The Quest of Luc Robitaille

2015

Luc sat there on his chair by his adored wife and son, waiting for his turn to walk up to the podium and say his humbled speech.  The event was being shown on television and many fans had been waiting there at Star Square for hours with their homemade signs that said the affectionate, “LUUUUUUUCCC!!!” written on them. Even the Staples Center had a large banner with the same phrase on display.  Special guests had arrived as well such as Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Rob Blake and that meant a lot to him.

It only felt like yesterday that he was sitting in the stands with his parents at the draft, waiting for his name to be called out at the Montreal Forum.  Now here he is, sitting and waiting again but this time under different circumstances. 31 years later he was now in Los Angeles as the King’s organization was paying tribute to him by unveiling a statue with his likeness in honor of his legendary career with them.  If only the 18-year-old version of himself could see him now.

All he ever wanted to do was play for the NHL and win a Stanley Cup just like how the Montreal Canadiens did when he was growing up and like how Wayne Gretzky did when he was a young adult. When he finally did make it, he loved every moment of it but never in his wildest imagination did he dare to dream or think that he’d end up having a statue in his honor, break any NHL records or get inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. After being drafted by the Kings in the 9th round (which is a round that doesn’t even exist anymore) he had no idea what playing for the Kings would bring or mean to him.  No clue to see that what was ahead would turn out to be an amazing, heartbreaking and triumphant adventure.  All he knew then, was that after all the teams that snubbed him in that draft, the Los Angeles Kings took a chance and picked him.  And for that, he became a King at heart and wanted to win the Stanley Cup… for them.