Scotty LaRue has fond memories of playing hockey on Haliburton’s Head Lake as a young boy. He played on the local teams, but by the age of thirteen, Scotty moved to live with relatives in Kitchener where he could play at a higher level. He excelled at high school sports, participating in football, soccer, and swimming as well as playing on the All Ontario Championship Midget “A” hockey team. In the summers he went on extensive canoe adventures with Camp Wanapitei which is based in Temagami.
LaRue was scouted by the Montreal Canadians. Scotty Bowman, coach of the Peterborough Petes, took an interest in the feisty young defenceman, encouraging him to play at the Junior B level because of his young age. Then another NHL team came knocking, the Detroit Red Wings. That tryout led him to Seaforth to Captain their Junior C team, where he met a young woman named Emily.
From 1961 to 1964, LaRue was star defenceman for Woodbridge, Weston and then the Whitby Dunlops where he had the opportunity to be coached by Jim Cherry. The Dunlops managed to beat the Oshawa Generals to make the playoffs. The next year, after playing some exhibition games with the Generals alongside Bobby Orr, LaRue was ready for a new adventure. He hung his skates around his neck and boarded a ship bound for France. St. Gervais, at the base of Mount Blanc, was his home for a year where he played professional hockey European style and even got a chance to face off against the Czech Republic in exhibition games.
The Highlands called Scotty home in 1965 where he went into business with his dad and married his Seaforth sweetheart. Sport has remained a big part of his life. He played competitively in curling, fastball and golf, but LaRue never lost his passion for hockey. He was proud to own and manage the Haliburton Huskies Junior D Hockey team with his father, A.J. LaRue, during the glory days of their 1971 Ontario Hockey Association Junior D Championship.
