Difficult decision brings Lofquist to Guelph
By Dave Pollard, You’ll have to forgive Sam Lofquist if he makes a few wrong turns on his way to and from the Sleeman Centre over the next little while.
After all, the Guelph Storm’s newest addition has only been in the Royal City less than two weeks.
“I still get lost on my way home,” Lofquist, a 19-year-old defenceman from Somerset, Wisconsin, said with a smile.Sure, Lofquist might need a GPS to aid in the journey to his billet house for a while longer but he doesn’t appear to need any help finding his way around the defensive zone. Even though he has only played three games since joining the Storm has a free agent earlier this month, it’s pretty clear the 6-foot-2, 205-pound rearguard knows how to play the game at both ends of the ice.
“He’s got the attributes to be a pro defenceman,” Storm head coach and general manager Jason Brooks said of Lofquist. “He’s a good skater and he moves the puck well. He’s such a smart, intuitive kid he can pick up things easily and he has done so in a short period of time. I think he’s fit in fine. He works hard, he’s competitive. He’s a sponge, he wants to learn and get better. There’s a common denomination in it all — he wants to be a hockey player. In the past we’ve had success with moving to the pro ranks so hopefully we can continue that trend.”
No question it’s going to take Lofquist some time to get completely comfortable in his new surroundings. He’s joining a new team in a new city — and a new country, for that matter — in a largely unfamiliar league. The only Storm teammate he knew at all was Taylor Beck, and that was as an acquaintance more than anything. Never mind the fact he’s now playing in the Ontario Hockey League, which is significantly different than the U.S. college game he became accustomed to over the last year at the University of Minnesota.
“Definitely (there will be) an adjustment,” Lofquist said. “These first three games I’ve taken some time to adjust. It definitely is different. But the guys have been great, they have been awesome.”
The Storm landed Lofquist when he decided to leave school after playing just three of eight games with the Golden Gophers this season. In 2008-09 he played 35 games, scoring once and assisting on three others. Whatever reasons Lofquist had for leaving Minnesota, he’s keeping them to himself.
“It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life,” he said before politely declaring the topic off-limit. But he will admit the Storm was always the OHL team he wanted to sign with, despite interest from others.
“They have a great track record with (defencemen) and I loved the coaching staff,” Lofquist said. “When I flew here I got calls from London and Kitchener. But I had already decided on Guelph.”
Brooks worked hard to cultivate a personal relationship with Lofquist for the last two years but that time proved to be well spent when the U.S. National Team Development Team graduate started looking for a new place to play.
“There was communication between us and the Lofquist family for a couple of years,” Brook said. “I made a trip last year to visit him. I let him know Guelph would be a destination he’d like to choose if the situation came up. We kept in touch and the kid and I stuck up a decent rapport. He’d check in with us and we’d check in with him. I feel very fortunate he decided to come. I got to know the kid outside the hockey player and it was nice to do that.”
If Lofquist felt the OHL might be a better route to pro hockey, he isn’t saying. But it’s safe to say the NHL hasn’t showed any interest the last couple of years — he’s gone undrafted twice, including last year when he made it on to the NHL Central Scouting list.
That could change this year if Lofquist shows the promise he did with the NDTP and Shattuck-St. Mary’s, one of the most prestigious high school hockey programs south of the border.
“Itinitally it’s frustrating,” Lofquist said of getting passed over by the NHL. “I sat down and said it would be the best thing that ever happened to me. It motivates me every day. But I just want to help the team win and everything else will take care of itself.”
Dave Pollard is Senior Sports Editor with www.canoe.ca
Throughout the 2008/09 season, articles written by Dave Pollard will be published exclusively on GuelphStorm.com.
