Dan Falloon
Matt Caulfield is ready for his closeup.
After spending parts of two seasons as a bit player with the Dryden Ice Dogs, the Fort Frances Lakers last week acquired Caulfield and defenceman Brett Williams in exchange for Conner Foster and future considerations.
Transferring from a post-season challenger in Dryden to the last-place Lakers gives Caulfield a chance for an expanded role here.
“I’m happy. I’m going to try to make the best of whatever I get,” enthused Caulfield. “In Dryden, I was more of a penalty-killer, forechecking against the other team’s top line.
“A bit of a defensive role there,” he noted.
But with the Lakers, Caulfield hopes to be on the other side: the shadowed and not the shadow.
“I think I can put up a lot more points here,” stressed Caulfield, who notched six goals and 10 assists with the Ice Dogs.
“I’m going to try to be a lot more involved in the offensive zone than I was in Dryden,” he noted.
“I think we’re a pretty even team all-in-all, so we’ve just got to work all four lines together.”
Lakers’ coach and GM Wayne Strachan liked what he had seen from Caulfield in a limited role, and was excited to see the former Ice Dog in his lineup.
“He’s a player we’ve looked at for some time now and he’s a big, strong kid, good skater,” Strachan had said shortly after the trade was made.
After Caulfield’s first game, in which he recorded an assist on Cody Edwards’ goal, Strachan saw glimmers that Caulfield could grow into the player he had projected.
“For his first game, we’re happy,” Strachan remarked. “It’s probably a little bit of nerves getting traded, and his first night in a home building.”
Caulfield joined the Ice Dogs last season after playing junior ‘B’ hockey in Vancouver. He felt his time in Dryden had run its course and a change of scenery was welcome.
“Yeah, it was about time, I guess,” he admitted. “I’m just happy here that I’ll get the opportunity to play more.”
Caulfield still has another year of junior eligibility, and is open to returning to the Lakers next season. In his first few days, he’d found a camaraderie and was starting to settle in.
“I really like the guys and everything. I’m just still trying to get used to the systems and all that,” Caulfield explained after last Thursday night’s 7-4 loss to K&A here—his first game as a Laker.
“It would have been nice to have squeaked out a win [that night].”
After having been in the Ice For Kids Arena as a visitor, Caulfield knew what to look for as a member of the home team when he arrived in town.
“I knew the fans here were rowdy. I knew you would always get a good crowd,” he enthused.
