Reed David Larson (born July 30, 1956) is an American 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 ...

defenseman 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 ...

and former

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

who played 904 regular season games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

between

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. He is a member of the

United States Hockey Hall of Fame The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials and ...

Youth

Larson grew up in a working-class neighborhood in south Minneapolis, playing hockey at outdoor rinks and practicing his shooting in his garage. In the off-season, he water skied and did gymnastics, developing his arm strength and powerful slap shot. He played for

Minneapolis Roosevelt High School Roosevelt High School is a public school located in the Standish neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. A part of the Minneapolis Public Schools, it is named after 26th United States President Theodore Roosevelt. Athletic and ot ...

and was their leading scorer in the 1973-1974 season when they went to the state tournament.

College career

Larson spent three seasons under coach

Herb Brooks Herbert Paul Brooks Jr. (August 5, 1937 – August 11, 2003) was an American ice hockey player and coach. His most notable achievement came in 1980 as head coach of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team at Lake Placid. At the Games, Brooks' ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

Minnesota Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

before being drafted by the

with the 22nd pick of the

1976 NHL Entry Draft The 1976 NHL Amateur Draft was the 14th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the NHL office in Montreal, Quebec, on June 1, 1976. It's notable as featuring one of the weakest first rounds in draft history, as only two players ( Rick Green and Bernie F ...

. He was named one of the 50 greatest players in University of Minnesota hockey history as part of the "Legends on Ice" tribute in 2001.

Professional and international career

Larson joined Detroit near the end of the 1976–77 season after Minnesota suspended him for assaulting an official during a

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

game. He appeared in 14

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

games that season and was also named to

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

for the

1977 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1977 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Vienna, Austria from 21 April to 8 May. Eight teams took part, first playing each other once, then the four best teams advancing to a new round. The tournament was also the 55th ice hockey E ...

but missed the tournament due to shoulder injury. His first full NHL season ( 1977–78) was highly successful scoring the most points (60) by a rookie defenseman. A tough, offensive defenseman, he was particularly well known for his hard slap shot. Larson became the first American defenseman to score 200 goals and he appeared in the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

NHL All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game (french: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey, links=no) is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many o ...

as the Red Wings representative. He finally made his international debut for the United States national team at the

1981 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1981 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Sweden between 12 and 26 April 1981, with games being played in the arenas of Scandinavium in Gothenburg and Johanneshovs isstadion in Stockholm. Eight teams took part, first splitting into t ...

tournament and also represented the U.S. at the

1981 Canada Cup The 1981 Labatt Canada Cup was the second best-on-best ice hockey world championship and involved the world's top six hockey nations. Tournament games were held in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Ottawa. The Soviet Union national ice hockey team ...

. Larson spent ten NHL seasons in Detroit until the Red Wings traded him to the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

for

Mike O'Connell Michael Thomas O'Connell (born November 25, 1955) is the Director of Pro Development for the Los Angeles Kings. O'Connell was also a former professional ice hockey player and general manager. He played 860 National Hockey League (NHL) regular seas ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. He played another two seasons for the Bruins before ending his NHL career in 1989–90 with 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 ...

His professional career continued overseas in Italy where he was a player-coach for four seasons before returning to his home state for a final nine games for the International Hockey League

Minnesota Moose The Minnesota Moose were an American professional ice hockey team based out of Saint Paul, Minnesota that played in the International Hockey League from 1994 to 1996. History Following the departure of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Nor ...

in 1994–95. He also played six games in

Roller Hockey International Roller Hockey International was a professional inline hockey league that operated in North America from 1993 to 1999. It was the first major professional league for inline hockey. History League president Dennis Murphy had been involved in the ...

for the

Minnesota Arctic Blast The Minnesota Arctic Blast were a professional roller hockey team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States that played in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the Roller Hockey International League. The team's home arena was t ...

in 1994.

Post playing career

Reed Larson has mostly been working for the insurance business since his retirement. He has also been active in Oldtimers' charity hockey and has played in Heroes of Hockey games at several NHL All-Star weekends. He was elected to the

in 1996.

Awards and honors

*Member of

U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials and ...

*Played in

(

)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Reed Larson's bio at Hockeydraftcentral.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Reed 1956 births American expatriate sportspeople in Italy American men's ice hockey defensemen Boston Bruins players Buffalo Sabres players Courmaosta HC players Detroit Red Wings captains Detroit Red Wings draft picks Detroit Red Wings players Edmonton Oilers players HC Alleghe players Lester Patrick Trophy recipients Living people Maine Mariners players HC Milano Saima players Minnesota Arctic Blast players Minnesota Fighting Saints draft picks Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Minnesota Moose players Minnesota North Stars players National Hockey League All-Stars New York Islanders players United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Minneapolis NCAA men's ice hockey national champions Roosevelt High School (Minnesota) alumni