Local Boy LaFontaine Missed, but Red Wings Did OK with Yzerman

He played hockey in Waterford, growing up in the northern Oakland County burg in the 1970s—a decade of horrors when it came to his local team, the Detroit Red Wings. As he honed his skills as an adolescent and started depositing pucks into opposing goals with eye-popping frequency, the Red Wings were stumbling through the National Hockey League, soiling what had once been a tradition-rich franchise history. As the 1980s arrived, his name started to become known beyond Waterford. It didn’t hurt that it had a bit of royalty to its sound. Pat LaFontaine, from Waterford, was off to play junior hockey in Quebec, in a town called Verdun. He was 17 years old. In his lone season in the Quebec Junior League, LaFontaine made a mockery of it. In 70 games, LaFontaine, a center, scored 104 goals. He added 130 assists for 234 points—over three points a game. It was obvious that the QMJHL wasn’t big enough to hold his talent. Down I-75 from where LaFontaine grew up, the Red Wings were p...