{"id":63945,"date":"2019-12-12T12:09:44","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T17:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/2019\/12\/12\/alexis-lafreniere-world-juniors-3\/"},"modified":"2019-12-18T11:32:05","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T16:32:05","slug":"alexis-lafreniere-world-juniors-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/12\/12\/alexis-lafreniere-world-juniors-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexis LaFreniere Preparing for Leadership Role on World Junior Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKVILLE– Alexis LaFreniere<\/strong> is itching to get back on the ice.<\/p>\n

While the rest of Canada\u2019s World Junior hopefuls were taking part in practices, LaFreniere was putting in a ton of work on the bike. For the last few weeks, the Rimouski Oceanic forward has been nursing an ankle injury. It forced him to miss the QMJHL\u2019s games against the Russians in the Canada\/Russia series. And for the entirety of World Junior Selection Camp, including practices and games against U Sports, LaFreniere has been on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

On Thursday morning, the 18-year-old met with the media for the first time during camp. When asked about his injury, Alexis LaFreniere was pleased with his recovery, saying that the ankle is getting better day by day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gotten better over the last couple of days,\u201d said LaFreniere. \u201cThey don\u2019t want me to push too much on it. I am excited to be back on the ice soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexis LaFreniere Preparing to Lead at World Juniors<\/h2>\n

While LaFreniere has not been on the ice, he has been integral behind the scenes. With three 17-year-olds at camp, LaFreniere has served as a mentor, introducing them to one of the most celebrated traditions in hockey.<\/p>\n

It was just one year ago where LaFreniere was that young, inexperienced future star playing in his inaugural World Juniors. While a quarterfinal exit on home soil in Vancouver was not what he had desired, the Saint-Eustache native inherited a wealth of knowledge that he can translate into veteran leadership on this year\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

\u201cBig experience last year,\u201d said LaFreniere. \u201cI can take that to help me this year and to have a bigger role. It\u2019s important for the younger guys to enjoy it, have fun and work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those young players who LaFreniere has interacted with is Sudbury Wolves forward Quinton Byfield<\/strong>. Similar to LaFreniere, Byfield has generated a lot of buzz with his high level of play, currently second in the OHL in scoring (57 points). While Byfield and LaFreniere will be compared and debated regarding who should be the number one pick in the upcoming 2020 NHL Entry Draft<\/a>, the two have put that aside to focus on making an impact on the World Junior team. Despite the two playing in different leagues, LaFreniere and Byfield welcome the opportunity to be on the same team and to learn from each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuinton played great last game,\u201d said LaFreniere. \u201cHe\u2019s a big guy, who is exciting to watch. It is fun to have him here. To eventually being able to skate with him is going to be fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a busy guy so it\u2019s hard to talk to him,\u201d said Byfield. \u201cBut we\u2019ve said hi a couple of times and it is great to have him here.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/h2>\n

Even with a lingering ankle injury, LaFreniere has been dominant in the QMJHL. His 23 goals, 47 assists (70 points) lead not just the Quebec league but the entire Canadian Hockey League. When watching his performance with Rimouski, it is evident LaFreniere has progressed with his puck handling ability and tendency to get in front of the net to create traffic. While he is a pass-first forward, the youngster has improved his shot, making him a dynamic offensive talent that is NHL ready.<\/p>\n

While the heightened attention regarding his NHL draft status<\/a> will come in due time, LaFreniere has a huge opportunity in front of him. When the time comes for LaFreniere to hit the ice again, the highly touted prospect is ready to embrace a leadership role on this team.<\/p>\n

Looking to bring Canada back to the golden promise land.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OAKVILLE– Alexis LaFreniere is itching to get back on the ice. While the rest of Canada\u2019s World Junior hopefuls were taking part in practices, LaFreniere was putting in a ton of work on the bike. For the last few weeks, the Rimouski Oceanic forward has been nursing an ankle injury. It forced him to miss […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2640,"featured_media":63946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4547,4548,1279,3462],"tags":[37,898,38,956],"class_list":["post-63945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-nhl-draft","category-nhl-prospects","tag-hockey","tag-iihf","tag-nhl","tag-world-junior-hockey-championship"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2640"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}