By Ken Pagan
Hamilton Kilty B’s rookie Steven Laforme had a game-high four assists in the GOJHL Future Stars game on Saturday in Waterloo, and was recognized with the Player of the Game award for Team McClement.
Team Collins edged Team McClement 10-9 in a double-overtime barnburner of a game featuring the top 16-year-old players in the 26-team GOJHL. Cooper Way, who scored twice, was named Player of the Game for Team Collins.
Laforme, a six-foot-one, 185-pound winger who was drafted in the fifth round by the OHL’s North Bay Battalion last spring, also recently announced a commitment to attend Merrimack University on a Division One NCAA scholarship when his junior days are done.
In 33 games with the Kilty B’s this season, Laforme has 39 points and is among the top 10 in the GOJHL with 32 assists.
Kilty B’s teammates Cam Gauvreau, on the blue-line, and Matteo Drobac, in net, also suited up in the Future Stars game, with Drobac getting the start between the pipes.
In the Top Prospects game, featuring the league’s top 17- and 18-year-old prospects, the Kilty B’s were represented by forward Jacob Macdonald, defenceman Jordan Van Hunnik and goaltender Justin Easter, all of whom suited up for Team Bush in a 5-4 double-overtime loss to Team Bignell.
Macdonald, who leads the Kilty B’s with 46 points in 33 games, is also among the top 10 in the GOJHL with 22 goals scored. He has 12 goals in his last 12 games.
Macdonald’s biggest goal so far this season helped the Kilty B’s (19-11-3) to a huge road win on Dec. 20 to help send the club into the holiday break on a high. Macdonald scored with 9:44 remaining and Ellis Rickwood added an empty-netter in a 2-0 win over the St. Catharines Falcons (21-9-2). Drobac stopped all 31 shots for his second shutout of the season.
The Kilty B’s return to action on Thursday when they host the Pelham Panthers at the Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena at 7 p.m.
