Height: 6-1
Weight: 190
Shoot: L
Born: 29 Jun 1947, Lynn MA
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1972-73 | New England | |||||||||||
| 1973-74 | New England | |||||||||||
| 1974-75 | New England | |||||||||||
| 1975-76 | New England | |||||||||||
| 1976-77 | New England | |||||||||||
| 1977-78 | New England | |||||||||||
| 1978-79 | New England | |||||||||||
| Totals: |
• Member, United States Olympic Team, 1968.
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Pleau Repays Whalers for Kelley's Confidence • by Dick Dew • The Hockey Spectator • March 16, 1973
Confidence is the key to success in professional hockey. If you don't believe it, take a gander at Larry Pleau of the New England Whalers. That large young man, a rare U.S. native who reached the top af the pro hockey ladder, is a veritable magna cum laude student in the Jack Kelley School of Confidence. Pleau, at 25, was the first player to sign with the World Hockey Association Whalers, jumping the all-embracing Montreal Canadiens organization to ink a three-year, no-trade pact. There was method in the move on the part of both the Whalers and Pleau who was born and raised in Lynn, a few miles north of Boston. For their part, the Harpoonists figured Pleau would be a good local attraction besides adding the experience gained in 94 National Hockey League games spread over three seasone with the powerful Canadiens. Where Pleau was concerned, he hadn't been terribly happy with his assignments in Montreal which consisted chiefly of penalty-killing, duty as a defensive forward, and shuttiing between the Habs and their top AHL farm club, the Montreal-Nova Scotia Voyageurs. Larry, a strapping 6-1, 185-pounder, had been Rookie of the Year in 1968-69 with the Jersey Devils of the Eastern League, scoring 37 goals and a total of 81 points. But he'd played more than 150 games in the AHL and the NHL since then, scoring a total af 31 goals while experiencing a troublesome knee injury. With the Whalers, in his first 60-odd games, Pleau had already exceeded his three-season scoring totals in the Montreal organization and was ranked among the WHA's top point producers. He explains the blossoming routing in one word, “Confidence," and really enjoys defining the word. "I'd been playing a defensive role and killing penalties and I'd asked to be traded. Instead, they sent me down to the AHL. The Whalers started building my confidence when I was the first player signed. That meant a good deal to me. Then, Jack Kelley showed his confidence in me by playing me regularly, giving me the good wings you need to work wlth, and staying right with me. I couldn't help but develop confidence under those circumstances and that's the difference. It comes from playing, that's all there is to it." There are other contribuling factors. Larry, who missed most of the 1970-71 season with that knee injury, has no trouble with it any more and, other than rugged late-season bout with the flu, has been a full time performer for the baby Whales. Pleau, who included four game winners and five game-tying scores among his first 34 goals, is an understandably big booster of his linemates, his team and the new league. "It's a good league, really competitive. All the teams are still about equal. We don't have the big powerhouses yet like Boston, Montreal, New York and Chicago in the NHL. We're still all about even and so we all have to work hard to win. If we stop thinking we have to work, we wind up losing. That's how competitive it is. But it's a good brand of hockey and I enjoy it. And we're going to get better. I'm sure it will come slowly but all the teams will pick up strength and altendance will go with it. The schedule has been pretty tough on us this year. We've had two or three times when we've had as much aa ten days off at a time. But in December, we played something like 20 games in 30 days. That's another thing that will get better, that and the travel schedules." |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander's Guide to Pro Hockey, 1975-76 (by Reyn Davis)
Native of New England who spends his summers boating and tuna fishing ... Cousin of the legendary Jean Beliveau ... Graduate of Montreal Junior Canadiens, a veritable Oxford for young professional prospects ... First Whaler to sign a WHA contract, leaving the Canadiens organization ... Fired six game-winning goals ... Only Whaler who appeared in all 78 games last season ... Absolutely vital to Whalers' success plan ... Veteran of two WHA All-Star Games, scoring the winning goal in 1972-73 and tallying twice the following season |
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Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1976-77 (by Dan Proudfoot)
Harry Neale searches for the proper phrase when describing Larry Pleau's outstanding quality as a player. "He cares," Neale finally says, "he just cares what his performance is --- and it's always at a high level." Pleau could be content. He's a native of Lynn, Mass., and a very big name in New England. In 1975 he bought a lobster boat and 350 traps, and he also owns a prospering marina. But Pleau, who left the Montreal Canadiens behind to join the Whalers, cares most about producing for the Hartford team, which he did in 1975-76 for totals of 29 goals and 45 assists. "In one stretch before I joined the team I believe the line of Pleau, Paiement and Webster scored something like 43 of 46 New England goals," says coach Neale. "I tried splitting them up but I ended up uniting them again and using them on the powerplay. They're a productive combination." |
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