You wouldn’t know it by speaking with him in English, but Simon Labelle’s mother tongue is French.
He grew up bilingual in a French-Canadian family in Ottawa, where at an early age he also became fully fluent in hockey. His talent for putting pucks in the net and setting up plays for his teammates as a left winger is what brought him to Prince George last fall and on Sunday afternoon he finally got to show his on-ice capabilities in front of a live audience at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
Labelle had a hand in all but one of his team’s scoring plays with two goals and an assist in a 4-0 win over the Merritt Centennials which wrapped up the B.C. Hockey League exhibition season.
Labelle and his linemates Rowan Miller and Nick Rheaume played together last spring in the Chilliwack pod and they make a cohesive unit that could emerge as the Kings’ top scoring line in 2021-22.
“We’re the same line so we’ve got the chemistry going already, we’re buzzing out there, which is really good to see,” said Labelle. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and it works well.”
Rheaume , a native of Sherbrooke, Que., is bilingual as well, while Miller, the centre, is a native of Scottsdale, Ariz. The three of them use their understanding of French to their advantage during games.
“Not a lot of people know that my first language is French,” said Labelle. “We all speak French on that line when we want to talk about plays.”
Labelle joined the Spruce Kings in November 2020 in a futures deal from the Rockland Nationals of the Central Canadian Hockey League. At the time of the trade he was playing in the North American Hockey League for the New Jersey Titans while all Canadian junior A leagues shut down by the pandemic. His 24-goal, 54-point season in 2019-20 with Rockland helped him lock up a scholarship with Colgate University, where he plans to study computer science starting in the next season.
Labelle’s tip-in of a Colton Cameron point shot ignited the Kings’ offence just 38 seconds after the opening puck drop, and he notched his second of the game 22 seconds into the middle period, cashing in the rebound after Rheaume fired the puck at goalie Brayden Melnyk.
Rheaume completed the scoring on another tip-in that got through Meynyk’s legs with the teams playing 4-on-4. Labelle drew the first assist on that play, feeding pointman Ben LeFranc to complete his three-point game.
Ty Gagno scored the Kings’ second goal on a first=-period power play and defenceman Colton Cameron contributed two assists.
The bleachers at RMCA weren’t packed as they likely will be for regular season games this season but Labelle said the players appreciated hearing cheers again after playing so long in virtual silence for the duration of the pandemic.
“It felt so good, I missed it, it’s been two years,” said Labelle. “It’s been a long tome waiting. This is an older small rink so you really get the impact of the fans out there.”
The Cents came close to spoiling Jordan Fairlie’s shutout with about 13 minutes left. Ben Ward on a partial breakaway whistled a low shot to the far side that forced 19-year-old goalie from Fort St. John to stretch out his leg and he got his skate in the way of the puck – probably the most difficult of the 21 shots Fairlie faced. The Kings outshot Merritt 31-21.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Spruce Kings finished the preseason with a 2-1-1-0-0 record They started with a 6-2 victory in Merritt on Sept. 24, lost 4-3 in overtime in West Kelowna on Tuesday and lost 4-3 in regulation the following night in Penticton…The Kings open their 50th season as junior franchise Friday in Merritt and also visit West Kelowna the following night. The Cents will be back in Prince George Oct. 15-16 for the Kings’ home-opening doubleheader at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena… Langley natives Brody and Ty Gagno made their Prince George debut as Spruce Kings in Sunday’s game, both acquired in a June trade from the Chilliwack Chiefs. They are the first brothers to play together with the Spruce Kings since Ben and Nick Poisson suited up together (2018-19). Other brother acts who wore the Kings’ crown as teammates were Sam and Vinny Muchalla (2007-09), John and Keenan Hopson (2000-01) and Lyle and Everett Rose (1985-86)… The Cents have a new head coach and general manager this season, having hired Dave Chyzowski on a two-year-contract. Chyzowski, a former Kamloops Blazer left winger, was chosen by the New York Islanders second overall behind Mats Sundin in the 1989 NHL draft. The 50-year-old Edmonton native spent 14 years in the Blazers’ organization and was assistant coach in the WHL for the Vancouver Giants in the 2019-20 season.
Sunday’s BCHL summary
Cents 0 at Spruce Kings 4
First Period
1. Prince George, Labelle 1 (Cameron) 0:42
2. Prince George, T.Gagno 1 (Cameron) 5:09 (pp)
Penalties – Smith ME (cross-checking) 4:58, Doyle PG (tripping) 13:53, Bhabra PG (interference) 17:52.
Second Period
3. Prince George, Labelle 2 (Rheaume) 0:22
4. Prince George, Rheaume 2 (LeFranc, Labelle) 12:32
Penalties – Allen ME (tripping) 6:48, Doyle PG (holding) 7:53, B.Gagno PG (interference, roughing) 9:55, Allen ME (tripping) 11:40, Fraser PG (hooking) 13:00.
Third Period
No scoring.
Penalties – Smith ME (high-sticking) 1:08, Olson ME (boarding, roughing, misconduct), T.Gagno PG (roughing, misconduct) 2:58, Bhabra PG )interference) 11:48.
Shots on goal by
Merritt 8 10 3 -21
Prince George 10 11 10 -31
Goal – Merritt, Melnyk (L,0-3-0); Prince George, Fairlie (W,1-1-1).
Power plays: ME: 0-7; PG: 0-5.
Referees - Anthony Maletta, Caden Fanshaw; Linesman - Rob Connelly.
