Hall of Fame Profile: Hockey star Cory Larose ‘stubborn enough to keep going’ — all the way to the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame
10/16/2026 1:20:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey, Hall of Fame
ORONO, Maine -- Cory Larose enjoyed a successful hockey career growing up on the banks of the famed Restigouche River in Campbellton, New Brunswick.
He excelled with talent, a mill town work ethic and a healthy dose of humility, but he was never the biggest or the fastest player on the ice.
Larose almost hung up the skates after his first season in Junior hockey. His parents, Wes and Charlene, were both teachers, and encouraged him to consider attending college in the U.S.
"I had a couple of offers to play soccer in eastern Canada at university and I was very close to doing that," said Larose, who wasn't yet sold on the American experience.
He did spend a year at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire, which helped him keep the fire burning. And a subsequent meeting at a scouting event in Las Vegas with UMaine recruiting guru Grant Standbrook, who saw Larose's potential, changed everything.
"Grant had a chat with me and said, 'give it another year and see how it goes.' I did, and the rest is history," Larose said. "I give him all the credit in the world.
Larose soon signed to play with the Langley Thunder of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League. Prior to his second season there, he committed to UMaine.
"It wasn't like there were a ton of people knocking down my door to offer me an opportunity to play college hockey. We were the guys who just were stubborn enough to keep going," he said of his recruiting class.
It was a winding road to Orono, but Larose made it well worth the trip. The savvy center parlayed his poise, unselfishness and perseverance into a stellar career for the Black Bears, helping coach Shawn Walsh's team win the 1999 NCAA national championship.
Even 27 years later, Larose ranks among the most productive players in UMaine hockey history. He is third all time with 119 assists in 146 games and his 180 points, including 61 goals, are eighth best.
"The things that I remember from my career were the shared successes," said the humble Larose, who enters the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame where he joins the 1998-99 team (2024) and Steve Kariya (2018). "We had to outwork everybody we played against."
Heading into the 1998-99 season, senior captain Kariya made a rare request of Walsh. He asked to have the chance to play on a line with Larose.
"Cory was someone that I thought I would enjoy playing with," Kariya said. "I thought we'd have good chemistry."
His instincts were spot on. The line, which also included senior right wing Marcus Gustaffson, accounted for 61 goals and 84 assists to spearhead the Black Bears' charge to a 31-6-4 record and the program's second Division I title.
That unit also produced the decisive goal in a 3-2 overtime victory over archrival New Hampshire in Anaheim, California.
"That attribute I always admired most in him as a player was his hockey sense on both sides of the puck," Kariya said. "He was a very smart player and sneaky, underrated."
On the final play of the '99 championship game, Larose alertly retrieved the puck at the side wall, just inside the left point. He wheeled and fired a quick pass into the slot. Gustafsson, who had just come off the bench, fired a one-timer that was stopped by UNH goalie Ty Conklin, who couldn't control the rebound. Gustafsson calmly flipped the puck into the net.
"You have to have a plan before you get to the puck and part of that is your eyes always have to be scanning," Larose said. "I saw Marcus, but nobody thought I saw him."
"I think what really separated Cory was his vision and decision-making," Gustafsson said. "I call it hockey IQ and that was his strength. He made everybody around him better."
The 6-foot, 190-pound Larose went on to post a stellar senior season, earning second-team All-America recognition with a team-high 51 points as UMaine returned to the Frozen Four.
After UMaine, he embarked on an impressive, 11-year pro career that included eight seasons in the American Hockey League. He had a seven-game stint with the NHL's New York Rangers in 2004.
"It was surreal," Larose said of achieving the lifelong dream of playing in the NHL. "To be able to do that was an amazing experience.
"In the [Madison Square Garden] dressing room, on the left is [Hockey Hall of Famer] Mark Messier, who I grew up idolizing, and on the right's Bobby Holik," he said.
Larose credited his parents, along with his siblings, older sister Kristy and younger brother Mark, with providing love and support throughout his life.
Larose is Senior Territory Sales Manager for ZimVie Dental in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He and his wife Jody have three sons, Jesse, 17, Hudson, 13 and 11-year-old Tate.
