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June 05, 2012

All The Kings' Men: Luc Robitaille

"Cool Hand Luc" Robitaille is one of the most popular athletes on the Hollywood sports scene ever. However when the Los Angeles Kings made Robitaille their ninth round pick (171st pick overall) of the 1984 NHL Entry draft, they didn't expect much from the left winger. The Kings got a bit "lucky" themselves when "Lucky Luc" Robitaille's career blossomed following his draft year.

Robitaille would be returned to junior hockey for the following two seasons where he dominated with the Quebec league's Hull Olympiques. In his magnificent junior career, Luc played in 197 games recording 155 goals, 270 assists for 425 points! 191 of those points came in his final season with Hull, a season in which he was named the Canadian Major Junior Player of the Year.

Doubts of his skating ability still plagued him but he managed to shake that reputation in 1987 as he won the Calder trophy as the National Hockey League's best rookie, outdistancing Flyers rookie goalie Ron Hextall in voting. He also was named to the NHL Second All Star Team in just his first year, scoring 45 times and totaling 84 points.

Robitaille made up for any skating deficiencies with one of the most accurate shots in NHL history. He was a regular leader in shooting percentage, thanks to a number of reasons. He worked himself into high percentage scoring areas, often down low and in tight. Though a defender might have been draped all over him, he always kept his stick unchecked. He would release his shot in the blink of an eye, usually just burying passes and rebounds with no backswing at all.



Here's the full Luc Robitaille biography

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