Ian Laperrière is in his fourth season as head coach of the Phantoms and is the 11th head coach in
franchise history season since joining the American Hockey League as the Philadelphia Phantoms
in 1996.
Laperrière, 50, had been an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers for the previous eight
seasons since 2013-14 and had served as the team’s Director of Player Development in the 2012-13
season. Through his playing career, Laperrière was a hard-working forward who had long been
regarded as one of the NHL’s toughest players. He enjoyed a 15-year playing career in the NHL that
encompassed 1,083 games in which he scored 121 goals with 215 assists for 336 points while
accumulating 1,956 penalty minutes. He rates 58th all-time in NHL career penalty minutes and is
246th in games played. He was well-respected by teammates and considered a warrior throughout
the league in a role that involved killing penalties, blocking shots and standing up for his teammates
in skirmishes.
Most of his time as a player was with the Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche following
shorter stints with the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers. He culminated his playing career in
2009-10 with the Philadelphia Flyers appearing in all 82 games of the regular season and also 13
playoff games as the Flyers advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.
“Lappy” then missed two seasons as a player due to the aftereffects of injuries suffered in the first
round of the 2010 playoffs when a shot hit him in the face in a game against the New Jersey Devils.
He remained active within the organization mentoring the club’s prospects while also dabbling in
television analysis. Following the 2010-11 season, even though he did not play in a single game all
season, Laperrière won the Bill Masterton Trophy for his perseverance, sportsmanship, and
dedication to hockey. He had also been named by The Hockey News as the toughest player in the
NHL (John Ferguson Award) for the 2009-10 season.
On October 30, 2024, Laperrière became the fourth head coach in Phantoms franchise history to
reach 100 regular season wins following a 2-1 victory at the Hershey Bears.
Laperrière, 50, hails from Montreal and was a Round 7 selection of the St. Louis Blues in the 1992
NHL Entry Draft. Ian and his wife, Magali, have two sons named Tristan and Zachary. He was sworn
in as a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2011.
