Pat LaFontaine (and Mario Lemieux and the 1992-1993 Scoring Race)

Ahh, winter time!  Time to focus on the one true team sport; ice hockey!  Recently, while pondering this great game, I thought back to the 1992-1993 season, when Mario Lemieux won his 4th (out of 6 total) Art Ross Trophy despite missing twenty-some games.  That was a big enough story, but then there was the story of the guy who finished second in scoring that season; Pat LaFontaine.

One could argue that LaFontaine was the most talented U.S.-born NHL star of all time, although Joey Mullen and Mike Modano are not to be dismissed.  LaFontaine was an outstanding skater, a deadly sniper and an awesome playmaker.  The dude was tough too.  While LaFontaine was no Cam Neely, he wasn't afraid of getting his hair mussed.  Perhaps the best example of LaFontaine's grit was when his jaw was broken in the '91-'92 season. He missed 33 games, but he still managed to score 93 points (sporting a nifty Johnny Space Commander helmet no less ).

  

LaFontaine had already run off a string of five seasons straight with at least 40 goals and '92-'93 was his magnum opus.  Scoring was way up and  skilled players such as LaFontaine were feasting on expansion-era goaltending. His stats that season were remarkable: a full season played, 53 goals and 95 assists for 148 points, good for the 19th best regular season ever.  It certainly helped LaFontaine to have Alexander Mogilny (76 goals in '92'-93) riding shotgun, but it was season for the ages none the less.


Unfortunately for LaFontaine, however, the aforementioned Monsieur Lemieux also had a season for the ages: 69 goals, 91 assists and 160 points. . in 60 games.  I remember watching the NHL stats in the Plain Dealer (no 24/7 internet coverage quite yet) after Lemieux returned from his two month absence.  In almost every game, Lemieux moved closer and closer to LaFontaine.  In fact, Lemieux scored at least one point in every match except for two.  Most nights Super Mario was getting at least three points including a six point outburst on March 18th.  Lemieux was in William Tecumseh Sherman mode; staging an inexorable march across the NHL.  Not only did Lemieux pass LaFontaine, he beat him by twelve points.


LaFontaine never played 80 games again.  He got close with 76 in 1995-1996 (with a 40-51-91 stat line), but the injuries got to be too much.  His last season would be 1997-1998 and his overall totals came to be 468 goals, 545 assists and 1,013 points; pretty good for a guy who only played 865 games.  In fact, the Hockey Hall of Fame came knocking in LaFontaine's first year of eligibility (2003).


A Hall of Fame career is nothing to sneeze at, but there is that great "what if" over LaFontaine.  Much like Mike Bossy or Bobby Orr, one wonders about the numbers LaFontaine could have put up had his body not been bashed up.  What happened happened though and, if nothing else, LaFontaine's playing days serve as an example of going all-out despite significant obstacles.