[Roy Fokker]

The 6-foot-3, 243-pound forward registered only four goals and nine assists in the regular season -- and has been scratched for the past two games to make way for veteran Gary Roberts -- but he nonetheless is a fan favorite for his powerful left hook. His 141 penalty minutes, a good chunk of which were five-minute fighting majors, put him in the NHL's top 20 penalty-box dwellers this year.

Away from the ice, though, the ferocity disappears, replaced by an aggressive philanthropic spirit.

Mr. Laraque doesn't turn down a request for his time -- "There are no bad charities," he says -- and spends about four days a week during the season working in the community, mostly with children.

"A lot of athletes will talk about doing good things, a lot of them do good things, but Georges takes that to an entirely different level," said Cliff Benson, who has collaborated with Mr. Laraque on various charitable initiatives around town.

"He makes that a purpose in his life. That makes him different from most."
Mr. Laraque often goes beyond what groups ask of him, like the time he received a package in the mail the day of the Penguins' first game of the postseason.

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