LaFontaine leads Vees in net

The Penticton Vees head into this week of games with wins in five of their past seven, and in that stretch have allowed 11 goals.

On the year, the Vees have allowed a league-low 26 goals in their 12 games. A big reason for that is their 20-year-old starting goalie Jack LaFontaine, who brings a wealth of experience in his untraditional path to the B.C. Hockey League.

From Mississauga, Ont., LaFontaine does, however, come from a traditional hockey market. He called the suburb of Toronto a "hockey hotbed."

"Grew up with a lot of good hockey players in the neighbourhood... Hockey was almost like a religion growing up there, even in the summertime we were always playing outdoors, still do it today."

He noted he grew up playing with the Strome and McLeod families. Two of the three Strome siblings, Ryan and Dylan, are in the NHL, while one of the three McLeods, Michael, has an NHL contract and is on his way up.

Other current NHLers from the city include John Tavares, the first-overall draft pick in 2009, and Jason Spezza who was drafted second overall in 2001.

Lafontaine was a third-round NHL draft pick to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2016 and already has two seasons under his belt at the NCAA level, along with experience at development camps with the Hurricanes. 

He played at the University of Michigan from 2016 to 2018 and will be back there in 2019, after his one-year stint in the BCHL.

"The transition was different for me. I think my whole hockey career I've always had to speed up my game in order to transition to the next level. Here it's a little bit different, where I kind of have to slow down everything a little bit just so I can get the timing down and what not," he said.

As the oldest player on the Vees and with the experience he brings, Lafontaine is naturally a leader on this year's club.

"And that's obviously not being the most vocal, telling defensemen or forwards what to do necessarily. But I think it's leading by example, whether that's on the ice or off the ice. In the weight room, being away from the rink, it's kind of that stuff," he said.

LaFontaine said playing in Penticton is his first time being out west, and he said the transition phase off the ice has been positive.

"The coaching staff, the billet family, all my teammates, they've been great... Just as an organization it really shows how much Penticton cares about their players."

The 20-year-old LaFontaine has played nine games so far and has a 1.88 goals-against average on the year, second-best in the BCHL, and he's tied for the league lead in shutouts.

The Vees, now 7-4-0-1 on the season, will look to keep climbing the BCHL standings with a road game Friday against the West Kelowna Warriors before hosting the Chilliwack Chiefs on Saturday at the South Okanagan Events Centre.