The Laurentian Voyageurs men's hockey team picked up seven victories in games decided by just one goal in 2014-2015, another four wins by two goals, en route to a fourth place finish, and home ice advantage in the playoffs.
By contrast, the Voyageurs dropped nine games by a single goal last year, pulling up in eighth place, and disposed of in straight games in the post-season by the powerful Université du Québec a Trois-Rivières Patriotes.
The reality, for coach Craig Duncanson and company, is that there exists very little wiggle room between winning and losing in the ultra-competitive OUA hockey ranks these days.
And while there is some consensus in the fact that stumbling out of the gate provided a challenge for the L.U. crew last year, the interpretation differed from player to player.
"We started off slow and never really gained enough momentum throughout the year," said local sniper Nick Esposto. "That was our biggest problem."
In fact, Laurentian won just two of their seven opening regular season games in October of 2015. And still, there is another angle.
"Compared to last year, we need to start better," said team captain Vincent Llorca. "We started games down 2-0, 3-0. We worked really hard to come back, but a lot of teams know how to defend when they have a lead."
Whether early game by game sluggishness was the culprit, or a general difficulty in having their season rolling on all cylinders before Christmas, Duncanson is confident his troops can learn and move on.
"Last year, we went through the expectations of being a contender, and having to deal with middle of the pack teams shooting for us," he said, as the team followed up a 14-9-3 record in 14-15, with a 7-15-6 campaign twelve months later.
"I think it's a little bit different this year," Llorca continued. "We're extremely confident with our depth. A lot of these guys are in their fourth year now. We still have exceptional goaltending. I'm excited to see what we can do."
In fact, the reinforcements that will compensate for key losses are encouraging. Former OHL goaltender Alain Valiquette moves on, but gives way to another Sudbury Wolves alum in the form of Joel Vienneau.
"We have a lot of core guys, a lot of returning guys coming back, and some new recruits coming in that should help us a lot, so it's an exciting year in that regard," said Esposto.
"We've started to realize what we want to create here, and make sure that everyone is on the same page, from the first day of camp," added Llorca. "We all know it's a short season, and it's going to be a hard working camp to get right into it. We want to be fast, we want to be physical."
Not that Duncanson would disagree with that assessment. Still, there is the consistent theme that he has trumpeted from the time that he was named as the man in charge of the reintroduction of Voyageur hockey at Laurentian three years ago.
"We have to keep in mind that these athletes have 40 to 60 hours of school work, and it's very demanding," he said. "I can't impress enough that their character means more than anything else."
Laurentian will open the home portion of their pre-season schedule on Thursday, Sept. 15, welcoming the Nipissing Lakers to town.
Game time is set for 7:35 p.m., at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
