The Edmonton Journal
He pranced, clad only in sweaty 
underwear,
wagging his backside to the music with one hand on his hip, laughing like a big goof.
Georges Laraque, it's clear, has never awakened to a day he didn't like, but as much fun as he had amusing a couple of writers in the Edmonton Oilers dressing room Monday morning, it turns out the happy-go-lucky tough guy was only getting warmed up.
Laraque danced the night away against the Los Angeles Kings hours later with three more modest and significant shuffles in celebration of his first NHL hat-trick in a 6-3 Oilers win.
Joyous jigs they were.
"I will never forget it, ever," said Laraque. "It's just unreal. I really can't explain it."
Hats, including one of those silly foam Oilers puckheads, rained from the rafters at Skyreach Centre when Laraque backhanded his third goal past Stephane Fiset with 15.8 ticks left on the clock.
Laraque, 23, had every single one of them piled in his stall after the game -- he'll probably wear the puckhead at practice today.
"I never thought I was going to do it," said Laraque, sent over
the boards after Janne Niinimaa salted it away with an empty-netter.
"I just thought we were going to play it safe. There was no angle, but I just shot it. When it went in, it was so much emotion.
"I can't describe the feeling, the crowd, the hats. I would never have thought I would see hats on the ice for me."
Oilers equipment man Sparky Kulchisky had the best line after the game as a crush of notepads and cameras pinned Laraque, still wearing every piece of his sweaty equipment, to the wall.
"Georges," chimed in Kulchisky, "I need your sweater right now. The hall of fame wants it."
Doug Weight scored the winner at 16:26 of the third period to snap the Oilers from a two-game funk after back-to-back losses to the Calgary Flames.
But it was Laraque and his linemates, Jim Dowd and Boyd Devereaux, who put a buzz in the building and made something good happen almost every time they hopped over the boards.
"We know we're the fourth line, but we try to work hard and contribute," Dowd said. "You've got to know your role, whether you get two, four or six shifts, you have to make them good ones."
Laraque's third goal, he outwaited defenceman Aki Berg 
and tucked it past Fiset on the backhand , marked his first hat-trick since his junior days in Quebec.
Dowd had three assists and Devereaux had two helpers.
"We know we have to do the little things right," Dowd said of the Oilers' best line. "You're happy when it happens for anybody, but it's Georges and he's a character, so it's great for him."
The Kings just had no answers for Laraque, who tossed his six-foot-three, 245-pound frame around with reckless abandon.
"I think maybe when Georges Laraque is free-wheeling, we're not doing something right," Kings coach Andy Murray said.
"It's a credit to him. I mean he made a great move on that last goal. Aki Berg is six-foot-four and 225 pounds and Georges just manhandled him."
His goal-scoring exploits aside, Laraque even found time to drop the gloves with Steve McKenna, although he laid off the Kings' big kid, choosing not to throw punches after McKenna went down to one knee.
Perhaps No. 27 was protecting those soft mitts of his.
"He's playing great for us right now," coach Kevin Lowe said. "That was pretty incredible.
"It was nice for him and nice for us. He's deserving of all the accolades. He's worked hard."
Laraque's younger brother, Jules, a speedster with Halifax of the QMJHL, called big brother on his cell phone after the game.
"He watched the game," said Laraque. "My family, everybody is going to call."
The preceding article is from the Edmonton Journal. The Edmonton Journal's Webpage can be located HERE
underwear, wagging his backside to the music with one hand on his hip, laughing like a big goof.
Georges Laraque, it's clear, has never awakened to a day he didn't like, but as much fun as he had amusing a couple of writers in the Edmonton Oilers dressing room Monday morning, it turns out the happy-go-lucky tough guy was only getting warmed up.
Laraque danced the night away against the Los Angeles Kings hours later with three more modest and significant shuffles in celebration of his first NHL hat-trick in a 6-3 Oilers win.
Joyous jigs they were.
"I will never forget it, ever," said Laraque. "It's just unreal. I really can't explain it."
Hats, including one of those silly foam Oilers puckheads, rained from the rafters at Skyreach Centre when Laraque backhanded his third goal past Stephane Fiset with 15.8 ticks left on the clock.
Laraque, 23, had every single one of them piled in his stall after the game -- he'll probably wear the puckhead at practice today.
"I never thought I was going to do it," said Laraque, sent over
the boards after Janne Niinimaa salted it away with an empty-netter. "I just thought we were going to play it safe. There was no angle, but I just shot it. When it went in, it was so much emotion.
"I can't describe the feeling, the crowd, the hats. I would never have thought I would see hats on the ice for me."
Oilers equipment man Sparky Kulchisky had the best line after the game as a crush of notepads and cameras pinned Laraque, still wearing every piece of his sweaty equipment, to the wall.
"Georges," chimed in Kulchisky, "I need your sweater right now. The hall of fame wants it."
Doug Weight scored the winner at 16:26 of the third period to snap the Oilers from a two-game funk after back-to-back losses to the Calgary Flames.
But it was Laraque and his linemates, Jim Dowd and Boyd Devereaux, who put a buzz in the building and made something good happen almost every time they hopped over the boards.
"We know we're the fourth line, but we try to work hard and contribute," Dowd said. "You've got to know your role, whether you get two, four or six shifts, you have to make them good ones."
Laraque's third goal, he outwaited defenceman Aki Berg
and tucked it past Fiset on the backhand , marked his first hat-trick since his junior days in Quebec.
Dowd had three assists and Devereaux had two helpers.
"We know we have to do the little things right," Dowd said of the Oilers' best line. "You're happy when it happens for anybody, but it's Georges and he's a character, so it's great for him."
The Kings just had no answers for Laraque, who tossed his six-foot-three, 245-pound frame around with reckless abandon.
"I think maybe when Georges Laraque is free-wheeling, we're not doing something right," Kings coach Andy Murray said.
"It's a credit to him. I mean he made a great move on that last goal. Aki Berg is six-foot-four and 225 pounds and Georges just manhandled him."
His goal-scoring exploits aside, Laraque even found time to drop the gloves with Steve McKenna, although he laid off the Kings' big kid, choosing not to throw punches after McKenna went down to one knee.
Perhaps No. 27 was protecting those soft mitts of his.
"He's playing great for us right now," coach Kevin Lowe said. "That was pretty incredible.
"It was nice for him and nice for us. He's deserving of all the accolades. He's worked hard."
Laraque's younger brother, Jules, a speedster with Halifax of the QMJHL, called big brother on his cell phone after the game.
"He watched the game," said Laraque. "My family, everybody is going to call."