Mario Larocque (born April 24, 1978) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

Playing career

As a youth, Larocque played in the 1992

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with a

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

team from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. Larocque was drafted in the first round, 16th overall by the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. He managed to play five NHL games for the Lightning during the

1998–99 NHL season The 1998–99 NHL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 27 teams with the addition of the Nashville Predators. The Dallas Stars finished first in regular season play, and won the Stanley Cup cham ...

, scoring no points with 16 penalty minutes. He spent the rest of that season in the International Hockey League with the

Cleveland Lumberjacks The Cleveland Lumberjacks were an International Hockey League (IHL) team based in Cleveland, Ohio. Facts :Owner: Larry Gordon :Logo design: "Buzz"- A beaver wearing overalls holding a homemade hockey stick framed by a circular saw blade :Divis ...

before playing two seasons with the

Detroit Vipers The Detroit Vipers were an International Hockey League team. The team was founded in 1994, and played at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Their mascot was a polar bear named Vipe-bear. History Beginning The Vipers were originally formed as the S ...

of the same league. After the IHL folded, he was signed by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

but was assigned to the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

with the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, a ...

and never saw any ice time with the Sabres.Podnieks, p. 477 He spent the next five seasons in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

with the

Wheeling Nailers The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey Lea ...

and the

United Hockey League The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Unite ...

with the

Danbury Trashers The Danbury Trashers were a United Hockey League (UHL) professional ice hockey team located in Danbury, Connecticut, first established in 2004 as an expansion team. The team was named for its owner's business in waste management; James Galante ...

and the

Fort Wayne Komets The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This team was previously a member of the Central Hockey League, the original Inte ...

, along with brief spells in the AHL for the

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, and are the AHL affiliates of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. They play at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre ...

and the

Bridgeport Sound Tigers The Bridgeport Islanders (previously known as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers) are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League (AHL). They are the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, who own the f ...

. In 2007, he joined Austrian team

HC TWK Innsbruck HC Tiroler Wasserkraft Innsbruck is an Austrian professional ice hockey team in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL). They play their home games at OlympiaWorld Innsbruck complex in Innsbruck. History The club was founded in 1994 as HC Innsbruck ...

and in September 2008 he signed with

Sport Ghiaccio Pontebba Sport Ghiaccio Pontebba is represented by ''Aquile Friuli-Venezia Giulia'', the Pontebba region's flagship ice hockey team, plays its home games at the ''PalaVuerich'' arena in Pontebba, Italy and is affiliated with the local ice sports society '' ...

. He then joined the

EC Red Bull Salzburg EC Red Bull Salzburg is a professional ice hockey team based in Salzburg, Austria, that currently plays in the ICE Hockey League. The club play their home games at the Eisarena Salzburg. History The history of ice hockey in Salzburg at the highe ...

on December 1, 2008, and later signed with the Nottingham Panthers on November 5, 2009. Larocque signed with the

Muskegon Lumberjacks The Muskegon Lumberjacks are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League. They play in Muskegon, Michigan, at Mercy Health Arena. The Lumberjacks replaced the International Hockey League franchi ...

on February 12, 2010. Larocque joined the

Evansville IceMen The Evansville IceMen were a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL in Evansville, Indiana. The franchise was originally a member of the United Hockey League before it merged into the Central Hockey League in 2010. The franchise has won four po ...

in October 2010, after the team relocated from Muskegon, for his 13th pro season and first full campaign under Head Coach Rich Kromm after finishing last season with Kromm in Muskegon. On January 15, 2014, Larocque opted for another venture abroad signing for the remainder of the season with the Braehead Clan of the EIHL.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Larocque, Mario 1978 births Living people Arizona Sundogs players Braehead Clan players Bridgeport Sound Tigers players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Cleveland Lumberjacks players Danbury Trashers players Detroit Vipers players Elmira Jackals (ECHL) players Evansville IceMen players Fort Wayne Komets players HC TWK Innsbruck players Hull Olympiques players Ice hockey people from Montreal Muskegon Lumberjacks players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Nottingham Panthers players Rochester Americans players SG Pontebba players Sherbrooke Faucons players Stockton Thunder players Tampa Bay Lightning draft picks Tampa Bay Lightning players Wheeling Nailers players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in England Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Scotland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Austria Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States