Height: 6-1
Weight: 185
Shoot: R
Born: 2 Jan 1940, St Boniface MB
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1972-73 | Houston | |||||||||||
| 1973-74 | Houston | |||||||||||
| 1974-75 | Houston | |||||||||||
| 1975-76 | Houston | |||||||||||
| Totals: |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander's Guide to Pro Hockey, 1973-74 (by Reyn Davis & Charley Hallman)
An off-and-on NHL performer for several years, Labossiere came through with great season for Aeros, hammering home 36 goals and adding 60 assists for 96 points ... Started his pro career at 17 ... Had two tries with the New York Rangers before sticking with the Los Angeles Kings in 1967-68 ... Gord had 13 goals and 36 points with the Kings that season ... Following year, he split the season with the Kings and Springfield, totaling 23 goals ... Had 19 goals with Kings and North Stars in 1970-71 ... Clutch performer. |
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Labossiere: Aero Traffic Cop • by Rich Burk • The Hockey Spectator • November 17, 1972
Playing center is like playing traffic cop, according to Houston Aero middleman Gordon Labossiere, and lately things have looked an awful lot like rush hour to opposing goalies. "I'm sort of like a quarterback directing traffic. I try to control the puck and set up the wingers for shots. You need to have somebody in control and that's my job," the slender center shrugged. Labossiere, who centers for Murray Hall and Ted Taylor on the Aeros' Action Line, must be doing a pretty good job. After a slow start, Houston's top line exploded in an awesome display of scoring prowess. After 10 games, the three forwards had combined for 41 points — 18 goals and 23 assists. What makes it more amazing, however, is that most of the total was amassed in a three-game stretch. During the three-game span, Labossiere, Hall and Taylor picked up 10 goals and 15 assists. The rest of the team got four goals and 12 assists in that stretch. Labossiere says the key to it all is adjustment. To be an effective center it's essential to know what a linemate Is likely to do. "I played with Taylor, but that was a few years ago. I've never played with Hall, so we had to get used to each other. And since I've played with Teddy, we've made some changes that we didn't even realize we'd made," Gordon said. "I'm not surprised it took us a while to get to know each other, but the more you play together the more you become familiar with each other." Taylor and Labossiere played one full season together at Sudbury of the Eastern League in 1962-63, then were teammates again briefly in 1963-64 at Baltimore of the American League. "Since then we've gone through different systems with different teams, so it was really like starting all over again," Labossiere explained. Part of getting to know each other also means a willingness to work at it. That's one thing each of them has in common — an abiding drive to perfect the skills needed to score goals. And that's what it's all about. Gordon has set no real goals for the season. As long as the stats balance at the end of the season, he'll be happy. "It looks bad if a center has 35 goals and only 15 assists. If goals and assists are close, it's been a good year because that means you're setting up your wingers for shots," he said. "Of course, It all depends on the centerman. Different ones have different strength. Some lean more toward passing than screening and some are almost all checking." Along that line, Labossiere said it depends a lot on the strengths of the wingers. "When Phil Esposito (of the Nationa! Hockey League Boston Bruins) was in Chicago he was a passer. But when he got to Boston he had Wayne Cashman and Ken Hodge to go into the corners to dig out the puck for him and he became a big scorer. It all depends on who you play with," he said. After 10 games, the Action Line was the perfect example of the balance Labossiere touted. He had eight goals and eight assists, while Taylor had six goals and six assists. Hall, however, had four goals and nine assists. The thing that has surprised Labossiere and many of the Aeros so far has been the balance of the entire league. That and the better-than-expected performance of the backup goalies. "There were many players that we didn't know, but we expected things to be reasonably well-balanced. It's held up that way, too. We'll beat a team and they'll turn right around and beat us," he said. "The big surprise is how strong some of the second goalies are. A lot of us figured that the No. 1 goalie would be strong because everybody went after good goalies, but that the second one might be weak. That hasn't been the case. The backup goalies have been really strong, And that helps make this a stronger league." Though his own line is rapidly adjusting to a style of play, Labossiere says it may be a while longer before the team — and the league — begins to settle down. "Adjusting is always a problem for a first-year team. There are so many guys on your own team that you've never played with before that it sometimes takes 25 or 30 games to get used to each other,"' he said. If Houston's other lines adjust as quickly and as well as the Action Line has, it may not take that long — and the Western Division may be in for big trouble. |
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