros have to play with injuries. But what about kids and other recreational players who think that playing hurt is a badge of honor?

If you’re a recreational player, as soon as you have an injury you should take care of it right away, even if it’s a minor one. Because if you hurt or pull something on, say, one leg, you start pushing with the other one—and most of the time you’ll end up hurting yourself even more.

As professional athletes we do play with injuries, but there comes a time when even we have to say “enough is enough.” And there are times I wish I had done that, because you end up playing injured and your game goes down quite a bit, and people start questioning the way you’re playing. But most of the time when you play injured, nobody knows about it.

But if you’re playing recreational hockey—if you’re not getting paid, and you’re not scared of losing a job on your team—if you have an injury, it’s not worth taking any risks (on the ice). You’ve got to take care of the injury first.

 

Your goal scoring overshadows other aspects of your game. But your plus/minus rating has always been on the positive side of the ledger. What’s the key to playing good defense?

In order to be a good player—on offense or defense—you have to take time to read the game. A lot of people go out there and they play. But then they don’t watch what’s happening, for example, when they’re on the bench. Or they’ll watch what’s happening but won’t think about it.

If you’re on the bench, and you see a guy make a mistake—maybe he got caught on a bad angle or something—you can learn so much about the angles you should take on certain players or the way you should play certain guys. That’s what it’s about: the game is knowing what the other player is going to do. And if you can know what he’s going to do by watching him, you’ve got a big advantage when you play against him.

If you go out there the next time and play the right position on that guy, the right angles—because you’ve been studying—most of the time you’ll end up winning the battle one-on-one.

 

What can a recreational player take from this approach to apply his or her own game?

It’s all about keeping your head in the game. When you’re on the bench, try and concentrate on what’s going on out there, and I think you’ll learn a lot about positioning.

When people go to NHL games, they watch the puck, and they’re amazed what a player will do with it. But what they forget to do is watch guys behind the play—what they’re doing to get open. They need to ask “How is this guy always open?” Or “Why does it seem like this guy’s stopping everybody?” If people take the time to watch a little bit what’s going on behind the play, they’ll learn a lot about playing the right angles.

Let’s go back to 1984. Even though that was a very strong draft year (with Mario Lemieux, Kirk Muller, Gary Roberts, Kevin Hatcher, Jeff Brown and many other stars coming out), were you disappointed to go 171st overall?

Not at all. Even though from about the second round on I kept hoping the next team up would take me, when I heard my name I said to myself “Now I’ve got a chance.” That’s all I cared about. For sure if you get picked in the first round you’re happy, but I feel if you get drafted, or if you get invited by a team, that means you have a chance; somebody’s going to look at you. So you just do whatever you can after that.

It took me two (training) camps—the third camp, I made it—and (for) every camp I was in the top shape I could have been in. I was ready to go, and every year I believed I could have made the team. I didn’t—maybe because they didn’t look at me, or because they didn’t feel I was ready—but every time I went in with the idea of making the team, and made sure I was the one who worked the hardest. I’m not saying I was the best player, but I know one thing; I was the one who worked the hardest.

 

You’ve excelled at every level of the game. In each of your two “worst” NHL seasons (not including the Lockout) you scored 44 goals. How do you stay consistent and keep your performance level high?

Again, the main thing is hard work. You might go through slumps, have droughts—you might get benched, and the coach might be hard on you—but if you never give up, you always keep working hard and you believe in yourself—that’s really a key, believing in yourself—something good is almost always going to happen for you. Suddenly you’ll start getting a few breaks where the puck hits you in the head and goes in. Then people will say “Why are you so lucky?” And you’ll say “I’ve been there for the last two months and none have gone in. Haven’t you noticed?”

You’ve always been renowned for your great shot. Is that something that came naturally?

Funny enough, when I was in Junior I was never seen as a goal scorer—I was a playmaker. I learned to shoot my last year in Junior. My center, Guy Rouleau, scored 92 goals and he kind of taught me how to shoot. We’d work on it every day. “Let it go quick, let it go quick,” he’d say. But my last year in Junior I got like 125 assists—I scored 68 goals, but I had a lot more assists—and when I came to LA they wanted me to put the puck in the net. I had no problem with that, I just wanted to make the NHL. If they had asked me to play goalie, I would have! So I started practicing my shot even more and worked on getting open from then on.

 

That line in Junior hockey had a great impact on your career. Your center taught you to shoot. What about your right wing?

That was Pat Brisson—my agent.

How critical are good linemates to an individual player’s success?

As long as he’s got some hockey sense, is willing to make a good pass or go to the corner or the net, I’ve always felt that any player who’s willing to work hard—to give 100%—will give you a good line. If you play with a player who’s not working hard, it doesn’t matter how much talent he has, it’s not going to help you.

 

You’ve had some great linemates over the years. Tell us about them.

When I started I was lucky: I played with Marcel Dionne. For me, that was great because I grew up (in Montréal) knowing all about him. Then (the Kings) traded Marcel, and my second year they made a line of me and Jimmy Carson and Dave Taylor. Jimmy’s a great player—he can certainly score goals, he’s proved that—and Dave Taylor, nobody works as hard as him. I mean, he always had the talent. But to go in the corner, to go in front of the net—it’s an incredible thrill that I had the chance to play with him throughout the years. We used to joke that every time I needed a contract I’d go play with him, because he’d help me a lot! And he certainly has helped me a lot because he’s a great player, and he did a lot of the dirty work that people don’t see sometimes.

Then (after Carson was traded) I played with Bernie Nicholls. A lot of people put a knock on Bernie, but the year I played with him he scored 70 goals. He was incredible! He’s one of those players that, even if he doesn’t look fast, always has his head up and works really hard and really reads the game well. That was his biggest quality—the way he reads the game. And of all the centers I’ve had, he saw me on the ice like nobody else.

 

Last season you played with Ron Francis and Jaromir Jagr. This year you’ll probably add Mario Lemieux to your list of all-star centers. How does that sound?

That should really be fun. In the last four or five years Mario has been the most dominant player in the league, so him coming back is going to be a great thrill for the fans. But it’s going to be fun to have an opportunity to play with him. I’m looking forward to it, that’s for sure.

 

How do you feel about the trade that sent Kevin Stevens to Boston?

They said (last year) that they were going to make a lot of changes, and I think Kevin, in a way, wanted to go. We knew either him or I maybe would go because, as much as we liked each other, it was tough—we both wanted to play. So he maybe forced the trade to Boston a little bit, because that’s where he’s from, and the owner was great enough to help him get there. And for what Kevin’s done for this team, and what he’s accomplished here, he certainly deserves that. He’s going to get to finish his career in Boston, and he couldn’t be happier with that.

 

What about the Penguins? What do you need to contend for the 1996 Stanley Cup?

It’s no secret we need a couple of defensemen. We’ve let Larry Murphy and Kjell Samuelsson go, and now Ulf Samuelsson is a free agent with a right to match—so they’ll have to match. We’ve got a lot of good players up front—Mario, Francis, Jagr—and we’ve got two great goaltenders, but we definitely need at least two defensemen who can take a lot of pressure off our younger defensemen.

 

Not only do you play the game you love, you’re also trying to sell it. Tell us about your chain of rinks, Iceoplex and Rollerplex.

Well, we manage the new one in Pittsburgh, but we don’t own it. We’ve got the one in North Hills (in Los Angeles) and one in Fremont (CA), and we’re building rinks in Fresno (CA), Tucson (AZ) and Dallas (TX). And we try and run it better than just a rink. That’s the mistake most people make; they try and run a rink like a rink. We try and run it like an entertainment center where people can come and have fun while they learn the game.

This (business) is what I know—I grew up playing hockey and I’ve seen all the worst rinks and I’ve seen some nice ones. And we try to be the best—a place where people will have fun and will want to learn hockey and get out there on the ice. It’s a great game, and if you go out there and have fun, you’re going to want to play again. That’s what it’s all about.

 

This first appeared in the 10/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
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