Jacques Welcomes Raimo To Calgary - Lafontaine and Tuominen

[SlapshotWrangler 864]

The following article was written prior to the start of the season.)

 

CALGARY - The Wranglers are poised to be Calgary’s best major league hockey team which you quickly realize is not much of an accomplishment when you watch the Flames play. Still, there is a lot of pressure along with the excitement, especially for a young rookie center preparing for his first season on big league ice. Being a high draft pick, expectations are lofty. The most pressing of expectations come from himself. Raimo Tuominen may be excited but...

 

“Yeah, naturally, I am a bit anxious.”

 

Thankfully, there is a player who was able to reach out and he hopes to give his guidance. A player who has been in this position before. A fourth overall pick who played his entire career with the Wranglers. Raimo is a forward but surely there is stuff to learn from Jacques Lafontaine, even if he is a goalie. Jacques was a starter for the Wranglers, whose steady and solid play earned him the starter’s net night after night. Fortunately for Raimo, Jacques has the perfect idea of a way that Raimo could clear his mind.

 

“Follow me and I’ll show you one of my secrets to success,” Lafontaine had said to the younger player.

 

It had been quite a while since Jacques strapped the pads for the Wranglers; now, he is a goalie coach for an AAA team here in Calgary. He has retired from playing; save for some beer league games he joined for fun. Regardless, he is on the rotation as an EBUG for the Calgary Flames. Still, Jacques had many connections in the city and with the team, so he was able to visit Raimo after a practice in the team locker room. Why would a goalie help out a forward?

 

“The goalies know the mental game and can master it better than any forward. No offense to any forwards out there but that is factual and I will not take any arguments. We have to know it better than anyone else on the ice if we want to perform well. It is a necessity for survival in between the pipes. Raimo is no goalie but he could learn a thing or two.”

 

According to Raimo, Jacques had told him in the locker room to wait in the players’ parking lot. 

They had just finished another day of training camp. Jacques left and Raimo quickly got his gear off, showered, and left the room.

 

Now outside, Raimo was patiently waiting for Jacques. However, as he looked around, he couldn’t see any trace of him. He waited for a bit longer. A helicopter passed over his head. Other than the whirring of the helicopter , it was dead silent.

 

“Hey Raimo, up here!”

 

The voice came from above Raimo’s head. It turns out Jacques was in the helicopter, holding a picnic basket and waving to Raimo. He threw down a rope ladder. Raimo was utterly terrified. He froze up for a bit, staring at Jacques in disbelief. Did he want him to climb the rope ladder?”

 

“Come on, you do want to know my secret for success right?”

 

Raimo sighed and steeled himself before desperately clinging on the the ladder, hoping nothing would happen. He scurried up the rope ladder unto the cockpit. Once he was in and secure, the rope ladder was pulled back in and the helicopter rose before landing on top of the Saddledome. The two guys got off the helicopter and along with the pilot, they had some tuna sandwiches on top of the ‘Dome.

 

Later, Jacques laughed at Raimo’s exasperated face after the former told the latter that he could have just taken some stairs and a ladder.