Lamoureux's desire runs deep

Dedication on and off the ice is a trait that many organizations look for in players, to build a strong network of team-mates and a system full of character.  Scouting staffs have detailed assessments of troubled players that are used to augment any information collected on a player’s on-ice abilities.  I would be quite interested to see how recent developments have coloured the reports on Air Force’s 6’1”, 183 pound centre, Jacques Lamoureux.

The son of University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux goalie Pierre Lamoureux, his impressive family athletic ties hardly stop there.  Mother Linda is a marathoner and swam for the University of North Dakota in her college days.  Jacques’ twin sisters are freshman forwards at the University of Minnesota.  In fact, Monique is 3rd nationally with 30 points in 18 games (top freshmen) and Jocelyne is tied for 17^th with 22 points.  Their brother Jean-Philippe was the starting goalie for the Fighting Sioux in last spring’s NCAA tournament, a Hobey Baker Award finalist, was drafted by the St. Louis Blues, and now tends net for the Alaska Aces.  J.P. was named the ECHL’s rookie of the month recently for November 2008.  Finally, Mario skates as a freshman with the Fighting Sioux.  Despite the successes that gleam from the family, Jacques has battled his demons.

As a teenager, Jacques displayed some startlingly disturbing instances that include sleeping with a shotgun and nearly ending it all one Thanksgiving holiday in a parking garage.  I am not about to get into specifics or attempt to shed insight on the subject as I know very little on the subject of depression.  I encourage you to read the article by Colorado Springs Gazette columnist Kate Crandall, and the 28 November 2008 Rocky Mountain News column by Pat Rooney.  Both help to draw attention and light onto parts of Jacques’ current situation.

Much praise should be set aside for Jacques’ public speaking engagements on depression and how to deal with its onset, the effects, and treatments.  He has spoken to schools in Pennsylvania about the Yellow Ribbon Program, a community-based program that empowers and educates professionals, adults, and youth.  The international organization is donation based and runs a website at www.yellowribbon.org.  Lamoureux has similar engagements scheduled for the future in Colorado Springs.

Raised in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Jacques played three seasons of ‘Junior A’ hockey for the Bismark Bobcats in the North American Hockey League.  His pedigree, production, and progressive numbers made him an attractive conscript to Air Force’s hockey program; Falcons coach Frank Serratore took careful interest to recruit the talented forward for Air Force, as Jacques had been excelling in his studies as well.  Alas, the story took another deviation from the norm, as his history of mental quandaries denied his admission to the Academy.  Serratore’s friend at Northern Michigan, Head Coach Walt Kyle, was given notice of the situation and recruited Jacques to join the Spartans.  Lamoureux though grateful, was never fully in the moment, posting just 2 points and competing in only 16 games.  In watching his brother Jean-Philippe in the 2007 NCAA Frozen Four tournament held in Denver, Colorado, Jacques witnessed the Air Force Falcons nearly upset the top-ranked University of Minnesota.  Jacques felt the pangs overwhelm him to join Air Force Academy again and to try to make the ultimate difference.  Coach Kyle was approached by Jacques, who asked permission to transfer his academics to Air Force.  Due to policy changes and the fact that he could prove to have been off of medications for years, he was eventually accepted to Air Force.

Put on the school’s ‘red-shirt’ designation, which clears the competitor from play during season for the school and completes their medical hardship waiver, Jacques acclimated himself to life at Air Force and earned a 3.98 GPA in his freshman year.  His absent year on the ice and insertion into the Falcons’ lineup this campaign seems to have done both a world of good.  Lamoureux has led the school to an 11-1-0 record in-Conference record and a 14-2-0 record overall.  This has Air Force ranked 10^th nationally.  His line-mate Brent Olsen ranks 5^th in scoring nationally, and says that, “Jacques just brings an element of size and grit and tenacity.  He’s not afraid to go into corners and do battle.”  Lamoureux himself is one point shy of the national scoring lead with 24 points in 18 games.  Coach Serratore sums up Lamoureux’s play with the simple acclamation that, “he is a throwback, old-time hockey player.”

Playing superb hockey for the Falcons in the Atlantic Hockey Conference, which is not a perennial power Conference, has lent Lamoureux’s name into early Hobey Baker Award dialogues.  While sentimentality should never of serious consideration when making selections on an award of this calibre, one should not make light of the obstacles overcome to achieve excellence of this degree.  Watching the NCAA season and the many storylines unfold, Lamoureux’s journey with the Falcons will be of particular interest.

7 December 2008       

Robin Keith Thompson