Laferriere owes older sister big-time for work ethic

Alex Laferriere went to the L.A. Kings with the 83rd pick. (Michaela Schnetter/Des Moines Buccaneers)

When Alex Laferriere talks about how far he’s come in his burgeoning hockey career, the 18-year-old forward from Chatham, N.J., always makes sure to thank one particular person — his older sister, Sophie.

Without her forcing him to get back on the ice when he was a kid after he wanted to quit his skating lessons, Laferriere wouldn’t be where he is today — leading the Des Moines Buccaneers in scoring in his first full season in the United States Hockey League, with 43 points (17 goals, 26 assists) in 41 games, and 68th among North American skaters in National Hockey League Central Scouting’s midterm rankings for the 2020 NHL Draft.

“I owe everything to Sophie,” the 5-foot-11, 172-pounder said. “She was one of my best friends growing up, so I did mostly everything with her. I grew up idolizing her and admire everything about her, especially her work ethic.”

Sophie, who was a figure skater for two years, quit skating after Alex started embracing it, and turned her attention to swimming instead. She’s now a sophomore at Ohio State, where she swims for the university’s club team.

Another person Alex is grateful for is his dad, Rob, who was a forward for one season at Princeton and three seasons at Boston College in the early 1990s.

In the first five of Alex’s seven seasons playing for the New Jersey Colonials during his earliest hockey-playing years, Rob was his coach.

“Those five years were the best years of my life,” Alex said. “It made me fall in love with hockey. My dad was a good coach, and he didn’t really care how I played. I was young, so he just wanted to teach me the core values of being a good teammate, never having bad body language and how to be a good leader.”

Rob, a native of East Freetown, Mass., also instilled a love for Boston sports teams in Alex.

“I know a lot of people from New Jersey don’t like that,” Alex said, chuckling. “I watched the Bruins a lot growing up, and the main person I looked up to was Patrice Bergeron. I also watched (New England Patriots quarterback) Tom Brady a lot. Their leadership on and off the ice or field and how they played was huge to me.”

In Alex’s final two campaigns with the Colonials, he skated for coach Noel Rubin. He then switched to the North Jersey Avalanche for two years, during which he also played for Chatham High School as a freshman and a sophomore.

“The Avalanche organization was great,” Laferriere said. “I played for Larry Robbins, who had a lot of resources for us. He’s a great coach, a smart guy, and how he saw the game from the bench and gave us little pointers was a big point in my life.

“And playing for Chatham was always a dream of mine growing up since I went to the high school games. It was a lot of fun getting to play in front of my classmates and my best friends. It’s a different environment from the travel games; you’re playing in front of a bigger crowd and people you know, and you want to make everybody proud of you.”

Another goal of Laferriere’s was to play prep school hockey, which he accomplished when he left the Garden State to suit up for Kent School in Connecticut last season after talking with the school’s coach, Dale Reinhardt, as well as Avalanche teammate and fellow forward Michael Posma (Pomona, N.Y.).

“I wanted to push myself there since it’s such a great league,” Laferriere explained. “It was one of the best decisions of my life. I had a great coaching staff, and I owe a lot of my success to them. They were great role models for me. It was different being away from home; there was less travel and I stayed and lived with my teammates, which was fun.”

Laferriere’s roommate at Kent was Posma, and having him by his side helped him quickly adjust to his new surroundings.

“He was one of my best friends with the Avs,” Laferriere said of Posma. “He’s still my best friend today and we talk all the time. Being able to play with him helped me succeed.”

Posma is in his first season with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, which makes for additional motivation when they and the Buccaneers oppose each other.

“We have a little rivalry,” Laferriere said, chuckling. “It’s fun playing against them.”

Laferriere first faced the RoughRiders last season, when he suited up in a dozen games for the Buccaneers across three promotions. And while the right-handed shooter didn’t record a point in any of those matches, his first in the USHL, he valued every moment of his time in the circuit.

“It was a learning experience for me,” Laferriere said. “Being able to practice with the team and getting a few touches on the ice during games was huge. The pace of play is a lot faster and the players are a lot bigger, and it showed me what I needed to work on during the summer and how much bigger I needed to get.”

After two scoreless appearances to start this season, Laferriere finally broke through, and he did so in a big way, notching four points in back-to-back games (3-1-4 in the first and 2-2-4 in the second) at the beginning of what became a six-game point streak.

“I was given a great opportunity to play with Michael Mancinelli and Yaroslav Alexeyev, two great players who have experience playing in junior, and I built a connection with them,” Laferriere said. “After I scored my first goal, they all started coming, and I owe a lot to them.”

Laferriere hasn’t looked back, emerging as one of the Buccaneers’ most potent scoring threats and hardest workers.

“Alex is a smart, two-way forward who has a dangerous offensive skill set,” Buccaneers head coach Peter Mannino said. “He has really smart instincts, a strong pro stride that’s long and powerful, and a heavy and strong stick where he can snap passes and really rip into pucks. He’s got a great shot that he’s really grown into.

“He has very high character and always wants to learn and hear feedback. He’s a worker, always wants more, always wants to get on the ice and get the tutelage that can help him improve. He’s an ultimate competitor on and off the ice. He wants to win, wants to contribute. He can get real competitive when there’s a challenge at hand.”

Laferriere was named to the United States club that competed at the 2019 World Junior A Challenge, where the Americans won the bronze medal. It was the first time he represented his country.

“It was an honor and a surreal moment for me to wear the USA logo on my chest,” Laferriere said. “I had a lot of fun meeting new people and playing alongside other great players. It’s a tournament I’ll never forget. It’s tough we didn’t win, but the bounce didn’t go our way in one game. It definitely puts a chip on my shoulder. A dream of mine is to win a gold medal, so I’m going to work really hard to get another opportunity to earn that chance.”

Laferriere’s trajectory as a person and a player shows that he’ll likely get that opportunity. In addition to his growth on the ice, he’s matured by leaps and bounds physically.

“I was undersized when I was younger and because of that I was overlooked by a lot of people,” Laferriere said. “I didn’t get picked for a lot of teams, in particular the select teams. But that’s helped me a lot because I want to prove everybody that overlooked me wrong and prove everybody who believed in me right.”

Some of the people who have faith in him are members of the Crimson coaching staff at Harvard, where Laferriere is scheduled to begin playing for the 2021-22 season, although he might start playing there as soon as next season.

“I’ve always wanted to play in Boston. It’s a great location and one of the top schools in the world,” Laferriere said. “It’s a dream come true.”

But before he returns to New England, Laferriere could have another dream become a reality in four months if his name gets called at the NHL Draft. And if it does, there’s no doubt he’ll once again thank Sophie.

@LeoScaglioneJr

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