Joey Payeur
After reaching the high point of his junior career, Jordan Larson found out how sudden and how painful the descent can be.
The Fort Frances native was left watching in searing frustration, along with the rest of his Carleton Place Canadians teammates, as the host Portage Terriers revelled in the wake of Sunday’s 5-2 win in the RBC Cup final.
“It’s still obviously upsetting,” said Larson, who turned 20 last Wednesday but had the Terriers ruin the party for him.
“It’s tough to swallow to lose the national championship game,” he admitted.
“But we have a lot to be happy about,” Larson added.
“We won our league and I’m proud of our accomplishments this year.”
Larson was the hero Saturday in the Canadians’ 2-1 victory over the Penticton Vees in the semi-finals, scoring at 3:43 of double overtime to propel his squad to its second-straight national final—and, unfortunately for them, a second-straight loss in the game.
“It was a crazy game,” Larson said about the victory over the Vees.
“‘Stewie’ [Tyson Stewart] got the puck along the wall and got it to [Ryker] Killins for a shot,” he recalled.
“I happen to be going to the net and I was able to put it in.
“That was a big win for our team to beat Penticton, who has been the powerhouse of the BCHL,” Larson said.
Larson, who finished the tournament tied for sixth in scoring with three goals and two assists in seven games, said the Canadians didn’t get the bounces against the Terriers in the final.
“It was a game between two good teams,” he remarked.
“Anyone could have won that game.”
Larson had three prime scoring chances over a six-minute span in the second period that didn’t go his way.
Portage goalie Zac Robidoux stopped him from in close with a great pad save after Stewart’s pass out front from behind the net.
A minute-and-a-half later, Robidoux got in front of a Larson blast from the top of the right circle.
Then midway through the stanza, Larson took a pass right in front of the Terriers’ net and tried to stickhandle around Robidoux—only to have a Portage defenceman knock the puck off his stick at the last second.
“I thought I could have had three goals but I just didn’t get the puck luck,” he lamented.
“On the last one, their guy made a nice play.”
Larson was gracious in defeat when referring to best friend and Terriers’ defenceman Davis Ross, who scored a second-period goal in the final to help beat his former longtime teammate in the Fort Frances Minor Hockey Association.
“Davis played an awesome game and deserved that goal, and he could have had two more,” Larson said.
“He deserved to win.”
When the game was over, the TSN cameras caught Larson unable to hold back the tears while watching the Terriers enjoy their moment in the sun.
“I wanted to win it so bad for the guys who lost last year,” stressed the former Fort Frances Laker.
“I watched last year’s final and I said I wouldn’t be that guy crying on national TV,” he noted.
“I never wanted to do that.”
Larson had a tempestuous start to his season—playing five games with the Pembroke Lumber Kings before being shipped to the Gloucester Rangers.
“I wasn’t very happy because I didn’t want to be playing there,” he confessed about Gloucester.
“They were not a contending team and I had been in junior long enough that I wanted a chance to win,” added Larson, who never suited up for the Rangers.
“I got traded to Carleton Place and I loved it there,” he enthused.
“It really worked out for me.”
No player ever gets to that level in their playing career on their own—something Larson is more than aware of.
“Obviously, without my parents, Shirley and Don, I wouldn’t have got through the rough start to the year,” said Larson, who also credited his sister, Alyssa, and brother, Justin, for their support.
“But, in the end, I wouldn’t have changed it for anything.”
Carleton Place, meanwhile, is staring at a huge challenge in its attempt to “three-peat” as CCHL champs and get another crack at the brass ring.
A total of 10 Canadians played their final junior game Sunday, leaving Larson entering his last year in a position to have to assume a larger leadership role.
“It’s going to be hard,” he predicted.
“We’ve got a big target on us as the league champions, and every team wants to beat you and say something to you,” he noted.
