by J.D Potié
The 2019-20 Pontiac Senior Comets boast a roster loaded with various highly-talented players who have contributed to the team’s success in a number of ways.
While the team’s offense has been . . .
a staple all season long, the defensive core has played no small part in their quality play over the first 15 games.
Amassing eight points in his first nine games in the Outaouais Senior AA Hockey League (OSAAHL), Justin Lafleur has settled in quite well in the Comet’s lineup, as one of the team’s pillars on the back end.
Standing at six foot two, Lafleur is a mobile, puck-moving defenseman who doesn’t hesitate to jump on the attack. Confident in offensive situations, as well as on the defensive side, his abilities allow him to contribute to the team in multiple situations.
“I’ve always had an offensive interest,” he said. “I love playing on the power play. Even if I’m a defenseman, what lights me up is making a good first pass or to join the rush.”
Growing up in Gatineau, Lafleur recalls hockey being a big part of his family’s lifestyle, noting that his brother Antoine was picked up by the New York Rangers in the second round of the 2007 NHL Draft.
As the fifth oldest of seven children, Lafleur remembers spending a lot of his childhood travelling with his parents to either hit the ice or watch his siblings compete.
“My parents were doing the taxi for weeks at a time for practices and games, on weekends for tournaments,” he said. “When I was young, for sure I hopped on board really quick … ever since then, hockey has always been a passion in my life.”
A relatively dominant player in his early years of minor hockey, Lafleur enrolled in l’École Polyvalente Nicolas-Gatineau’s Sports Etudes hockey program when he was in grade six. The following year, he transferred to the Collège Saint-Alexandre in Gatineau because of its high academic standards.
Having experienced a hockey-heavy schedule at one institution and extremely demanding academic standards at another, Lafleur wanted to make the best of both worlds.
“Saint-Alexandre was like extreme on studies,” he said. “Nicolas-Gatineau was extreme hockey. I felt like I needed a middle ground.”
In 2008, Lafleur moved his talents to Quebec City. Always prioritizing academic success, he enrolled at l’Académie St. Louis where he faced off against some of the top prep schools in North America for the next two years.
With the school’s emphasis relatively balanced between academics and hockey, Lafleur felt like it was the perfect fit.
“It felt like it was the best of both worlds between Collège Saint-Alexandre and Sports Études hockey,” he said.
Living in a boarding house at the time, Lafleur spent his mornings attending classes, while hitting the ice in the afternoons and travelling on weekends for games.
In 2010, Lafleur enrolled at Stanstead College after spending two years at l’Academie St-Louis. A well-reputed prep school located in Stanstead Que. on the edge of the Canada-USA border, Lafleur lived on the school’s campus and played alongside all sorts of highly-talented players, including current Comet’s teammate Justin Charbonneau and Calgary Flames forward Mark Jankowski.
In his first season with the Spartans (2010-11), Lafleur put up 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) in 64 regular season games.
The following year, Lafleur’s offensive contributions picked up, as he notched 32 points (nine goals, 23 assists) in 57 games.
Lafleur said he was intrigued by Stanstead because it would allow him to eventually go to CEGEP after graduating, while boasting all the bells and whistles a top-notch academy could offer.
Playing hockey, going to school and socializing with great people on a daily basis, Lafleur recalled his experience at Stanstead fondly.
“When you get along with the boys, it’s wonderful,” he said.
After graduating high school in 2012, it was time for Lafleur to decide where he was taking his hockey career and his academic future.
With plenty of scouts from the Central Canadian Hockey League (CCHL) keeping an eye on his games over the course of his time at Stanstead, Lafleur turned enough heads to earn the opportunity to sign with a number of clubs.
Having had recently enrolled in the University of Ottawa’s software engineering program, Lafleur penned a contract with the Ottawa Junior Senators because it would allow him to attend school full-time while playing in the league – something almost no one in the CCHL was doing at the time.
“It was the closest one,” he said. “I was the only player on the team who was full-time. There were some in university. They only did two or three classes. I was full-time doing a Bachelor’s in engineering, not an art’s diploma.”
As much as the high standards at Stanstead prepared him for the junior ranks, Lafleur said that the transition was never easy.
Struggling to adapt his game to the junior level, Lafleur served mostly in a depth role with the Jr. Sens. Not seeing as much of the ice as he would’ve liked, he doesn’t recall his time in the CCHL as the most promising point of his career.
“The coaches felt like I wasn’t as committed as the other guys,” he said. “But I can’t say that I put up spectacular performances on the ice to prove them wrong. It was both.”
Suffering a number of injuries throughout the 2012-13 season, Lafleur played only 19 games with the Jr. Sens before being traded to the Cumberland Grads where he suited up for 14.
The following season (2013-14), Lafleur decided to move down to the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League (EOJHL) to play in Junior B for the Arnprior Packers with a number of friends, including his university roommate Marc Shanks.
Considering the EOJHL’s less demanding hockey regimen of only one practice per week, Lafleur was excited about the opportunity to play high-caliber hockey while having more time to dedicate to his studies than before.
“Not that it was my priority, but I love to play.” he said. “I couldn’t just all of a sudden say ‘Well, I guess I’m going to play intramurals now.’”
After putting up two points in eight games as a Packer, Lafleur and Shanks were collectively moved to the Ottawa West Golden Knights who were in the middle of a playoff push.
In the final six games of the regular season, Lafleur finally found his groove, putting up seven points (two goals, five assists).
During the playoffs, Lafleur contributed 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 26 games, helping his team fight its way to the EOJHL finals where they fell to the Casselman Vikings in double-overtime in a dramatic game seven.
“It was probably one of the biggest hockey games I’ve ever played,” he said.
As a consistent contributor to the Golden Knight’s success, Lafleur felt like he finally got his confidence back after his first season in the EOJHL.
But with injury woes persisting, he played no more than 21 games in each of his final two seasons with the Golden Knights, where he put up 20 and 16 points respectively.
Shortly before his junior career wrapped up, Lafleur graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor’s Degree in software engineering in the spring of 2015.
For the next couple of years, Lafleur kept himself busy by doing various internships as a software developer with a number of organizations, including Ciena, Matrox and Olympus IMS before finally landing his first full-time gig in his field of study – a software engineer with IBM.
To stay in shape, he participated in a number of recreational soccer and hockey leagues, but his time as a competitive hockey player was essentially finished.
“I played in a lot of beer leagues,” he said.
During the fall of 2019, Comets owner and starting goaltender, Danick Boisvert, contacted Lafleur in a state of early-season urgency.
After allowing at least six goals in the first three games of the season, the team was desperately in need of a reliable player to stabilize its back-end.
So, on Oct. 26 2019, Lafleur suited up for his first game in Comets colours – a 7-2 loss against the Maniwak i Forestiers at the Fort Coulonge Arena.
But, ever since joining the team, the Comets have won nine of 11 games, placing themselves in contention for first place in the OSAAHL.
Blessed with the opportunity to get back to playing high-level hockey alongside some of his friends, including Alek Deblois, Jeremy Picard Fiset and Charbonneau, Lafleur hasn’t regretted his decision to join the Comets one bit.
“I felt like it was a good idea to at least try it,” he said. “After trying it out, the whole gang, we’ve been thrilled. Ever since then, we’ve won a lot of games, we’re having fun and all the guys are so nice. So, I guess we’re going at this.”
From the competitive atmosphere of the league, to the passionate fans filling the stands, Lafleur really enjoys senior hockey because it offers what he couldn’t find playing anywhere else.
“There are aspects of senior leagues that you can’t really get in your Wednesday night game in a beer league,” he said.
Currently living in Ottawa, Lafleur has been with IBM for the last three years, where he specializes in developing solutions to help businesses make data-based decisions using a system called Cognos Analytics.
Settled in a prominent city in proximity to his friends and family, who live just across the river, he doesn’t plan on making drastic changes to his life anytime soon.
“The city of Ottawa in general is culturally and family-wise a great place for me,” he said. “I feel like I fit well. We use both languages every day. I’m able to play hockey with my friends from university like I’m able to play with my brother in Gatineau. For sure I want to stay in the region.”
As far as hockey goes, he intends to keep playing hockey at the highest level his abilities allow him to enjoy the game he’s always loved.
“As long as I’m having fun,” he said.
