Meet the team

They come together, week after week, these warriors of the frozen surface, these pursuers of all things puck.

Soldiers of no abandon, they congregate in the cold confines of some of the region’s shabbiest rinks, travelling together on a long and arduous road, on one mission and one mission alone: The Quest to hoist Lord Stanley’s fabled Keg.

By day, they are teachers, bankers, entrepreneurs and servants of the public’s will. When darkness falls, they shed the burdens of their day jobs, leaving behind the careers that actually pay the bills, to combine as a force united, destined to be the last team standing at the apex of a torturous season.

They are gladiators on ice that rampage their way from barn to barn, heaping punishment of the worst kind upon any and all who dare stand in their way.

They are fierce, they are proud, they are unstoppable.

They are…

The Xpertek Construction Inc. Hockey Club

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Pat Lafontaine #40

Position: Goaltender

Catches: Left

Height: 5’ 10” Weight: 190

OSMHL Season: 5th

Acquired: Signed as a free agent (2006)

NHL Comparable: Martin Brodeur

BIO: A goaltender of above average skill, Pat is a perennial OSMHL leader in all statistical categories. His best year came in 2007-2008, when he led all netminders with a 15-3 record, five shutouts and a 1.89 GAA. Since joining the team in 2006, Lafontaine has given Xpertek HC some much needed stability in the crease, missing games only when his children have potentially broken bones or when professional obligations leave him drinking the nights away in maritime provinces.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Lafontaine goes Hextall on the next guy to crash his crease?

Adam Hendriks #2

Position: Right Wing

Shoots: Left

Height: 6’ 2” Weight: 210

OSMHL Season: 10th

Acquired: Signed as a walk-on (2003)

NHL Comparable: Tomas Holmstrom

BIO: Hendriks came out of nowhere to walk-on to the Xpertek Hockey Club, at the time Carver Communications, in the fall of 2003. His desire to learn the intricacies of the game earned him immediate popularity with his teammates, and over the years has made him an annual contender for the Esso Most Improved Player Award. His penchant for arriving to games late or for forgetting to pick up teammates on the way is legendary, but also always forgiven, in no small part due to his master stats-tracking and certificate design and dissemination skills.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Hendriks chooses hockey over volleyball when schedules conflict?

Martin Leroux #3

Position: Defence

Shoots: Left

Height: 5’ 11” Weight: 170

OSMHL Season: 10th

Acquired: Chosen 1st overall (2003 OSMHL Expansion Draft)
NHL Comparable: Jay Bouwmeester

BIO: Few skaters in the OSMHL have wheels like Leroux. His ability to get back to his own end in time to stifle scoring chances after having just attacked on an end-to-end rush of breathtaking beauty makes him one of the league’s most fearsome blueliners and a franchise player for Xpertek HC. When team officials agreed on a name change, Leroux was tremendously relieved that he did not, after much consideration, get that Carver Communications Forever tattoo that he was contemplating.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Leroux isn’t called upon to play an entire game?

Brett Kubicek #5

Position: Defence

Shoots: Left

Height: 5’ 9” Weight: 180

OSMHL Season: 4th

Acquired: Claimed off waivers (2006)
NHL Comparable: Chris Chelios

BIO: Like a fine wine, Kubicek just keeps getting better with age. A stay-at-home defencemen who rarely gets caught out of position, Brett takes few risks, which always translates into big rewards for Xpertek HC. The only times Kubicek is late for a game or that he fails to show altogether are those rare times when breakdowns in communication occur between himself and other teammates. In the face of such misfortune, Brett is often left convulsing in cold sweats on his living room floor.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Kubicek finally finds the back of the net on a sizzler from the point?

Pierre Bouwhuis #6

Position: Defence

Shoots: Right

Height: 6’ 2” Weight: 200

OSMHL Season: 9th

Acquired: Chosen 2nd overall (2003 OSMHL Expansion Draft)
NHL Comparable: Zdeno Chara

BIO: OSMHL opponents never dare crowd Xpertek HC goalie Pat Lafontaine when ‘The Big P’ is on the ice. Bouwhuis is a fearless tower of power on the back end, always quick to come to the aid of a teammate in trouble. His long reach (with his stick) makes him nearly impossible to deke, and his longer reach (with his arm) makes it nearly impossible to duck his devastating right hook.

IS THIS THE YEAR: a league statistician – any league statistician – pronounces Bowhuis’ name correctly?

Tony Lemay #7

Position: Left Wing
Shoots: Left

Height: 5’ 9” Weight: 175

OSMHL Season: 4th

Acquired: Signed as a free agent (2007)
NHL Comparable: Brett Hull

BIO: From the moment Lemay first stepped on the ice with Xpertek HC, team officials knew they had found a diamond in the rough. Lemay is an unstoppable force, Xpertek’s first-ever league scoring champion, and an all-round threat that strikes fear in the opposition – most often with his blazing slapshot, but when necessary, with a well-timed headlock that gets the message across.

IS THIS THE YEAR: a goalie’s arm falls off after he is stung by Lemay’s deadly shot?

Steve Parker #9

Position: Centre
Shoots: Right

Height: 5’ 8” Weight: 155

OSMHL Season: 9th

Acquired: Signed as a free agent (2004)
NHL Comparable: Derek Roy

BIO: Parker is the prototypical all-round hockey player, as reliable offensively as he is in his own end. A quiet, cerebral player who thinks the game as well as he plays it, Parker knows when to rush and when to stay back, when to speak up and when to let his game speak for him.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Parker loses it on the ice?

Louis Ryan #10

Position: Left Wing
Shoots: Left

Height: 5’ 9” Weight: 190

OSMHL Season: 3rd

Acquired: Purchased the team and gave it his company’s name
NHL Comparable: Claude Lemieux

BIO: Like his teammate and line-mate, Steve Parker, Ryan is a prototypical hockey player, but in his case a power forward who creates space when he’s on the ice. Fearless, Louis possesses the right combination of brute strength and relentless determination that allows him to not only bulldoze his way to the front of the net, but to also score dirty goals like few others can.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Ryan scores a more crucial, more beautiful winning goal than last season’s shorthanded breakaway marker that went in with less than one second remaining on the clock?

Jon Richardson #16

Position: Right Wing
Shoots: Left

Height: 6’ Weight: 210

OSMHL Season: 6th

Acquired: Via trade (from 2K3 in 2005)

NHL Comparable: Patrice Bergeron

BIO: Reliability could be Richardson’s middle name. A dependable forward who sees the ice well, Jon has been patrolling Xpertek’s right wing since 2005, and in doing so has become a pivotal cog in the team’s offensive schemes. Were he eligible for the award, Richardson would most assuredly pick up the Lady Bing trophy as the league’s most gentlemanly player every season, as he has accumulated only 18 penalty minutes in 86 career games with Xpertek HC.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Richardson leads the league in penalty minutes?

Etienne Dutrisac #27

Position: Defence
Shoots: Left

Height: 5’ 7” Weight: 165

OSMHL Season: 6th

Acquired: Claimed off waivers (2004)
NHL Comparable: Francis Bouillon

BIO: A reformed goaltender, Dutrisac is small by defencemen standards, but plays a big, big game. Fast and furious, Etienne can turn on a dime, reverse momentum and send Xpertek HC charging up the ice with extreme confidence. Dutrisac knows when to pick his spots and can often be found sneaking into the high slot for a scoring opportunity.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Dutrisac finally unleashes the one-timer?

Marc Baril #47

Position: Centre
Shoots: Left

Height: 5’ 8” Weight: 175

OSMHL Season: 10th

Acquired: Chosen 3rd overall (2003 OSMHL Expansion draft)
NHL Comparable: Doug Weight

BIO: A play-making centre who can put the odd puck in the net, Baril is an unselfish player who always looks to dish first and shoot second. He plays this way out of necessity – Marc’s slapshot is usually a two-hopper and his wrist shot looks a lot like the Mighty Duck knuckle puck. Baril talks too much on the ice, and were it not for the cage he wears to protect his one good eye and his $3,000 teeth, he probably would have had his face smashed in by now.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Baril shuts his yap and takes zero penalties for mouthing off to referees?