Jacques Lafontaine's Swan Song Season

[SlapshotWrangler 864]

CALGARY - It has been six seasons. Six action-packed, exciting seasons since Lafontaine first broke out into the league. It seems like yesterday that Jacques Lafontaine was the backup goalie to JB Rift, trying to make a name for himself. (Although, you could argue that he is still doing that now.) The young goaltender, nicknamed Laffy, has spent a good chunk of his career here in the Victory Hockey League. With the league’s rules on retirement though, this is supposed to be his second last season in the league. But it looks like we may not even see an eighth season from the goaltender.

 

“I’ve made my decision and I hope you can all respect it. I’ve already discussed it with my teammates and General Managers but I have made the decision to retire. I’ve already squeezed out all that I could do in the Victory Hockey League and I want to not only give Asky [Askarov] a chance to play but I also wanted to end my career in my home away from home, Calgary. It has been an honour to play for this wonderful organization. Now, let’s get a cup this season!”

[Victor 11,043]

Oof at Calgary retirements. End of an era.

 

If this season was going better, I would say this is a risky move for Lafontaine's HOF prospects. As it stands, you probably miss out anyway but a very solid career - even if there isn't a cup to cap it off I think anyone would look at those playoff stats (and some performances like that loss to Calgary) and agree it wasn't Lafontaine's fault.