His NHL career may have ended more than a decade ago, but former Montreal Canadiens player Georges Laraque appears to have taken on a bit of an unusual position with the Habs.
On Friday, the former enforcer took to Twitter and admitted to giving Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta (and other players) private fighting lessons after Dans les Coulisses shared a video of the two of them at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard.
“I can’t really deny it. For several years now, I have been training players to defend themselves or to fight on the ice,” Laraque wrote in a Tweet. “I’ve never shared this publicly because I respect players’ privacy, and at the same time, I don’t want to start doing this on a full-time basis given my busy schedule.”
Well, now that it’s public and the site "Dans les Coulisses" has published a video of my training with Michael Pezzeta, I can’t really deny it. For several years now, I have been training players to defend themselves or to fight on the ice. I’ve never shared this publicly because… pic.twitter.com/5RCgzkTQye
— Georges Laraque (@GeorgesLaraque) July 21, 2023
The 46-year-old was quick to defend the lessons, which may be criticized by those who want fighting out of hockey.
“There is nothing wrong with this,” Laraque wrote. “It is a personal initiative of Michael who asked me for private sessions, which I give for free, to him and any other player whom I help, in this field.”
The Montreal-born sports commentator and entrepreneur also had high praise for the 25-year-old Habs player’s abilities.
“I’ve done a couple of sessions with Michael and he’s gotten a lot better. Even though Michael isn’t the biggest player, he plays big,” he added. “He’s not afraid and will defend his teammates to death. He’s aware that he’s now playing in the toughest division in the league and he wants to be ready.”
According to hockeyfights.com, Laraque was involved in 131 fights throughout his 13-year NHL career. He retired in 2010 with 53 goals, 153 points, and 1,126 penalty minutes under his belt.
As for Pezzetta, who recently agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Canadiens, lessons under Laraque seem to be going well as he led the Habs in hits (239) and penalty minutes (77) last season.
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