For many people, the defining moments in their lives don’t come when they achieve the goals they set for themselves, but rather how they react to a seemingly insurmountable obstacle that gets put in their way.
For Derian Plouffe, a promising 22 year-old hockey prospect born in Shawville, one defining moment came in late November of last year.
Plouffe was practicing with his team, the Niagara Purple Eagles, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 squad, when the unthinkable happened.
During a two-on-two drill, Plouffe was in front of the net when he passed the puck to his teammate, Tanner Lomsnes. Lomsnes fired a shot, which deflected off a defender’s stick and struck Plouffe in the side of the head, knocking him unconscious.

“I was able to kind of skate off on my own with the help of my teammates,” he explained. “One of my roommates ended up driving me to the hospital, the trainer thought I should get checked. I was bleeding from my ear and the side of my head. Obviously I had very bad concussion symptoms.”
After a CT scan, doctors determined he had suffered a fractured skull and was bleeding from his brain, prompting Plouffe to be sent immediately to the Buffalo Hospital and put in the ICU.
“My parents came down, the first night I called them and told them what happened, and they rushed to Buffalo,” he said. “They stayed with me and they took me home, I couldn’t really look after myself, I was in pretty rough shape.”
When they found out he wouldn’t require surgery, the family returned to Ottawa, where Plouffe’s road to recovery truly began.
“Basically up until Christmas I couldn’t really get off the couch,” he said, explaining that his mom, Adele Lafleur, had to push him in a wheelchair to appointments. He was on a host of medications to manage his pain and nausea, which caused him to sleep for most of the day.
During his original diagnosis, the neurosurgeon told him he should reconsider his career in sports, harsh news for someone who has been skating since the age of two.
Back in Ottawa, Plouffe ended up getting another opinion from Dr. Don Chow, the doctor for the Ottawa Senators, who gave him a more promising outlook.
“That was pretty big, being able to see him,” he said. “I didn’t know how long this would take, with all the symptoms and stuff, I wasn’t sure when they were going to subside. Once I saw him, he really reassured me that it was more of a time thing, so I’d have to just wait it out.”
Plouffe grew up playing for the Shawville Pontiacs when he was a youngster, with his father, Randy, as coach. After the family moved to the city, Plouffe made the jump up to AAA.
“My whole life I’ve played at the highest level, my dad’s always pushed me pretty hard,” he said.
This also isn’t the first time Plouffe has suffered a setback due to an injury. When he was 17, he was drafted by the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm, but was sidelined by a separated shoulder before attending tryouts.
“That’s what opened my eyes up to NCAA hockey,” he said. “I got a couple offers from a few different schools and I ended up choosing Niagara University.”
“Just being able to get your degree and also being able to play hockey as well really attracted me,” he continued. “It was a smaller school, when I was on my visit and they were recruiting me, they were eighth in the country. So that’s really good, one of the top teams recruiting me, I thought.”
The team struggled in the following years and in 2016 was plagued with a slew of injuries. Roughly two weeks after firing the shot that benched Plouffe, Lomsnes had his liver sliced open by a broken rib.
“I was watching the game at home, I saw it happen and was like, ‘I hope he’s ok,’” Plouffe said. “He texted me a couple hours later and it just said ‘Karma.’”
Though the two only play together on a power play line, their time away from the rink strengthened their bond as teammates.
“We really pushed each other,” Plouffe said. “Our team was still playing and we were the only ones working out together … I definitely think it helped us … we’re able to communicate a little better on the ice, we know each other better. It’s definitely a factor for sure.”
He was able to start skating again by February and was fully cleared by mid-May but the real test was yet to come. Plouffe had been advised by Dr. Chow that he would know where he stood when he returned to full-contact play.
“I didn’t actually take a hit until the beginning of this year, till mid-August,” he said. “It was obviously a little nerve-wracking but you just have to trust that you’ve done everything right and took the right amount of time off. Just trust your body and hope for the best.”
After clearing this final hurdle, Plouffe and the Purple Eagles have returned with a vengeance this season. They currently sit at second in the Atlantic conference with a record of 9-7-1. Plouffe has racked up 11 goals over 17 games and is one of the points leaders in the conference.
“We’re doing a lot better as a team,” he said. “A lot better than last year. Personally, Tanner and I are doing a lot better points-wise, so it’s been good.”
Off the ice, Plouffe recently completed his Bachelors in Finance and is looking to start his Masters next semester. With his goal of playing hockey professionally, Plouffe is still weighing his next steps after school. He said that his journey over the past year has taught him to take nothing for granted.
“Once I got injured I was told I was never going to play hockey ever again, at first,” he said. “Hockey’s been my whole life, I’ve been playing since I was two years old. I don’t really know who I am without it.”
“It’s definitely changed my perspective on life a lot,” he concluded.