CATCHING UP: Larocque looks to build off strong rookie season

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This article was published 24/07/2023 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Owen Larocque is enjoying his first normal summer in quite some time.

After the COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in his routine in 2020 and 2021, the Wawanesa product was busy in 2022, as he was helping Manitoba’s under-17 squad win a gold medal at the Canadian Junior National Ball Hockey Championship in Winnipeg.

This off-season has been a little more relaxed for the 18-year-old goaltender, but he’s starting to get back into the swing of things ahead of his sophomore campaign with the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Virden Oil Capitals.

“I took a couple of weeks off after our season ended but I’ve been easing myself back into the gym and getting on the ice,” Larocque said.

“There’s nothing really groundbreaking with what I’m doing, but I’m just trying to have as much fun as possible along the way. Then when the season comes around and everything becomes more intense, I’ll be ready to go for all of that.”

Larocque has been doing a lot of his off-ice workouts by himself this summer. He’s also taking part in the Wendy’s Summer Hockey League and has had private training with goaltending coaches in both Brandon and Winnipeg.

A huge component of his off-season routines is based upon what he learned last season after making the jump to the MJHL following four years with the Southwest Cougars under-15 and under-18 programs.

“A lot of the things that I learned about being disciplined, certain workouts and off-ice stuff have made me work a lot harder this summer,” Larocque said.

“I’ve liked the challenge of playing in junior hockey right off of the bat. I had a bit of a slow start but I was able to find my game and turn it up another level after Christmas. Now that I have a full year of experience under my belt, I have a better idea of what the next couple of years might look like.”

Larocque says that one of the biggest things that he had to adapt to upon joining the Oil Capitals was getting used to reading plays at a quicker speed.

“My skating was good enough, but my mind wasn’t processing things fast enough,” Larocque added. “I knew right away that I had to get better at that and I spent a couple of months focussing on that part of the game so I could get to a level where I had success.

“That improvement definitely came from doing things in practice, but you can also watch video and see the tendencies of players. If their stick is positioned a certain way, they are more likely to shoot or pass, and you get a pretty gauge on that.”

In his rookie campaign, Larocque posted a 14-11-0 record with a 3.08 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage.

He split time with 19-year-old Eric Reid — who was in his second season with his hometown Oil Capitals and had a 21-11-1 mark with a 3.03 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage — and learned a lot along the way about being a goalie in the MJHL.

“During my last year with the Cougars, I felt like I did a lot to help out my goalie partner (Kai Bennett) and Eric did the same with me,” Larocque said. “I was learning his everyday habits and seeing how he played, which I then translated into my own game.

“Coach (Tyson Ramsey) told us as the year went on that he wanted both of us to be ready to go and during the playoffs, he switched us in and out. That showed us that he had a lot of trust in us both and it was a good feeling for Eric and I to know that the team trusted us like that.”

The tandem’s improved play in the second half coincided with an impressive run by the Oil Capitals.

Having entered the holiday break at the bottom of the MJHL East Division standings with a 14-16-1-0 record and 10 points out of a playoff spot, the squad became the hottest team in the circuit and racked up a 21-6 record in the second half.

“We had a tough schedule when we got back with games against OCN and Steinbach and we talked about if we get a couple of wins there, we might get some momentum going and make a statement to the rest of the league,” Larocque said.

“We ended up winning all four of those games and the mood in the dressing room totally changed. The guys were having a lot of fun and everything just started to come together.”

The Oil Capitals kept the momentum up in the post-season as they defeated the OCN Blizzard in six games and followed that up with a seven-game upset of the regular season champion Portage Terriers.

“That whole run was crazy and we went through all sort of emotions,” said Larocque, who compiled a 6-4 record with a 2.51 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.

“We went from desperately fighting for our playoff lives to beating two really good teams to get into the final. It was a roller coaster ride but things kept going our way.”

Larocque’s two best outings of the playoffs came in a pair of double overtime wins.

He turned aside 45 shots in a 4-3 triumph in Game 3 of the quarterfinal round matchup against the Blizzard at Tundra Oil & Gas Place, and followed that up with a dazzling 43-save showing in a 3-2 win over the Terriers in the seventh and deciding game at Stride Place.

“That game against Portage was kind of a flash for me,” Larocque said. “It was a double overtime game, but it honestly felt like it only lasted a period when I look back on it.

“Nolan Chastko scored a couple of huge goals in the third period for us and I remember saying to myself, ‘We’re not going to lose this game.’ We had fought so hard to get back into it and I gave it my all to make as many big saves as I could before (Joey) Bielik got us that winning goal.”

Virden’s run at their first league championship ended a little over a week later as they fell to the Steinbach Pistons in five games.

In looking back on the Turnbull Cup final, Larocque said it was a totally different series than the ones against OCN and Portage.

“We were riding such a high after beating Portage,” Larocque added. “We weren’t thinking that we were going to walk all over Steinbach, as we knew that the Pistons were a great team, but we probably didn’t reset like we should have.

“Since we were a pretty young group, we were all just ecstatic to just make it to the final. I think if we hit the reset button a little sooner and fine-tuned a few things in practice, maybe we would have had a better outcome.

“Then again, Steinbach was a really strong team … it’s hard to say.”

As the Oil Capitals prepare for training camp at the start of September, there are heightened expectations not only among everyone within the team, but from those competing against them.

“A lot of my friends in the league have been saying that we should have a strong team this season,” Larocque said. “It might seem that way right now, but we still have to perform.

“There’s a lot of chemistry and familiarity in our group and we’re returning a lot of the same guys from last year’s team. That should be a big help early on, but it’s up to all of us to continue to get better.”

Larocque is focused on doing just that in his sophomore campaign, as he wants to give his team a chance to win every time he plays.

“I try not to think too much about individual goals but I want to be more consistent,” Larocque added.

“I want my coaches, my teammates and everyone in the stands to know what they are going to get when they see me out there.”

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