Power forward, agitator, defensively responsible, playmaker, energy player, sniper — those are all common terms used to describe hockey players.
How about a ‘ladder’ player?
That is how Brad Bowen, the head coach of the Yale Hockey Academy’s U18 midget squad, describes David Laurin.
“He’s a ‘ladder’ player — he can play on our third line or fourth line or he can play on our top line if he has to,” the coach explained.
“He can play a bunch of different roles, depending on what we need.”
“David is not a goal scorer, but he can score goals; he is not a banger and crasher, but he is physical and can hit,” Bowen explained.
“He just fits in real well. We play him as a centre when we need a centre (and) he plays wing when we need wingers. He just does a lot of things well.”
“David is a key part of our team,” the coach added.
“He is not flashy, but he does a lot of little things right.”
And starting next year — and perhaps later this hockey season — Laurin will suit up for his hometown Langley Rivermen.
“(David) had a great camp with us and did really well through the exhibition games,” said Rivermen head coach and general manager Bobby Henderson.
“He was pretty close to making our team for this year. We just decided he was better off playing with Yale and being a go-to-guy there and getting some key minutes instead of potentially not getting as much development time being in and out of the line-up this year.”
For the 16-year-old Laurin, landing with Langley accomplishes the first goal on his list.
“It is definitely nice to be able to stay at home to play hockey,” he said.
“Having the chance to stay in Langley and play in front of family and friends on a nightly basis is going to be really fun.”
Laurin was selected by the Kelowna Rockets in the Western Hockey League bantam draft in 2014.
But playing in the B.C. Hockey League and earning a college scholarship for his education was always goal one.
In Laurin’s final season of bantam rep hockey two seasons ago with the Langley Eagles, he scored 48 goals and 89 points in 66 games. He also had 62 penalty minutes.
He joined the Yale Hockey Academy last year and playing for the Lions’ U15 squad in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League, Laurin had 11 goals and 19 points in 28 goals. He also had 32 penalty minutes.
And through the hockey season’s first nine games this year, Laurin is a point-per-game player with three goals and nine points in nine games for Yale.
Laurin, who is now six-foot-one and 183 pounds, has been on the Rivermen radar since that monster bantam season.
“He’s a big kid who uses his body real well, and he is strong on pucks,” Bowen said.
The coach did say that while Laurin’s skating is just average — should improve as he gets stronger — he always manages to get where he is going.
Laurin is hoping to get stronger this season and possibly even earn a scholarship prior to joining Langley full-time.
“He is a versatile player,” Henderson said.
“(David’s role) is all going to depend on how he develops physically.
“But at the end of the day, we see him as being a power forward type of guy that can play at both ends of the rink.
“He has a really good offensive mind but is also responsible defensively.”
Laurin is looking forward to playing for the Rivermen, whether it is later this season or full-time in 2016/17.
“It is just a faster paced game and the atmosphere is great,” he said about what he learned in the preseason.
“I am a player that will be physical and go hard to the net with the puck,” he said.
“I will do anything it takes to help the team win and I hope to contribute any way I can.”