February 17, 2009

By Dave McMahon
Special to USAHockey.com

Those endless hours of playing street hockey in their driveway caught up to Monique Lamoureux and her twin sister, Jocelyn, this summer.

“My sister and I had to re-paint the garage,” Monique laughed. “There were tennis ball marks all over the place and the door had a bunch of dents in it from tennis balls. It was kind of boring, but we had to. We also had to repaint our shed, so it was part of family project that took a couple of weeks.”

Dents on the door and marks on the wall were probably the least of Linda Lamoureux’s concerns. If their mom had only known the other options.

“Usually we would shut the garage door and the put the net in front of the door so we wouldn’t ever lose the ball,” Monique laughed. “We thought that was better than hitting the car. But sometimes we’d forget to close the garage, so we’d hit the car and that would remind us to close the garage.”

That’s quite an intricate plan for the University of Minnesota freshman forward from Grand Forks, N.D. But it explains a lot about her sniping ability—she and Jocelyn were always shooting.

The results are showing, as Monique—Jocelyn too—is considered a candidate for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. Monique leads the nation with 64 points on 32 assists and 32 goals. Her 2.0 points per game ranks third nationally, and her 32 goals are second-best in the country. No one has more assists than Monique, and her four shorthanded goals are tied for first in the nation.

There’s plenty of hockey to go around in the Lamoureux household. Jocelyn is hanging right with her sister with 55 points (24 goals, 31 assists) in 32 games. Her 1.72 points per game ranks ninth nationally.

Father Jean-Pierre was a goalie at the University of North Dakota and helped the Fighting Sioux win a pair of NCAA titles. Brother Philippe also played at UND and now tends goal for the Alaska Aces of the ECHL. Brother Mario currently plays for North Dakota, and Jacque plays for the Air Force Academy. Pierre Paul plays at the University of Manitoba. Linda, meanwhile, has an extensive swimming background and has run in more than 20 marathons.

Suffice to say, this family is far from athletically challenged.

“There were always lots of sports going on at our house,” Monique said. “Hockey was always the main one, but my sister and I played soccer, baseball, gymnastics, basketball. Pretty much anything you can think of, we played it.”

And that meant letting the skates collect some dust after the winter season.

“We would play hockey during the season, but when it wasn’t in the winter, we were moving on to something else,” she said. “We would go to one or two hockey camps during the summer, but that was about it. Our parents didn’t want us playing year-round. They didn’t want us to get burned out or sick of it.”

Looking back, Monique concurs that taking such an approach was beneficial to her development.

“I know nowadays there are kids 10 years old that are playing one sport year-round,” she said. “That’s not really a way to develop as an athlete. It definitely helped me to play multiple sports throughout the years. It makes you more of a complete player and a better athlete.”

And if that means being the only girls on a baseball team, go for it, Monique says.

“It wasn’t a traveling baseball team or anything like that, but we were on a team with Mario and Pierre Paul, and it was a lot of fun,” she said. “We both pitched. We did gymnastics for eight years, up until fifth or sixth grade. It started to overlap with hockey or swimming or something else we were doing, so the times didn’t work out. Now that we’re in college, we’re training for hockey six days a week during the summer, sometimes twice a day.”

Monique still likes to get in a game of soccer with friends, and has taken spinning classes as part of her training routine.

“We’re always trying to change things up a little, just to keep it from getting a little too monotonous.”

As a youngster, that was never an issue. The Lamoureux kids had dream-like neighborhood setup for as much hockey as they wanted to play.

“We had a pond right across the street from our house. It was in the neighbor’s back yard,” Monique said. “There was a big spotlight out there and you could see from our window if the light was on. If it was on, we went over. If it wasn’t on, we’d call them up and ask if we could come over. My brothers would invite a bunch of their friends, and we’d have some good games of shinny going on.

“My mom would blow a whistle to let us know it was time to come inside for the night. She usually had to blow it a few times.”

The hockey kids on the block had done alright for themselves. One of the neighbors—Scott Howe—plays at the Air Force Academy. Keith Howe plays on the varsity at Red River High School. Former University of Minnesota standout Ryan Potulny also would join games on the pond.

“Jocelyn and I have the same passion now that we did back then on the pond,” she said. “All of us do. We’ll still play street hockey in the driveway.”

Monique brings a pond hockey-feel to the game that sets special players apart.

“I definitely didn’t expect to have as much success as I’m having,” Monique said. “I had high expecations for myself coming into the year, but this will just set some new expectations for years to come. We’re just trying to keep improving and get to the national tournament.”

Monique is no stranger to taking on competition from all corners of the country. During her four years at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, she was on three teams that won USA Hockey 19-Under National Tournament titles. Beyond the Frozen Four in Boston, Monique has her sights set on the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

“It’s a big goal of mine,” she said. “It’s been my goal since the last Olympics. It’s always been my number one goal to go to the Olympics, and now my eyes are set on 2010.”

In the meantime, being considered as potential candidate for the Patty Kazmaier Award brings Monique a sense of accomplishment.

“I remember when Krissy Wendell and our coach, Natalie Darwitz, were in the final three one year,” Monique said. “The award has some big expectations.”

Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.