At first blush, hockey and Harvard seem to go collectively about in addition to a concussion and a Nobel Prize. But that dichotomy is what drew Kings proper wing Alex Laferriere to the college on his strategy to the NHL.
“You’re kind of set up for life,” mentioned Laferriere who, at three weeks previous his twenty third birthday, is simply starting that life. “If you get hurt and you can never play hockey again, being able to have a Harvard degree is something that I think is pretty attractive.”
Laferriere isn’t there but. A psychology main, he nonetheless has 4 lessons to complete earlier than he can earn his diploma. Within the meantime, the hockey a part of his life plan is understanding fairly effectively: Laferriere is tied for the crew lead with 9 targets and ranks third with 15 factors for the Kings (10-6-3), who’re second within the Pacific Division practically 1 / 4 of the best way into the season.
That manufacturing has are available in a season that has seen him break up time between a ahead line centered by Quinton Byfield and the highest crew’s line, the place he has performed with captain Anze Kopitar and winger Adrian Kempe. As a rookie, Laferriere mentioned his focus was on studying what it took to play within the NHL. This season he’s making use of these classes.
“I would say confidence is the main thing,” he mentioned. “Last year was more focused on sticking in the NHL and kind of proving that I belonged. This year I want to be one of the guys that they look to in situations where we need goals, where they can trust me on the ice.”
Laferriere is a speedy, versatile and savvy proper winger with a robust forecheck and a misleading shot. However his most vital asset is likely to be his excessive hockey IQ, which is likely to be anticipated from a man who performed two seasons at Harvard.
The college has been affiliated with greater than 160 Nobel Prize winners, by far probably the most of any U.S. faculty or college. Nevertheless it’s additionally despatched 43 gamers to the NHL; that doesn’t precisely make it a hockey manufacturing facility however it most likely qualifies it to be referred to as a hockey workshop.
Kings ahead Alex Laferriere (14) celebrates after scoring in opposition to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 9.
(Alex Gallardo / Related Press)
“There’s a lot of great students that are also great athletes,” mentioned Ted Donato, a former Harvard coach and briefly a Kings’ winger who has coached the Crimson since 2004. “We’ve had kids that say ‘Hey, you know what? I can do both things at a really high level. Why shouldn’t I use my hockey talents to have an opportunity to go to a place like Harvard?’ “
That combination of smarts and skills is certainly what led Laferriere, one of New England’s top prep players as a high school senior, to switch his allegiance from West Point, where he had originally committed, to Harvard.
“My dad went to Boston College; he also went to Princeton,” Laferriere mentioned of his father Rob, a standout hockey participant at each colleges who’s now head dealer at BlueMar Capital, a hedge-fund supervisor. “So growing up my dream school was Harvard because it had the academics of Princeton and the hockey of BC.”
That dream lasted simply two faculty seasons earlier than Laferriere realized his different dream, which was signing an expert contract. He made his debut with the Ontario Reign in March 2023 and 10 days later signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Kings, who had chosen him within the third spherical of the 2020 draft.
He performed his first NHL sport the next October, marking the milestone by squaring off with Colorado’s Logan O’Connor and wrestling him to the ice, profitable his first combat 4 video games earlier than he scored his first objective. He completed his rookie 12 months by scoring his final objective within the first interval of the Kings’ season-ending playoff loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
“He had a great season last year so his start to [this] season hasn’t surprised me,” Kings coach Jim Hiller mentioned. “He is a good, solid player that’s good in a lot of different areas.”
And when he stops being that, he has one thing to fall again on.
“Whether or not you can play professional hockey, you have a Harvard degree to use,” Laferriere mentioned.
Speak about an influence play.
