Marcel Lafortune has made a name for himself as the highest-scoring player in the Premier Ball Hockey League, where he amassed 10 goals and 14 assists this year with the Vancouver Falcons.
But now he’s setting his sights on a world championship.
The Port Coquitlam ball hockey player is heading to an international tournament in the Czech Republic next month, where he will put on the Maple Leaf and hopes to lead Canada to a gold medal.
He was chosen to don the red and white after a stellar performance during a national tournament last year.
“The select teams scout the nationals,” he said. “They keep an eye out. They know who the top players are.”
This is not his first time he has played at the international level.
Back in 2011, he and Team Canada made it all the way to the finals, where they lost to the hosting Team Slovakia 3-1.
“It was a crazy atmosphere,” he said of the tournament.
This year, Lafortune believes it is Team USA that is aiming to spoil Canada’s championship hopes.
“They are really strong,” he said. “The rumours I hear is that all their best guys are going.”
Lafortune came to ball hockey later in life.
While he grew up on the ice — he spent a few years in the Coquitlam Chiefs minor hockey program — he said his family moved around a lot and it was hard to get established in any one particular place.
“I was alway pretty good,” he said. “It just never amounted to anything. I tried out for a couple of junior teams but by then there was so much that I had missed.”
Ball hockey is his second chance, he said.
When he was 20 years old, a friend asked him to come out and play on their team.
After being a bit unsure at first, Lafortune fell in love with the sport and quickly worked his way up the ranks. He started out in C Division before moving up step-by-step to the Premier Division, where he has lit up the scoreboard at least once a game this year with the Vancouver Falcons.
He said it might not be the NHL, but he is proud of the fact he gets to represent Canada in an international competition.
“You are playing for your country,” he said. “You are at an elite level... It is a great achievement and it’s pretty cool to get to go there.”
Ball hockey is a different game, he said, and a good player needs the cardio to keep up with all the running. He added that in hockey a player can glide on their skates and let the momentum carry them, something that is not possible for shoe-wearing runners on a concrete floor.
“In ice hockey you can cheat,” he said. “In ball hockey, there is no cheating… There is no gliding whatsoever. If you stop running, you’re pretty much done.”
Staying focused on hockey can be difficult when you have two young boys, a wife and a concrete finishing and hardwood flooring business, he said. But he still finds a way to compete against some of the top calibre players in the country — and the world — and said he is looking forward to playing in Europe next month.
“It’s nice I can still play with these young kids,” he said. “I’m still considered one of the best players in the league. I am getting up there, though.”
@TriCityNews
