October 9, 2009
By Cameron Eickmeyer
USAHockey.com
It will be a preview of many things to come when the U.S. Women’s National Team takes on the University of North Dakota on Saturday in Warroad, Minn., in the second game of the Qwest Tour.
Players who will make up the 2010 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey team will be on display along with some up and coming women’s college hockey prospects from North Dakota. There’s also a preview for the North Dakota program and U.S. players Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux, who will join the Fighting Sioux next season.
“We’ve been around (North Dakota) all summer so it’s not going to be anything too surprising,” Jocelyne said, “but it’s going to be exciting to play against the team we’ll be playing with next season.”
 | Monique, left, and Jocelyne Lamoureux will have a preview of their new college home. | Puck drops at 7:05 CT | Game notes
Live game links: Video | Box score |
The time the twin sisters spent with the North Dakota program wasn’t extensive enough to learn the Fighting Sioux's systems, so Saturday night will be their first look at their future college team in person on the ice.
“It’ll be interesting to see what kind of game they come up with,” Jocelyne said.
Monique said their focus will be on the U.S. side of the game though and what they can do to continue to improve with the national team.
“Just kind of approaching it as another game,” she said. “Obviously we’re really looking forward to it, but we’re just focused on what we want to accomplish (with the U.S.)”
Jocelyne said she's been watching her future team this season and was happy to see the upset of then-No. 1 Wisconsin. She said the North Dakota coaching staff has also kept an eye on the twins away from campus, but more so on the online courses the sisters are taking during their time with the U.S. team.
“They’re checking up on how those are going for us,” she said. “More of a student aspect than hockey.”
In addition to the on-ice preview, the Lamoureux family will get a look at the sisters in the U.S. jersey as the game in Warroad, Minn., is close to the twins’ home in Grand Forks, N.D.
“It’s going to be exciting to see everyone,” Jocelyne said.
Monique ran off the hockey commitments for the Lamoureux family, which includes weekend games for their brother Mario, who plays for North Dakota. The twins will see their father at an exhibition game Friday, then their mother, grandmother, two aunts, cousin, great aunt and uncle plus two friends for Saturday’s Qwest Tour game.
“It will be nice that our family gets to watch us in person,” Monique said.
With the family in the stands and future coaches and teammates on the opposing bench, the pressure to put on a big show isn’t there, according to the sisters.
“We just have to play like we normally do,” Jocelyn said. “We obviously hope the coaches at UND think we look good, but at the same time we just have to play our game. They know how we play and we don’t need to impress anyone.”
Putting too much effort into impressing family and future teammates, could hurt the current effort underway of pursuing a spot on the 2010 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team.
“You don’t want to start bad habits,” Jocelyne added. |