Is Georges Laraque being forced into some sort of unceremonious retirement? The Montreal Canadiens who are now Laraque’s former team, have come to a crossroads with the 33-year old enforcer and decided to effectively “buy him out,” by telling him that while they will continue to sign his paychecks, he won’t put on a Canadiens uniform ever again. He signed a three-year contract with Montreal, but has now been taken off the roster, just halfway into the deal.

Laraque, who has also spent time with Edmonton, Phoenix, and Pittsburgh, has scored a mere 53 goals in 695 career NHL games. He has scored just 12 in 277 games since the lockout. In 82 games with the Oilers in 2000-01, he scored 13. Laraque’s production went down, which is not necessarily a bad thing for a guy known more for his fists than his stick, but when he moved to Pittsburgh during the 2006-07 season, it became known that he was less interested in dropping the gloves, effectively eliminating any need for the big bruiser.

The timing of this move has been raising some eyebrows. Laraque has been un-impressing the Canadiens for a while now, and could have been disposed of at any time. However, the Canadiens chose to deal with him now, despite the fact that his emotional state is very likely already troubled due to the crisis in Haiti right now, despite Laraque’s claims to the opposite. Laraque’s parents were both born in the earthquake-ravaged nation. To cut him while in the midst of this tragedy shows about as much intelligence and character as Montreal showed when they signed Laraque in the first place.

The game became faster. Laraque didn’t. The game became cleaner. Laraque didn’t. The game just plain became better. Laraque just plain didn’t. The right winger has not been able to keep up with the changing game of hockey and has now been left behind. With such an untraditional dismissal, it’s hard to fathom what team may pick him up in the future. Who wants a fighter who doesn’t want to fight? Laraque has some tough weeks ahead of him, and if he wants another shot in the NHL, he’s going to have to prove that he’s worth it.