Joseph Laraque wasn't supposed to be a 2nd round pick in the S46 SMJHL draft, at least not in his mind.

The draft was no doubt star-studded with plenty of talent in every position, but for a premier winger talent to not be picked in the 1st was a surprise to say the least. So as the first round went by, Laraque's fire inside of him to succeed only grew as team after team passed on him. Then came the 2nd round... Surely he would've been the first pick in the second round with the level of talent remaining on the board. But no, he fell to 12th overall. Now was this a deep fall? Surely not as 12th is still a very respectable draft pedigree for a player who was almost purely inactive in his first go around. What makes this a fall is the fire that it lit inside of Laraque to show every team who passed on him (save the Raiders as who wouldn't pick Esa first) what they missed out on.

Now why was Laraque passed on for the first 10 picks? (Again the 1st OA doesn't count in my mind) You could look to his prospect showcase numbers as an indicator of why he dropped. Ranking 8th out of all forwards in the tournament for points, he certainly didn't have a bad tournament, but not one that would propel him to the 1st round. But that doesn't explain why there were players taken ahead of him who didn't produce as well. So maybe it's the stigma against him then? Controversial is one word that could explain him in his first few weeks since declaring for the draft. But Troy Reynolds showed how controversy can drop your stock in the S45 draft when he was drafted in the 6th round at 53rd overall. Surely Laraque would've been drafted even later if there was so much controversy surrounding him. In his own words Troy only dropped because, "The nine other teams were cowards on draft day (Dom gives Troy a look), BUT I appreciate the opportunity given to me." Maybe King would have been less keen to draft Laraque at 12th?

Nevertheless, Laraque was drafted 12th overall to the Halifax Raiders, where he really wanted to go anyways. A team that would give him a chance to show why he should have been a top 5 draft choice. A team that trusts him on their second line and second power play unit. A team quoted to say "When we, raiders management, looked into Parmaraque's eyes, we saw ourselves reflected in them. Literally. The man has shiny mirror eyes, how cool is that? Anyhow, we're pretty sure we can teach him to use his mirror eyes to blind goalies and shit. So we drafted him and guess what? They were just contacts! But he's pretty good at hockey anyway, so whatever." How can this man go 12th overall when he has mirror eyes?

In the preseason Laraque held his own posting four goals and 9 assists, amassing a total of 13 points. Respectable for a rookie through 50 games, even though he will get better as the season goes on. His 8.00% shooting percentage will surely even out to a more reasonable number in the regular season where he will hope to bring a bit more offense to his team. And boy did he add offense to his team to start the regular season. Laraque lit up the Wankouver Cryers with a 3 assists game to be named the games first star in the rookie's first ever game. Why will teams regret the day they passed on Laraque? It's really a rhetorical question at this point.

That's the attitude that'll take you far, fuck em up Laraque  

Big Walter Ulrich
S69 Prospect

Big oof from me dawg

Team Ireland || Ragnar Lothbrok || San Fransisco Pride
                          Drafted 42nd Overall in SMJHL
                   Drafted 12th Overall in the SHL Draft

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