Prospect Info: Phantoms (AHL), Reading Royals (ECHL), NCAA, Jrs., Int'l, etc.

[FLYguy3911]

Watching the replay of the Soo game. They won 8-0. 7th goal kid pulled the lacrosse move. 8th goal was a between the legs tuck.

 

[NicolasAubeKubel]

I haven’t seen Laczynski play other than a couple WJC games, is he the level of prospect that Lindblom was?

 

[NicolasAubeKubel]

Watching the replay of the Soo game. They won 8-0. 7th goal kid pulled the lacrosse move. 8th goal was a between the legs tuck.

That entire game was brutal. Shots ended up 44-21 only because SSM started messing around like it was a game of EASHL instead of shooting

 

[Philly Fanatik]

That entire game was brutal. Shots ended up 44-21 only because SSM started messing around like it was a game of EASHL instead of shooting

Spirit will have a opening faceoff statement for the Soo next game!

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

I would absolutely love to start buying some juniors sweaters for our prospects. First things first - climb out of this Seventh Circle of Hell.

EDIT: You could even go get a throwback (if you could find them), and put them on there, e.g. for Frosty:

EDIT 2: Although there's nothing whatsoever wrong with this beauty:

 

[gertbfrobe16]

I would absolutely love to start buying some juniors sweaters for our prospects. First things first - climb out of this Seventh Circle of Hell.

EDIT: You could even go get a throwback (if you could find them), and put them on there, e.g. for Frosty:

EDIT 2: Although there's nothing whatsoever wrong with this beauty:

i think jeff carter wore that first one when he played there

 

[gertbfrobe16]

that goalie looked pretty good for the soo wonder if he is draft eligible

 

[Larry44]

that goalie looked pretty good for the soo wonder if he is draft eligible

http://ontariohockeyleague.com/ Highlights here for all OHL. Q and W available too, follow the links...

 

[gertbfrobe16]

http://ontariohockeyleague.com/ Highlights here for all OHL. Q and W available too, follow the links...

thank you

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

 

[Striiker]

@Magua the flat-footedness jumps out at me too when I watch Tanner. Should be able to coach that out of him though.

Well, A coach could...

Our coach?

... no.

 

[gertbfrobe16]

nice three big 10 teams

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Well, A coach could...

Our coach?

... no.

At least he doesn’t need to get a brain transplant like Sanheim did.

 

[SergeConstantin74]

Another nice article about Laberge and everything he had to go through during his 4 Junior seasons.

L'après-tempête de Pascal Laberge

After the storm for Pascal Laberge
GUILLAUME PIEDBOEUF
The Sun

The trades, the illness of his parents, the mourning, the injuries. Pascal Laberge has lived all of this during his junior career. During the storm, hockey has always remained a form of therapy. Until this Fall, when he finally lost the pleasure of putting on his skates. In December, the Remparts acquired a player who was at crossroads. He assures now that he's back on track.

Sitting at a table inside Centre Videotron, a few days before the start of the QMJHL playoffs, Pascal Laberge does not deny it. Hockey wise, the regular season was particularly tough.
"In the first half of the season with the Tigers, my confidence was gone. I was no longer the player I was before and I had no fun anymore. It was the first time in my life that it happened to me. At the arena, it was difficult."

Laberge is not the first junior player to experience a slump or lose his passion for hockey, but in his case, the admission sounds like a 180-degrees turn. Only three years ago, when the disease hit his family hard, hockey was everything but a burden. Rather an escape, a rare pleasure when, outside the ice rink, life seemed to collapse.

A highly touted prospect after leading the Chateauguay Grenadiers to win the Midget AAA championship in the Spring of 2014, Laberge became a few months later the second overall pick in the QMJHL draft. The Gatineau Olympiques saw him as their great center for the future.

The experiment only lasted a few months. He did not get along well with Benoit Groulx, "a pretty intimidating coach for a 16-year-old guy," and the Olympiques sacrificed Laberge to get their hands on veterans bringing them closer to a championship. After only 27 games in Gatineau, he packed his bags for Victoriaville, relieved to join his Midget AAA coach, Bruce Richardson, who had just made the jump with the Tigers.

Disease

Being traded in the middle of his first junior season was a first test for the native of Sainte-Martine, but it was nothing compared to what was expected the following Summer, when his mother was diagnosed with sclerosis and her stepmother with a virulent cancer. Then, while the hockey player was back home a few days after the Tigers training camp, his father asked him to come and sit in the living room with his brothers. He too was struck by the disease: prostate cancer.

Laberge's step-mother died in September. Before her illness, she almost never missed a hockey game of her step-son. Laberge missed a Tigers game to go to her funeral.

"When I came back, Bruce met with me and he told me that if I could focus on hockey and perform, it would help me and help my family get through that. I listened to him and I gave it all that year."

There were difficult evenings, he admits. Struck by a difficult episode of sclerosis, her mother could hardly walk anymore. His father was having treatments, while mourning his wife.

There were evenings of rejoicing too, just as emotional. Like the CHL Top Prospects game. In fron of NHL scouts, against the best 17-year-old players in the world, Laberge exploded with two goals and one assist, being named player of the game.

"My father was not there because he had just had his prostate removed. I called him after the game. I could hear in his voice on the phone that he was moved. He was so proud of what I had done. I will always remember that moment."

A few months later, the whole family was in the stands of the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, when the Philadephie Flyers made Pascal Laberge their 2nd round pick, 36th overall in the NHL Entry Draft. His father in remission, his mother getting better, the storm of the last 12 months had passed. Laberge grew up out of it.

The injury

Back from his first professional camp, however, he found a Tiger organization transformed by Richardson's dismissal. The star striker was going to have very little time to prove himself to his new coach, Louis Robitaille, before adversity struck again in the person of Zachary Malatesta.

The rugged Moncton Wildcats defenseman was at the Desjardins Coliseum in Victoriaville to face the Tigers on October 15, 2016. In the sixth minute, Laberge picked up a puck along the board, coming out of his zone, when Malatesta skated full speed from blind spot. He never had time to realize what was happening, receiving the American's elbow in the face and collapsing on the ice.

"I felt that I had been hit hard, and then I did not see anything. It was black. I got up after that, but I knocked out."

The simple fact that Laberge managed to leave the ice on both legs was surprising. The impact was so violent. Enough for his agent Alan Walsh to protest the QMJHL Commissioner Gilles Courteau the same evening on the social network Twitter. "Are you going to wait for a player to die on the ice?" He asked, saying he was outraged that such a move is still taking place in the QMJHL.

"It was really a dirty hit", says Laberge today. He has never spoken to Malatesta again. The seven games suspension given to him was his fourth in three years. But in the weeks following the incident, it was not his attacker who was in Laberge's thoughts. Rather his health and his future. For a month, the Flyers prospect has hardly left his bed, sleeping day and night.

"I had migraines. I felt like a cloud and I was just sleeping. I was not all here. My pension family was worried a lot."

After a month, Laberge finally started to feel better. Two weeks later, he was back on the ice with the Tigers. "If it had to be done again, I would take more time before coming back. I felt a little pressure from the team, but also from the one I put on myself. It was a little too fast, especially for the mental aspect."

In the months following his return, being on the ice became a fight between his body and his head. "When you come back after a blow like that, as soon as you find yourself in the same situation along the board, your brain sends you a signal of panic. I had to really work on it. It was a difficult year."

The wall

Last fall, however, Laberge asserted that the fear of playing along the board had disappeared. He was healthy. The situation with the Tigers was stable, the veteran core and coach Robitaille were back. Outside the ice, life was going peacefully. Ironically, that's when he hit a wall. Everything should have gone well, but it was not. He did not play like before and did not understand why. "I was looking for myself. I was having trouble regaining my confidence."

Then came the trade to the Remparts in mid-December. A trade that the 19-year-old never asked for, but welcomed as a blessing. "In any career, sometimes you need a fresh start," he says. "In Quebec, it took a little bit before I took off, but here I feel that I've found my landmarks and I'm advancing again," says the player who got 27 points in 33 games in the Remparts uniform.

"It's not just a question of production. I was looking to be the player I was before again. I did it. The passion is back and the pleasure too."

The simple fact of not playing every second game at the Desjardins Coliseum, where Malatesta's hit had occurred, also helped him mentally, he admits. Then it must be said that after his concussion, he feared for his professional career. His bad performances made him doubt that he could make the jump in the pros next year, as he had always anticipated.

After discussing with the Flyers organization in recent weeks, however, reassured him. They were convinced by his play in Quebec City. He could join the Phantoms, in the American League, this Spring, once the season of the Remparts ends.

Two weeks away from his 20th birthday, in the last act of his four-year QMJHL career, Laberge can finally play in peace and try to bring the Remparts as far as possible. "I only have two career playoff wins. We will try to add this year. We have a team with a lot of character who finds ways to win every game", he analyzes, before looking at his years in junior hockey.

"Junior hockey is a school of life. There were some difficult times, but there were beautiful ones too. I built my character at a young age and that can only be beneficial for the future. I'll be ready to face the lows of a professional hockey career."

If what does not destroy us makes us stronger, Pascal Laberge is stronger today than ever.

 

[Magua]

“His bad performances made him doubt that he could make the jump in the pros next year, as he had always anticipated.

After discussing with the Flyers organization in recent weeks, however, reassured him. They were convinced by his play in Quebec City. He could join the Phantoms, in the American League, this Spring, once the season of the Remparts ends.”

They don’t have to make a decision until camp obviously. And I don’t think it does anything for his confidence to not give him a chance. But saying he can sit in the stands and practice this spring doesn’t set anything in stone for next year. Of course he’d join the Phantoms for their playoffs.

 

[Striiker]

At least he doesn’t need to get a brain transplant like Sanheim did.

True.

There was no choice but to replace it.

An occasional brain fart is one thing, but chronic brain farting is quite another.

 

[HammerTime44]

Watching the replay of the Soo game. They won 8-0. 7th goal kid pulled the lacrosse move. 8th goal was a between the legs tuck.

ESPN had both those goals in their top 10 plays of the night.

 

[Rebels57]

Another nice article about Laberge and everything he had to go through during his 4 Junior seasons.

L'après-tempête de Pascal Laberge

Thank you for sharing.

I think we take for granted what this kid has been through the last few years.

Im really pulling for him to find a nice groove and get on a path to the NHL.

 

[Coffe]

Just read that Linus Högberg has a 157 km/h (98 mph) slapshot - tied for 10th in the SHL. Make of that what you will.

 

[BernieParent]

I would absolutely love to start buying some juniors sweaters for our prospects. First things first - climb out of this Seventh Circle of Hell.

EDIT: You could even go get a throwback (if you could find them), and put them on there, e.g. for Frosty:

EDIT 2: Although there's nothing whatsoever wrong with this beauty:

That first jersey looks like it is made with burlap. I predict you would dehydrate like a raisin in about 20 seconds, Cap'n.

It rankles me that the junior gear is just as pricey as the NHL stuff, at least in the "official" outlets. My local Q team's jerseys run about $140, and the nearby AHL team's colours run about the same. I need to add the caveat that I had only the most passing of interests in either so I didn't check out alternative purchasing venues.

 

[TheKingPin]

Certainly seems like we may be able to count Laberge as a good pick again soon enough! Happy to see him do well recently.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Honestly, if we give him a couple more years, I think he could turn out to be a middle 6 winger. He has that ability.

2 years, at least, in the AHL could do wonders for him.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Just read that Linus Högberg has a 157 km/h (98 mph) slapshot - tied for 10th in the SHL. Make of that what you will.

Are they tracking that stuff in-game in the SHL?

 

[Appleyard]

Are they tracking that stuff in-game in the SHL?

Nu är det klart - här är spelarna som skjuter hårdast i SHL

Nope, basically a company went to all 14 teams and gave the players an opportunity over the year to have their shooting speed measured.

Full results of top 10s on each team.

SHL.se

Bernhardt shot 151 (94mph)

Kase+Lycksell either did not take part or were not top 10 on teams.

 

[Curufinwe]

Hard to believe it's already been four years since Ghost (and Vecchione) won the NCAA title on Wells Fargo Center ice. Time flies.