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Sophomore transfer Jacques Lamoureux headed into the bye week, leading not just the Falcons in scoring, but the entire country.
And despite the Falcons not playing over the weekend, Lamoureux’s 11 goals and 19 total points through the Falcons first eight games still tops the nation.
It’s easy to look at the production of the “flow line,” made up of Lamoureux, Brent Olson (3 goals, 14 assists) and Josh Frider (7 goals, 5 assists) and see that they are a major driving factor behind Air Force’s best start in school history.
The flow line so far has been the nation’s most productive scoring line and not only is Lamoureux leading the country in scoring, but Olson is second behind him in total points and leads the nation in assists. Frider comes in at a cool 11th in total points and is fourth in goals scored.
“It’s unbelievable those two,” Olson said of his linemates. “They are both just such natural goal scorers. It makes my job real easy… they give me a peace of mind, knowing that if I don’t have a shot they are going to be open and be able to find the back of the net.”
It’s not that Olson has trouble finding the back of the net on his own either. The senior from Minnesota did lead the Falcons with 18 goals last season.
He’s just had so much help around him this season, his job description seems to have changed a little.
Two years ago it would’ve seemed an impossible dream this line would have ever been put together in the first place.
Two years ago it didn’t seem Lamoureux would ever have the opportunity to fulfill his dream of playing for AFA.
Lamoureux had been recruited to play at the academy by coach Frank Serratore and he knew it was where he wanted to go play. Unfortunately, just a couple weeks before school was set to start Lamoureux discovered he wouldn’t be able to play for the Falcons.
He had been denied medical clearance to enroll at Air Force.
Jacques had battled clinical depression as a teenager in North Dakota and had even at one time come close to ending his own life at the age of 16.
He had gone through therapy and felt as if his life was back on the right track. He was open with Serratore and was told it shouldn’t be an issue. Then, it became one.
“When he committed to come here and then couldn’t I felt responsible,” Serratore said. “I felt horrible, so I got on the phone and called up a couple of my buddies and we created an option for him at Northern Michigan.”
Lamoureux was disappointed, but grateful for the opportunity to be able to play. However, he just never felt it was the right fit for him there.
“If I hadn’t spent that year there I wouldn’t be the player I am today, but I wasn’t seeing much ice time and as a player that is very frustrating,” Lamoureux said. “And seeing Air Force do so well made me want to be here even more.”
Lamoureux saw action in only 16 games for the Wildcats that season, tallying just one goal and one assist. After watching Air Force lose a heartbreaker to Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA tournament, he picked up the phone and called Serratore.
“I told him ‘I still really want to come’” Lamoureux said. “‘Is there any chance you could get me in?’”
Serratore told him to talk to his coach at Northern and tell him of his wishes and then reapply.
Lamoureux did just that and this time the medical board passed him through.
He was then forced to sit out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, but got to adjust to academy life and practice with the team.
As a sophomore by academy standards, life can still be a little rough for him, but he has learned to stay positive and work through his problems.
It helps that his linemate, senior Josh Frider, is in the same squadron as him.
“As you get older things get a little lighter at this school,” Frider said, adding that he is a security officer and he pulled some strings to get Lamoureux working underneath him.
“I just wanted to take care of him,” Frider said.
It’s nice for Lamoureux to have a big brother like Frider to show him the ropes, but as the other member of the flow line was quick to point out, Lamoureux has emerged as quite the leader on his own.
“He’s been a great asset to the team on the ice and off the ice, too,” Olson said. “Guys will follow him anywhere.”
Right now, they are following him to heights the Falcons have never flown to before.
Jacques Lamoureux was born into a hockey family
His dad, Pierre, a goaltender, led the North Dakota Fighting Sioux to NCAA titles in 1980 and ‘82.
Lamoureux’s older brother, Jean-Phillipe, also a goaltender, went to four consecutive frozen fours with North Dakota, his run ending last season. He now is working his way up in the St. Louis Blues organization.
Lamoureux’s two younger brothers, Pierre Paul and Mario, play college hockey for the University of Manitoba and North Dakota respectively.
Lamoureux also has two younger twin sisters, Monique and Jocelyn. They both play hockey for the University of Minnesota and played for the 2008 United States U-22 team. If you ask Lamoureux who the best hockey players in his family are, he will tell you without hesitation, it’s his sisters.
“You watch them play and it’s pretty obvious,” Lamoureux said.