Luc Robitaille (born February 17, 1966) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. During his 19-season National Hockey League (NHL) career, Robitaille won a Stanley Cup in 2001–02 with the Detroit Red Wings, and played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers, but is most known for his fourteen seasons, over three different stints, with the Los Angeles Kings. He served as Kings team captain during the 1992-1993 and 2005-2006 seasons. Robitaille retired after the 2005–06 season as the highest-scoring left winger in NHL history and the holder of several Kings franchise records, as well as numerous Kings playoff records.

Junior hockey career

Robitaille was drafted by the Kings in the ninth round (171st overall) of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. Many hockey experts expected Robitaille to be drafted late in the draft due to his poor skating ability.

Robitaille played junior hockey for the Hull Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In three seasons with the Olympiques from 1983 to 1986, Robitaille amassed 155 goal and 269 assist, for 424 points in only 197 games, including winning the CHL Player of the Year with 191 points in 1985–86. In his honor, because of his efforts, the QMJHL created the Luc Robitaille Trophy, awarded to the team which scores the most goals each season.

National Hockey League career

Los Angeles Kings

Robitaille made it to the NHL in 1986, helping the Kings make the playoffs, despite having a 31-41-8 record. Robitaille scored 45 goals and had 39 assist in 79 games, edging out the Philadelphia Flyers' Ron Hextall for the Calder Memorial Trophy, the only Los Angeles player ever to win the award. He also earned a spot on the Second All-Star Team.

Robitaille scored more than 40 goals in each of his first eight seasons, including three 50 or more goal seasons, with a career-high 63 in 1992–93. That year, Robitaille set league records for most goals and points (125) in a season by a left winger. Robitaille's 63-goal record amongst left wingers was eclipsed by Alexander Ovechkin during the 2007–08 season, although Robitaille still holds the record for most points in a season by a left winger. With captain and superstar Wayne Gretzky sidelined by injury for much of 1992-93, Robitaille assumed the captaincy and led the team in scoring, playing a key role in helping his struggling team to make the playoffs. The Kings ending went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, the only time in the franchise's history, where they eventually lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games. Robitaille had 9 goals and 13 assists in 24 playoff games.

During the 1993–94 season, Robitaille scoring totals remained respectable but considerably lower than his previous seasons, while Gretzky had returned from injury to win the league scoring title. The Kings failed to make the playoffs.

Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers

Robitaille was traded on July 29, 1994 to the Pittsburgh Penguins, in exchange for Rick Tocchet and the Penguins’ 2nd round draft pick in 1995 (Pavel Rosa). There, Robitaille set then-career lows in goals and assists during the strike-shortened 1994–95 season.

After one season, Robitaille was traded to the New York Rangers with Ulf Samuelsson in exchange for Petr Nedvěd and Sergei Zubov. Robitaille had below-average numbers in two seasons with the Rangers, and for the first time in his career, had more penalty minutes (80) than points (69) in 1995–96.

Return to Los Angeles

On August 28, 1997, in new-GM Dave Taylor's first move, the Kings re-acquired Robitaille from the Rangers in exchange for Kevin Stevens.

Robitaille struggled in his first season back in Los Angeles, scoring only 16 goals in an injury-shortened 1997–98 season. Robitaille returned to his All-Star form, scoring no fewer than 36 goals and had the best stats of his career after his first stint with the Kings during those three seasons. On January 7, 1999, Robitaille scored his 500th career goal in a 4-2 victory at the Great Western Forum against the Buffalo Sabres.

During the 2000-01 season, Robitaille netted 37 goals and tallied 88 points and helped lead the Kings to their first playoff appearance since 1998. During the 2000–01 playoffs, Robitaille helped the seventh-seed Kings to a first round upset of the Detroit Red Wings, and his team took the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche to seven games in the conference semifinals. Robitaille was named a second team all-star, his postseason team honour since 1993. Robitaille turned down a one year deal with a substantial pay cut by Kings GM Dave Taylor.

Detroit Red Wings

Robitaille ended up signing a two-year, $9 million deal with Detroit starting with the 2001-02 season, settling for less that what other teams offered, as the Red Wings represented his best chance at winning the Stanley Cup.

With the Red Wings, Robitaille scored 30 goals and 50 points, helping them win the Presidents' Trophy, awarded to the team with the best regular season record. Due to the tremendous depth of scorers among Detroit's roster, Robitaille had less playoff ice time, nonetheless he scored four goals in the postseason. The Red Wings defeated the Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals in seven games, meaning that Robitaille was going to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in his career. With the Red Wings’ 3-1 victory in Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes, Robitaille’s quest for an elusive Stanley Cup Championship finally came to an end. At the direction of Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, all of the teammates who had never previously won the Cup would hoist it after Yzerman, with Robitaille being the third Red Wing to skate the Cup around Joe Louis Arena, after Yzerman and Dominik Hašek.

Robitaille had the lowest goal total in his career in 2002–03, due partially to limited ice time, and the Red Wings were upset in the first round of the playoffs by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in a four-game sweep.

Final Stint with Los Angeles

Robitaille returned to Kings as a free agent. Robitaille had mediocre numbers for a team in the rebuilding process. On March 9, 2004, Robitaille scored the 650th goal of his professional career in a 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes at Staples Center. He played his 1,000th game as a King a few days later, on March 13, 2004, in a 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion at San Jose.

On January 19, 2006, during a game against the Atlanta Thrashers, Robitaille scored a hat-trick, tying and passing Marcel Dionne’s then-franchise record of 550 goals. His record-breaking goal was met with several minutes of standing ovations and a video-congratulation reel on the scoreboard. On April 10, the Kings announced Robitaille's intention to retire at the conclusion of the 2005–06 NHL season. Robitaille officially confirmed this the next day in a press conference held at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California. Robitaille's final goal and point were scored in typical Luc Robitaille fashion: one-timing a pass from Jeremy Roenick while at the centre of the right wing face-off circle past Curtis Joseph during a power play in a March 14, 2006 6-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Luc Robitaille played his final NHL home game as a Los Angeles King against the Calgary Flames on April 15, 2006. He also wore the captain's "C" that normally belonged to Mattias Norström. Although he was held without a point in the game, he logged 18:37 of ice time, and had 4 shots on goal. He was also the second shooter in the shootout, but his shot towards the upper-right corner of the net was stopped by the glove of goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, despite being given an open five hole. The Kings went on to win the game 2-1 off of a shootout goal by Pavol Demitra, and three shootout saves by the Kings' Jason LaBarbera. The Kings held a curtain call for Robitaille after the game, where he was given a standing ovation by the sell-out crowd of 18,118 fans in attendance. After chants of his name died down, he gave a short speech and did one final lap of the rink at Staples Center.

Luc Robitaille finished his playing career on April 17, 2006 at the HP Pavilion in a game against the San Jose Sharks. The Kings won this game 4-0, with Jason LaBarbera earning the shutout. He received applause and chants of his name throughout the night by the 17,496 fans in attendance, as well as good wishes from many of the opposing players of the Sharks. After the game ended, the Kings players came out and gathered around him first, rather than the traditional congratulation of the goaltender. The Sharks players also came onto the ice to shake hands with Robitaille before they headed off into their locker room.

Achievements

At the end of his career, Robitaille had made eight All-Star teams, set the NHL record for goals by a left wingers (with 668) and points (with 1394), as well the Kings’ franchise record for goals, with 577, finished second to Dave Taylor in games played, fourth (behind Marcel Dionne, Wayne Gretzky, and Taylor) in assists with 726, second behind John Bucyk’s NHL record, and second to Dionne in points, with 1,154. Robitaille also became the second player in NHL history to record 1,000 points after being as drafted as low as the ninth round.

The Kings honored his playing career by retiring his number during a pre-game ceremony on January 20, 2007. Robitaille’s number 20 hangs in the rafters of Staples Center alongside Rogatien Vachon, Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor, and Wayne Gretzky.

On June 23, 2009, it was announced that he would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was honoured during the November 6-9 induction weekend alongside his former Red Wing teammates Steve Yzerman and Brett Hull, and his former Ranger teammate Brian Leetch.

United States Hockey League

On July 6, 2006, Robitaille was named president of the Omaha Lancers hockey team of the United States Hockey League (USHL).

Kings Management

Robitaille was named as the Kings' President of Business Operations on May 25, 2007.

Other work

Robitaille and his wife, Stacia, co-founded the non-profit charity Shelter for Serenity in 2005 to help families displaced by Hurricane Katrina, and has extended to needy children in the Los Angeles community as Echoes of Hope [98933].

Robitaille made an appearance in "Fire in the Ice," a season four episode of the TV series Bones. In the episode, he appears as himself in an hallucination had by lead character Seeley Booth, when Booth is knocked out while playing in a recreational hockey game.

Robitaille also appeared in the movie Sudden Death as the only real skater on the team. The directors used this to their advantage sending Robitaille in on a breakaway to tie the game as time expired.

Awards

• Calder Memorial Trophy - 1987
• Named to the NHL All-Rookie Team - 1987
• Played in 8 NHL All-Star Games - 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2001
• Lifetime Achievement Award from the Aquatic Foundation of Metropolitan Los Angeles (on June 8, 2006)
• 2007 Great Ones Award from the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation
• Stanley Cup - 2001–02 (Detroit Red Wings)
• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame - 2009

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1983–84	Hull Olympiques	QMJHL		70	32	53	85	48		—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	Hull Olympiques	QMJHL		64	55	94	149	115		5	4	2	6	27
1985–86	Hull Olympiques	QMJHL		63	68	123	191	91		15	17	27	44	28
1986–87	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		79	45	39	84	28		5	1	4	5	2
1987–88	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		80	53	58	111	82		5	2	5	7	18
1988–89	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		78	46	52	98	65		11	2	6	8	10
1989–90	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		80	52	49	101	38		10	5	5	10	12
1990–91	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		76	45	46	91	68		12	12	4	16	22
1991–92	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		80	44	63	107	95		6	3	4	7	12
1992–93	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		84	63	62	125	100		24	9	13	22	28
1993–94	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		83	44	42	86	86		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		46	23	19	42	37		12	7	4	11	26
1995–96	New York Rangers	NHL		77	23	46	69	80		11	1	5	6	8
1996–97	New York Rangers	NHL		69	24	24	48	48		15	4	7	11	4
1997–98	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		57	16	24	40	66		4	1	2	3	6
1998–99	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		82	39	35	74	54		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		71	36	38	74	68		4	2	2	4	6
2000–01	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		82	37	51	88	66		13	4	3	7	10
2001–02	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		81	30	20	50	38		23	4	5	9	10
2002–03	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		81	11	20	31	50		4	1	0	1	0
2003–04	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		80	22	29	51	56		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		65	15	9	24	52		—	—	—	—	—
QMJHL totals				197	155	270	424	256		20	21	29	50	55
NHL totals				1431	668	726	1394	1177		159	58	69	127	174

International play

Played for Canada in:

• 1986 World Junior Championships
• 1992 World Championships
• 1994 World Championships (won gold medal)

References

1. HOCKEY; Rangers Trade Zubov and Nedved - New York Times
2. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005374/

See also

• List of NHL statistical leaders
• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 500 goals
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played

External links

• Kings fans bid a fond farewell to Robitaille
• Kings retire Robitaille's No. 20 retrieved on January 20, 2007
• ESPN interview with Luc Robitaille April 4th 2007

*Note: Robitaille served as Kings captain during the first half of the 1992–93 season, while Gretzky was injured and he was also captain for the final 2 games of his career.