PENTICTON – Nearly a year ago Karel St. Laurent was wondering if his professional hockey dreams were over.
After an outstanding performance in the Canucks prospects' 4-3 overtime win over the Calgary Flames prospects, St. Laurent's aspirations appear to be very much alive.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound goaltender, who's here on tryout contract, delivered a 44-save beauty, while centre Nathan Longpre – also on a tryout – had two goals and assisted on the OT winner just 16 seconds into the extra period.
St. Laurent, 20, who put in a solid 24:12 of relief, stopping 13 of 14 shots, in Sunday's 7-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers prospects, fround himself without a team to play for last October when he was cut by the St. John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior League.
“It was pretty hard,” said St. Laurent, who's from the Montreal suburb of Ville Ste-Catherine “I'd been drafted by St. John so it was home for me and at first I was pretty down. But I talked with family and friends and there was a future for me.”
The future was a move to the Surrey Eagles of the BC Hockey League. Yes, it was a step down from major junior, but the BCHL is a high-level league and St. Laurent would be the No. 1 goalie.
“It opened the door for me and I'm really thankful to them,” said Laurent, who had a 19-12-1 record and goals-against average of 2.74 with Surrey. “To go junior A and to work on my game, it was really important for me. It made me a better goalie and a better person. I just enjoyed the moment. It got me an invite here and I'm just thankful for everything that's happening.
The Canucks thought enough of him that they invited him to their July rookie camp. St. Laurent was over the moon when they called in August, offering him a spot in the prospects tournament.
“Just to be here now I'm really thankful to get an opportunity and I'm just trying to make the most of it,” said St. Laurent. The immediate goal, of course is to get to main camp, but that's still a few steps away.
“I just want to show what I can do,” he said.
Canucks defenceman Yann Sauve was a teammate of St. Laurent for two seasons in St. John and isn't surprised to see him doing well.
“When it he was in St. John he was back and forth,” said Sauve, who had a strong game himself. “Playing time is an amazing thing. You can improve so much if you're playing a lot. Me and Karel were pretty good friends in St. John. He had an amazing game tonight. I'm happy for him. He's worked hard to get here.”
Abbotsford's Kellan Tochkin and Antoine Roussel (OT winner) also scored for the Canucks, as the prospects put in a much more cohesive effort than in Sunday's 7-2 blowout.
Winger Bill Sweatt left the game late in the third period, but coach Craig MacTavish wouldn't elaborate on his condition, offering: “He had a little bruise there and we'll assess him tomorrow.”
The prospects get a day off tomorrow and play San Jose on Wednesday.
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