INSIDE HOCKEY

I don’t recommend ever using the word ‘goon’ to describe Georges Laraque…at least not to his face.  When I told Mr. Laraque about this series I’m doing about goons with a big heart, I didn’t think he liked that title based on the look he gave to me. 

But the title serves its purpose, because like David Clarkson’s interview, it proves why it is a misnomer to call these guys goons, because they are anything but that.  On the ice, their roles serve a purpose for the team.  Off the ice, it’s what they do to change the world we live in that doesn’t even register on anyone’s radar because so many people are quick to judge these players as being a ‘goon’ because that’s what the media has stereotyped them as being.

My aim in these series is to educate the populace on just who these players are.  For the record, their role for their team has been as an enforcer.  Goons are the guys that take nasty shots deliberately.  Just ask any other hockey player in the league, they’ll tell you if the guy is a goon or not.  Most times, the guys that fans label as a goon, aren’t the guys that NHLers are calling goons.

For Georges, when I first encountered him in person, it was at the NHL Charity Shootout in Las Vegas during the NHL Awards.  He was playing poker in the name of charity.  A couple of days later, I caught up with him again at the NHLPA meetings where a reporter had found a subject matter to really work him up…fighting in the league.

Stories like that, along with his passionate reaction to the subject matter, and then the subject getting twisted by the media made Georges decide at the beginning of the season that he was not going to be giving interviews this season.  If he did decide to give one, then you were extremely lucky if you got it. 

I decided to take a chance and ask for one.  Luckily, he granted it. 

But instead of talking about the stuff that gets him fired up, I decided to talk about his other passions in life…especially since he had just come off of a five-game suspension (and he was not happy with how the suspension went down).

While I was doing my research on Laraque, I was amazed to discover that we both have a lot of the same principles in life.  From charities, to saving the environment…Laraque has a busy, passionate life that he leads off the ice that he sometimes brings with him to work as well (like convincing some of his teammates to partake in a vegan lifestyle).

Yes, the bulk of my interview with Georges Laraque wasn’t just about fighting in the league or his recent suspension, it was about his passions in life.  There’s a whole other side of him that’s at peace with the world…and there’s a reason behind it that even as a youngster he made sure to put into action as he was making some of the most important decisions for his future.

Growing Up Hockey In Montreal

For Georges Laraque, he didn’t fall in love with hockey because of the Montreal Canadiens or any other NHL hockey team.  Frankly, he never watched hockey on television.

Growing up in Montreal, hockey has a bit of a different meaning for kids growing up there.

“Because I was born in Montreal,” he said of what drove the passion to get into hockey.  “In Montreal, hockey is the national sport.  Every kid plays it.  Every kid played it on the street.  My parents were born in Haiti, so hockey was not a popular sport.  You never thought I’d get into hockey, right?

“It’s just that as a kid growing up, that’s what everybody does.  When I was growing up, I was playing like every other kid.  Every kid wants to be in the NHL when you start playing on the street.”

Even though all of the kids were playing hockey, most kids watch their favorite teams on television, or go to games.  For Georges, that wasn’t the case.

“I didn’t watch hockey as a boy.  I was hyperactive as a kid.  I just wanted to play outside.”

Georges was very involved in many different activities and sports growing up.  His father encouraged both Georges and his siblings to go out and exercise, get involved in extracurricular activities and sports.

But with all of the activities Georges was involved in: football, soccer, hockey, etc. what drove him to hockey?

“In Montreal, it’s what every kid wants,” he responded as to why he even got into hockey even though he never watched it.  “Out on the street…that’s what you want.  I loved it so much when I was a kid that I didn’t want to sit home and watch it.  I just wanted to play.  Like every day, I would play it in the house, outside…everywhere.  I never was a kid that would watch it on TV.  My parents never encouraged that.  My Dad…he would always make us play outside.  We didn’t have Nintendo, the internet and all that stuff.”

For the record, the Internet wasn’t around when Georges was a kid…neither was Nintendo.  ATARI was just a luxury item that most households did not have, unlike today where practically every household has some form of gaming system and/or the internet.

It was obvious from the beginning that Georges would wind up playing professional sports.  When it came time to make a decision in his adolescence as to which career he would choose, he had other things on his mind rather than which sport he was most passionate about.

Most hockey players will tell you that the reason why they decided to play hockey over baseball, basketball, soccer, football or any other sport has a lot to do with circumstances or which sport they were most passionate about.  For Georges, circumstances and sports passion wasn’t what fueled his decision.  He wanted to choose a career where he could make the biggest impact in diversity as well as in society.

“When I was about 15 or 16 years old, I had a choice between professional football and hockey," said Laraque. “When I was a kid, I thought that if I were to get into football, I would be just one of many African-American players playing. 

"I wanted to be a [role] model for kids to play [sports].  I figured…impacting society…that’s why I stuck with hockey.  I knew that I could be a bigger role model.  That’s why I stayed with it.

“Hockey is not my favorite sport.  Soccer is.  I just knew that I would make a bigger impact maybe if I made it into hockey, so that’s why I stayed with it.”

There are very few African-Americans in hockey.  Even more so, there are very few hockey players of Haitian descent playing hockey.  For Georges, playing football, or even soccer, wasn’t going to make the biggest impact in society as a Haitian African-American.  Hockey was the sport he decided to break ground upon and make his mark in history.

Going Green With Life

When I first heard at the beginning of the season that Georges Laraque was vegan, I knew I had to interview him and talk to him about being a vegan hockey player.  I knew what it was like living that lifestyle and how it affected my overall health and energy.  When done right, it can be a very beneficial lifestyle as far as the diet is concerned.

But there are more elements than just eating differently that goes into being a vegan.  Most people think that vegans are crazy PETA card carrying members that do crazy stuff in the name of animal rights, because that’s what makes the papers.  What doesn’t make the papers are the real reasons why people choose to become vegan and are advocating change in the world.

There is a whole lifestyle that goes along with being vegan.  People do it for different reasons, but the reasons all seem to lead to the same path: food free of toxins, freeing our environment of the pollution, and being green.

For Laraque, there’s another element that’s thrown into all of this…animal cruelty.  The movie that made him vegan: The Earthling (which he now narrates the French version of the film).  After seeing this film, Laraque became a vegan on June 1, 2007. 

“That movie changed everything for me,” he said.  “Before I saw it, I was basically [ignorant] about a lot of stuff.  I felt like one of those people that eat meat and not think about [how animals] suffer or anything.  Even the environment…I didn’t realize that the pork industry was destroying the waters and creating bacteria and diseases that are killing billions of fish. 

"There were so many things that I didn’t know.  After I saw that [movie], right after that, I didn’t care how hard it was going to be, I decided to be vegan.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  Slowly, I did research on [it].  I got a nutritionist.  It was actually easier than I thought it would be.  It’s different.”

“Once I chose to live my life that way, it was quite easy,” Laraque said.  “Now days there are a lot of resources to replace animal proteins.  It’s easier to do.  [If it was] 20 years ago, it would be really hard.  Right now, it’s really easy.  I find it’s easier than it was when I used to eat meat.

“One thing that you learn about going [vegan] is how the animal industry is destroying the environment.  I try to educate people on that.  I talk to people about that…like the pork industry is the worst…and the emissions from the cars and stuff like that.

“When you’re vegan, it’s not just about animal cruelty, it’s about the environment and doing everything you can to make it better.  You can still eat meat, but do your own part to make the environment better, because maybe we’re not going to suffer now if we try our best…for the future, if everybody is cautious to do their own part to make things better.”

It is true that there are many individuals in the hockey community that laughed at Laraque when they first heard he was vegan.  He has combated that by encouraging his team to go to vegan restaurants with him, and try it…before knocking it.

Now, many of his teammates prefer the vegan option for meals rather than the meat options.

Giving Doesn’t Always Come With a $ Amount

One of the most amazing things about Laraque that I’ve come to experience in the last six months since the first time I met him was his involvement in charities.  He’s not the type of person that just signs a check and donates a part of his earnings.  He prefers the hands on approach. 

If you need him to donate or get involved with your charity, he prefers to physically show up and really get involved with your charity.

“I just don’t say ‘No’ to anything,” he said of working with charities.  “I do everything.”

Laraque gets involved with just about everything…from children’s charities to animal charities.  For Georges, he’s taken some heat for choosing to work with animals and putting an end to animal cruelty.

“People can never see," he noted.  "They ask, ‘why do you work with animals, when there are so many other causes?’  I do it all.  I’m happy to do it.”

The Suspension

When I interviewed Georges, he had just come off of a five-game suspension where he unintentionally injured Niklas Kronwall (Detroit) after a knee-on-knee collision, to which he was assessed a tripping minor penalty during the game.  He did not intend to do it, but he was very vocal in his anger towards how the five-game suspension was dealt out by NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell.

This is what he had to say about the suspension from his website:

"I get a call from Bob telling me the suspension would be for five games. Five Games. This is what I have a problem with. First off, why can’t Colin call me to talk about it, to hand me the suspension so we can have a conversation about everything in order to eliminate all confusion? Isn't that what a hearing should be? Also, I totally agree that a suspension should be based on how long it will take for a player to recover. Unfortunately, it has to be the same for everyone, the same for EVERYONE! All the players I talked to told me that if the role was reversed and Kronwall hit me the same way, he wouldn't have been suspended. Last year, Ovechkin took Gonchar knees out, took him out of the game for a couple of months, nothing, then there's the Richards hit. I can go on and on about the subject. There are a ton of examples. I can't say what I think about the league on that process because I will get in big trouble. I can only say that I have a problem with it. Someday, soon enough, when I retire, I will write a book about my life and my career, and then I won't have to keep my mouth shut. I can tell you that a lot of things will change.

So that's why I have a problem with five games, not because of what I did, but because of what other guys, STAR players get in similar cases. Making an example out of tough guys doesn't send a message to the league, but making an example out of a star player would, even though talent wise we’re not all even, we all have the same rights."

“I said everything that I felt like saying in the blog,” he told me.  “I feel like there’s a double standard in the league.  I have no doubt that what I did deserved a suspension.  But I believe that everyone should get the same deal.  If you’re going to punish me this way, then there should be a standard and the next person should get at least five…it’s just that some guys are more punished than others.”

When asked about what his thoughts were on players getting away with delivering head shots, he said, “I have no opinion.  I was so upset when my situation happened, which showed the entire world that there was a double standard, to be vocal on any other issue is useless.  It doesn’t matter what I say.  It’s a double standard and everybody should be treated the same.”

Case in point, Alexander Ovechkin received a two-game suspension recently for delivering a similar knee-on-knee hit on Tim Gleason (Carolina).  Gleason returned to the game, unlike Kronwall.  But either way, the suspension does nothing but give Ovechkin a reason to sit out two-games to basically ice his own knee from the injury he sustained in the hit.  He wasn't even punished when he sidelined Sergei Gonchar for two months last season.

While Georges was remorseful and issued an official apology to Kronwall on his website, Ovechkin replied that he had no intentions of changing his style of play.

Post-Interview

There are so many things about Georges Laraque that makes you sit back and think about life.  To hear or read about his decisions in life, it makes you ask yourself if you are putting forth just as much good into the world as he is.

He chose a career where he could make the most impact, not just in diversity, but as a way to inspire others.  He chose to be a role model and he chose his career based on which one would make the biggest impact on society.  How many of us do that?

He chose to become vegan because he was educated on an issue that needed to be ignored no longer.  He chose to open his eyes on how his lifestyle was impacting the planet he lives on.  He chose to change his life and make this world a better place not just for himself, but for all of us and for future generations.  How many of us can say that we have made a conscious effort to do the same?

He doesn’t just write a check to a charity.  He gets involved with every organization that asks him for his help.  How many of us can say that we do the same thing?

Since my interview with Georges (and after he guilt-tripped me a little bit about this), I returned to being a vegetarian.  After all of the surgeries I’ve had over the past few years, it became increasingly difficult to get back on.  But after listening to Georges, I had to ask myself why I didn’t stay on it.

It’s not a hard thing to do.  It just takes a little bit of reading and research.  I will say that Georges’ inspiration to get back on the vegetarian diet sent me to the grocery store the very next day.  I realized that it was time not only to return to being vegetarian, but to also go completely organic.  Trust me, in less than a week, I’ve felt so much better because there are less toxins going into my body.

It’s not difficult or hard to go green or become a vegetarian or vegan.  It’s also not hard to donate your time and effort to noteworthy causes.  You have to ask yourself what’s more important to you.  One thing is for sure, each and every day we should be asking ourselves how we are truly impacting this world. 

We are responsible for everything that we do…every action we make.  If anything, Georges interview should help you think about how you can also impact the world.  After all, it takes a little bit of research to find out that Georges is not a goon at all.  That’s just the reputation the media developed for him.  Actually, most African-Americans in hockey have been titled with the term ‘goon’ or a ‘bad boy of hockey’.  If you took the time to see who they really were, you’d never call them that again.

On his website, you can’t help but be amazed that there is someone like him in the world, let alone in the National Hockey League.  He is human, yet he does his best to put forth some positive good into the world.

Don’t always believe the stereotype that the media places on someone.  Usually, they’re not that person at all.

You can read more about Georges and his work with the community, his childhood, and get updates directly from him on his blog (which is updated once or twice a month) at www.georgeslaraque.com.