How does a guy so lacking in talent last so long in a so-called professional league?
If the NHL were anything other than the ECHL with better arena deals, Laraque would be hosting his own radio show in Chicoutimi giving out dating advice to lovelorn frenchies.

Everyday it's a new post on how the Wings are getting screwed. Nobody cares about the wings. I hope more people like Laraque give them what they deserve.

Way to come to your teammates defense there fellow wings, pansies

Laraque is such a joke. The guy has no skills other than throwing hands when needed but he offers absolutely nothing to the game in terms of offense or defense, unless you count taking out other players. That high stick was all intent. Helm had possession, Larague was in no position to challenge and the stick lift was for what reason other than to hit Helm in the face?
I'm with #4 though, way to protect your teammates there Detroit. Had Montreal been playing Philly or Boston the benches would have cleared.

Not a big fan of the Wings.. but damn have they had a bad week.
Laraque has been getting stupider. First he had that ad, now this... Both of those plays (high stick & knee) looked rather dirty to me. I mean, is he really that bad in his aim with the slash. And did he just so happen to toss out a knee that accidentally hit Kronwall square in the knee. Suspend him... and no one will really care. Though, it's kind of sad that the Wings just watched... gotta let Laraque know that that sort of [profane] is not going to be tolerated.
On another note, I don't understand how only the guy who gets hit in the knee is the one who goes down in pain. Does that not hurt Laraque (maybe because of his speed)?

That was brutal to watch. Ugh. Not a Wings fan but Kronwall is a good player. He deserves better than that.

@ #6, laraque anticipated the hit and the knee on knee contact and tensed-up/flexed. Kronwall on the other hand was injured because he wasnt expecting a cheap shot hit to the knee.
inc. 2 day suspension.
ps. go sharks =]

Derek M, "Nobody cares about the wings. I hope more people like Laraque give them what they deserve." yeah, that's not hyperbole. i suppose winning makes you inherently bad people that deserve bad outcomes in life. real solid logic there, man. gold star for you.

Ugh - another blow to the Red Wings...Just wish the Red Wings had a few guys that can play the game, and drop the mitts when needed; kinda like what they had in the late 90's...I really hope Laraque gets a lengthy suspension.

I was reading reviews for a hard drive on Best Buy.com when I came across this comment:
06/03/2009
"last night i installed it during the commecial break of that awful red wings pitt game that crybaby crosby teams won"
just thought it was pretty funny XD

how much do you want to bet if laraque had done that to bettmans goldenchildren crosby or ovechkin he would be banned for life. even malkin. yea theres your great refs again. also the refs who missed the holding the stick penalty on fla last night with about 25 seconds to go which should have given the wings a power play going into the ot. i know its whining when i tell the truth. 2 minutes for an attempt to injure thats a good call. and derek your still a skumball.

3 straight starts for Mike Smith = 2 straight losses.
One night after giving up 4 goals to the lowly Ducks, he is outplayed by Manny Legace and gives up 3 goals to the inept Canes. Both less embarrasing then giving up 5 goals in less than one period to the Flyers just 3 starts previous.
Meanwhile, Niittymaki is 5-1 with a 1.93 GAA and .939% watching from the bench. Huh? Was it the ONE goal on THIRTY shots against the Kings that lost Nitty the job after winning TWO straight?
Or was it the ONE win Smith managed facing the Coyotes backup goalie that won him back the starting job?
The only plausible explanation for this is that Rick Tocchet has a lot of money riding on his team losing games where they were favored (Ducks & Canes). Smith is his inside man. Or maybe Smith has compromising photos of Tocchet? Why is nobody talking about this? What does Smith have to do to lose the starting gig?

@Matt S: Yes, the Flyers and Bruins would've responded. And then six months from now, like every other year, they'd get swept out of the playoffs in the first round. The Wings are built to win hockey games, not win pissing matches with "players" like George Laraque. And keep in mind who was on the ice after that hit: Helm, Eaves, Lebda, and Draper. Not exactly the weightlifting team. You want those guys to puff up their chests just for show?
Fact is, the Wings don't need to retaliate the way a lot of other teams do. Their policeman is their power play. Teams don't take more liberties with the Wings because they realize it's not in their benefit to do so. So why would the Wings bother with a bunch of pointless shoving matches? The team is architected to put pucks in nets, not mete out frontier justice on the ice.
I'll take the Cups over vigilantism any day.

This injury will get about one tenth the press that Richards on Booth got. However, it's MUCH worse both in terms of intent and result. Players that get trucked by open-ice hits (Booth, Umberger, Toews, Havlat, basically everyone Stevens ever leveled etc...) have some responsibilty for their misfortune. The had their head down and/or were admiring their pass. Theo Fleury, in his new book, has a very reasonable and plausible explanation as to why Lindros' career included so many open-ice hits. Basically, Eric was so big that as a youngster, and even into junior, he did not need to keep his head up as players would essentially just bounce off him or they were intimidated by him. However, NHL players are not easily intimidated so they were more than happy to hit him. Eric often had his head down because he never learned to play with it up. Did Fleury, all 5-6 of him, ever get concussed by any open ice hits despite the fact he was a star and one the most hated guys in the league? No. Why? HE KEPT HIS HEAD UP.
Quote "I played with my head up and I always knew who was on the ice". Players today expect the league to protect them.
Kronwall's head WAS up, that is why he deked that dumb pylon Laraque out of his jockstrap. What did Laraque do? Stuck out his knee. What did the refs do? Did they toss him like Richards, Ladd or Havlat? No. They allowed him to finish the game. That is a joke! Kronwall did everything right. Toews got a hospital pass from Brouwer, Booth was admiring his pass, Havlat was looking for the puck between his legs. However, Kronwall got knee'd because he is more skilled than that stupid bouncer (GL) on skates. This play is 10X worse than any open-ice hit every will be. ASK ANYBODY who has played hockey about it. Shredded knee ligaments or a concussion? It's not even close, every player accepts that they may get laid out by a bone-crushing shoulder check, they KNOW that. They accept that as part of the game (despite what the bleeding hearts will say). No one accepts knees. NO ONE. Even guys on the Montreal bench cringed (watch the highlights on "the Score"). Had it been a devastating hit the Canadiens' players would NEVER crinch, they would cheer.
Easily the second worst play in hockey (being slammed into the boards headfirst from behind is number one) yet it gets nowhere near the same reaction as a good, clean hit. Ridiculous. This should be the longest suspension of the season. He'll probably get nada...if he gets anything it will only be because he managed to also high stick Helm during the same shift.

man and i thought the jackets were having it bad with dirty hits (neal charging/boarding dorsett from behind, boll speared in the groin by another worthless goon belak) but the wings got it worse in just one shift from laraque. is this guy intentionally doing this crap or is he just that awful of a hockey player? is it too coincidental to believe the latter? either way, i hope they castigate this bush leaguer. im with Guy F. this guy should get the longest suspension this season. if i had to arbitrarily pick a number....25 games. that sounds harsh, appropriate. then make him take a test covering basic skills to be reinstated. he'd have to get an A to pass.

wait a sec......solidarity with red wings fan!?? after that 9-1 loss!!? if you cant beat them. ...complain with them.

WOW! Kronwall got "Kronwalled"..............

Laraque is doing what comes natural he is a thug . How he has lasted this long who knows look at what gary did to Marty Mc Sorley
. All he did was try to hurt a fellow thug what's the diffrence slap a guy in the head with a stick or stick you knee out same thing you are trying to injury the other player.
Heck over the years we have even seen players try to end others careers by Knee to Knee or one time i seen a player stomp on the other ankle with his skate blade (Ruttu) ankle

Kronwall skated into Laraque and Laraque was trying to skate away from the hit. The play was totally clean and legal. Bad call by the refs.

@ 21. Watch the video again. Laraque was heading to the bench with quite a wide stance. There's no denying that he stretched his leg out to get him. Everyone else saw it. How did you miss it?

Brad May should have fight Georges Laraque, but he's in the twilight of his career. I hope the league takes that hit seriously like a 4 games misconduct for that at least for the cheap shot on Kronwall . The one with Helm was a slash.

@21 just like Darren Helm's teeth got in the way of Laraque's stick 10 seconds earlier...Wake up!

AI F - Laraque should get alot more - like 15 games IMO...If the league really wants to crack down on this sort of behavior - well now's their chance.

The 'new' NHL sure is dangerous.