Think you know NHL tough guy Georges Laraque? Think again.

Sure, Laraque knows all about the rough side of the game of hockey. Ottawa Senators pugilist Chris Neil called him “probably the toughest in the league.” Phoenix Coyotes brawler Paul Bisonette said “I’m not really afraid of anyone, but if I were to fight him, I’d probably be shaking going in.” Ask Laraque, though, and he’d say that’s not who he is.

Known as a player who was unfailingly respectful and gentlemanly even when he was going toe-to-toe with the toughest guys in the toughest league in the world, today Laraque takes that courageous sense of what is fair into fights that are much more important than the outcome of a hockey game.

The son of Haitian immigrants, Laraque campaigns for World Vision to help with Haitian relief.

A committed believer in animal rights (and probably the toughest vegan in the world), Laraque is a spokesperson for PETA.

A conscientious environmentalist, Laraque stepped up to be the deputy leader of the Green Party.

In this intimate, often surprising, biography, Laraque tells the story of a hockey player’s life that is unlike any other, from a childhood facing racism in Quebec’s minor hockey system, to the thrill of the Stanley Cup Finals as an Edmonton Oiler, and sharing a dressing room with Sidney Crosby—and from dropping the gloves on the ice to refusing to back back down from much more serious fights off the ice.

Honest, startling, and brave, this is a portrait of a hockey player unlike any you’ve seen before.

Georges Laraque's profile page

GEORGES LARAQUE retired from the NHL as a winger for the Montreal Canadiens and the toughest guy in the league. He is now a host for CFRN and deputy leader of the Green Party of Canada. During his NHL career he played for the Edmonton Oilers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Montreal Canadiens. Georges Laraque was born in Montreal, Quebec.