Lucas Punkari
With the first half of his inaugural campaign with the Pembroke Lumber Kings set to conclude this weekend, Fort Frances native Jordan Larson has had a blast so far plying his trade in the CCHL.
“It’s been an awesome experience here in Pembroke,” the 17-year-old centre enthused.
“Everyone in the town has been awesome, and to be a part of the Lumber Kings’ organization is a great feeling,” he added.
Coming off a 69-point campaign with his hometown Lakers’ last season, in which he captured the SIJHL’s rookie-of-the-year award, Larson was dealt to the Lumber Kings over the summer for a player development fee and quickly got a taste of what life was like in the CCHL.
“The major difference is that there is never a night off or a shift off,” he stressed.
“Every team is pretty much the same and every game is a close one, so you have to keep working out there.
“I felt like I was able to settle in really quickly and I actually found the adjustment to be pretty easy,” he added.
“But I have to make sure that I keep it going.”
Heading into the CCHL’s annual showcase event this weekend, Larson has 29 points (nine goals and 20 assists) in 31 games for the Lumber Kings, which puts him third in team scoring.
“Compared to last year in Fort Frances, I’ve done a lot better with my strength in competing against the older and stronger guys that are in this league,” he explained.
“My skating’s been getting a lot better as I’ve had to keep up with the top guys in this league.
“And our line [of Ben Dalpe and Stephen Hrehoriak] relies on our speed, so I’m trying to work on that,” he added.
Larson’s line had a very strong game back on Sept. 30, when they were involved of four of their team’s goals in a 6-5 loss to the visiting Smiths Falls Bears.
“I think our entire line had three or four points that night, so that was a big individual game for all of us,” recalled Larson, who scored a goal and assisted on three others against the Bears.
“We played good as a line but we just couldn’t pull out the win there.”
A few weeks later, though, the Fort Frances native found himself on the sidelines for nearly a month after sustaining a Grade 2 tear in his left MCL following a knee-on-knee hit during a road win over the Gloucester Rangers in late October.
“We didn’t really know how bad it actually was, so we just took it week by week and kept an eye on how I was feeling,” Larson noted.
“When I went to the physiotherapist, he said I could maybe be out for two weeks or up to six weeks at least, so we just never really knew how long I was going to be out for until I felt good on the ice once again,” he said.
Following a 6-3 loss to the Carleton Place Canadians on Sunday, the Lumber Kings sit in second place in the CCHL’s Yzerman Division with a record of 23-13-1-1, and are just three points back of the Ottawa Jr. Senators for top spot.
“We’re a really young team, which is a complete change from last year in Fort Frances when I played with an older team,” Larson said.
“There are no 20-year-olds here so we are all about youth this year, and we need to play with a jump in our step and keep up a high excitement level every night,” he stressed.
Larson said a big turning point in the Lumber Kings’ season came at home Nov. 18 when they beat the defending CCHL champion Nepean Raiders 4-2.
“That was a big team game for us,” he remarked. “We not only proved to ourselves that we could keep up with a team like Nepean, but we also showed to the rest of the league that we can keep up with the top teams.
“I think in our first two games against them, we lost by scores of 6-1 and 6-2, so that game meant a lot to us.”
Over the last couple of weeks, Larson and his teammates have had to get used to a new face behind the bench after long-time Lumber Kings’ head coach Sheldon Keefe left the team after a 3-0 loss to the Smiths Falls Bears on Dec. 2 to accept a position with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds.
“It was a huge shock when he came in after the loss and told us that that was his last game with us,” Larson recalled.
“None of the guys really knew how to take it or knew what to do, and I don’t think a lot of them thought that it was really happening.
“It’s a big change, but you obviously have to congratulate Sheldon as it was a great move for him and he’ll do a good job there,” he added.
Replacing Keefe as head coach and general manager of the Lumber Kings is Scott Mohns, who is someone Larson and rest of the team already were quite familiar with.
“He’s been with Sheldon as an assistant coach for about four years now and he’s learned a lot from him,” Larson explained.
“We actually got a little taste of what Scott is like as a head coach when Sheldon went to be a part of Team Canada East at the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge, and we did well with him then and we are doing well with him so far.
“It’s always going to a big change with someone new in charge, and Sheldon’s a great coach who knew when to push us hard, but we will all get used to Scott pretty quickly here,” he reasoned.
With the stretch run toward the post-season looming large in the CCHL, Larson is determined to help his team any way he can as the Lumber Kings look to win their sixth league title in seven years.
“I think it comes down to being consistent day in and day out,” Larson said.
“Sometimes we are a little too loose in practice or between periods, and that’s how we’ve blown our leads and given up points,” he admitted.
“I just want to do anything to help the team win as I came down here to try and win a championship, and that’s what I want to do.”
