montrealgazette.com
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At age 30, Laurent Dauphin realizes the NHL is no longer a realistic dream for him, although he has logged 94 career games — including 38 with the Canadiens.
But as he enters the twilight of his AHL career, the Laval Rocket centre is experiencing a renaissance. In 38 games, Dauphin leads the team in points, with 46, including 12 goals, and is on a four-game point streak with a goal and five assists.
The Repentigny native is also tied atop the AHL scoring race with Belleville’s Arthur Kaliyev, who is six years younger and a former 33rd overall Los Angeles draft choice in 2019.
“It’s a good start,” Dauphin recently told The Gazette by telephone from Calgary, where the Rocket is in the midst of a six-game, two-week road trip. “It’s cool that you can do it for a long time and the body still does what you want. It has been good so far.
“This is a good challenge and it’s fun to be a part of it. But it’s not the end of the world if I don’t finish at the top. Still, it’s a good goal and motivation. For sure, I want to win games more than the scoring title.”
Dauphin is one of three Laval players — along with goaltender Jacob Fowler and defenceman
Adam Engstrom
— who will participate in the
AHL All-Star Challenge
, Feb. 10-11 in Rockford, Ill. Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent will oversee one of the teams in the event, which will see four teams in a 3-on-3, round-robin tournament, with each side playing six eight-minute games. The two teams with the best records will play an eight-minute, 3-on-3 game for the championship.
It marks the first time Dauphin has been invited to the mid-season showcase during a career that has spanned more than 600 pro games, including the AHL, NHL and a 44-game stint in Europe with Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss-A League.
“It has been a lot of hard work,” he said. “The key to survival is putting in the work in the off-season, making sure your body is ready for a tough season in the American League.”
Selected in the second round (39th overall) by Arizona in 2013, Dauphin’s career might not have progressed as planned. He has bounced around the AHL, with stops in Tucson, Milwaukee, Rockford, Springfield and Portland. This is his
second stint with Laval
, and he’s signed through the end of next season.
Dauphin played 38 games for the Canadiens
during the 2021-22 season, notching four goals and 12 points. He said the experience meant everything to him.
“Growing up, that was my team,” he said. “I looked around every time and tried to enjoy it.
“For sure, it was tough,” Dauphin continued, realizing another NHL recall is highly unlikely. “Sometimes you need to ground yourself and stop thinking about going up. It’s always a tough reflection. I go on the side of 600 games. It could have been better, but it could have been worse. I’m pretty happy about it. I’m not uncomfortable finishing my career here.”
Dauphin plays on the Rocket’s top line, between
Sean Farrell
and Alex Belzile. But he’s versatile and can also play on the wing. As valuable as Dauphin is on the ice, Vincent said leadership is equally important.
“We had a conversation about his role and producing on the ice,” Vincent said. “He took that very seriously. With the skills he has, if he can bring that to the room and be a role model, he can extend his time here a couple of years. I’m happy to have him. He’s low maintenance. I trust him getting ready for games. With his hockey sense, experience and skill level, I’m not surprised he’s producing offensively.
“Last year, he showed me he could be very useful. He makes good reads and has high skills. It’s his hockey sense and ability to understand what’s happening; the time and space he can get, making plays under pressure.”
Laval split a pair of games both at Abbotsford and Calgary, but is coming off a 6-3 loss to the Wranglers during which the visitors trailed 3-0 after the first period.
Fowler struggled in the game
, allowing five goals on 25 shots.
While Laval is going through a tough stretch and has only three regulation wins in 10 games, it remains first in the North Division with a 24-14-4 record. The Rocket is three points ahead of both Syracuse and Toronto. Coincidentally, its road trip concludes with games in both cities, Friday and Saturday, respectively.
hzurkowsky@postmedia.com
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