Feature Story

Feature Story

Four-year career near end for Lamoureux

By Jon Garver

With two weeks left to play in the USHL season, the reality for many is that their careers in America’s Tier I league are about to come to an end. Tri-City’s Mario Lamoureux is one of those players. The Storm won’t be making the playoffs in 2007-08, so for Lamoureux there won’t be any late surges for playoff position, and no chance to play for a national title. It will just be an end to the regular season, the capper to his four-year junior career.

Four years is a long time. Four years will bring you to the next Olympics. Four years can get you a college education. Four years is a term in the oval office. A lot can be accomplished in four years. Although it is common for players to play Major Junior in Canada for four years, it is rare for a player to stick around that long in the USHL. Most players who come through the league will stay for one or two years. There are some players who remain in the league for three years, too, but four years? You’re getting into some rarified air when you find one that has been around that long.

Mario Lamoureux is one of them. The 2007-08 season is the fourth in the USHL for native of Grand Forks, N.D. He has done and seen a lot in his time in the USHL, all of it spent with the Tri-City Storm. He has played 231 career games in the USHL’s western-most market. His offensive numbers have gotten better in each of his four seasons and he recently became the team’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing the 120 points that Bill Thomas put up in 2002-04.

The four years have given Lamoureux time to hone his game, both on and off the ice. “I’ve tried to develop my skill,” he said. “I’ve had to grow a lot and now I have more responsibilities.”

The honing has paid off, as Lamoureux will follow in the footsteps of his father, Pierre, and his brother Philippe (who played for Lincoln from 2001-04), and play for his hometown University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux beginning next season.

Originally committed elsewhere, Lamoureux said, “my parents and I decided to pursue other options, and North Dakota seemed to be the best fit for me.” The goal for Lamoureux in his career at UND is simple. “At UND, I will have a chance to win a championship every year,” he said.

His fourth season in Kearney, where team members “are somewhat of a celebrity,” has not only given Lamoureux his best offensive season in the USHL, but it has also provided him with his biggest thrill in hockey to date. “Playing junior hockey with my brother Pierre” is what Lamoureux marks as his career highlight. Pierre spent the last three seasons playing in the Western Hockey League with the Red Deer Rebels before being picked up by the Storm prior to the season.

Four years is a long time – an eternity in the world of junior hockey. For Mario Lamoureux, he’s spent that time in the USHL and he summed up his four years in a nutshell by saying “I’ve played a lot of games, met a lot of people and have lifelong friends.”

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