Photo Credit: Garrett James

Height: 5’9”
Weight: 170 lbs
Nickname: “Monty” (“Classic hockey nickname,” he laughs)
Jersey #17
Birthday: June 22, 1994
Previous Team: Coquitlam Express (BCHL)
Hometown: Langley, BC
Year: Second

For second year forward Brendan Lamont, it’s all about winning a BCIHL Championship.

“For us to win a trophy would be unbelievable,” he says. “I know we haven’t had one for a little bit.”

The SFU Men’s Hockey Team hasn’t won one since the 2010/11 season, but Lamont’s looking to change that. He’s got the experience necessary too.

In the 2013/14 season, Lamont helped the Coquitlam Express become BCHL champions, their first title in eight years — and their first since moving to Coquitlam from Burnaby.

“That was an unbelievable experience, an unbelievable playoff run with some of those guys in Coquitlam,” Lamont explains. “Playing hockey that late in the year was pretty amazing, pretty fun, it was a great group.”

It wasn’t easy journey for Lamont either. Traded from the Merritt Centennials — where he had played two seasons — in the off-season to the Trail Smoke Eaters, he would be traded twice in the season — including a stint with the Penticton Vees — before he found a home in Coquitlam, one closer to his hometown of Langley.

“[I] found a nice home, a nice niche on that squad, and it was just an unbelievable run there.”

Joining the team in January, he played 16 regular season games with the Express before playing 19 postseason games with them, winning the Fred Page Cup and making an appearance in the Western Canada Cup.

The next season, the magic was still there. Put on a line with Corey Mackin and Brett Supinski, Lamont helped form one of the most dangerous lines in the BCHL.

“[Mackin and Supinski] are just unbelievable hockey players, it was mostly just being able to find some ice and give them as much ice as possible and give them the puck and don’t get in their way,” he explains. “I’m kind of an aggressive player, being able to get the pucks for them, I feel like I’m a pretty good playmaker, so I could get them the puck and when I got them the puck, they made some magic. Made it pretty easy for me, and I feel like I made it pretty easy for them.”

Lamont finished the season with 25 goals and 63 points in 58 games.

“[It was a] fun opportunity to be relied as the go-to offensive guy — which I never really had in the past, and just relished the opportunity. I just made the most of it.”

That season was Lamont’s last at the junior level — it was time for the next step.

His linemates had decided to go down to the States to play NCAA Division I hockey — Mackin at Ferris State and Supinski at Union College. Lamont had a chance to do the same, with an offer from American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts for a 75% ride, but he saw an opportunity much closer to home that he just couldn’t pass up — a chance to continue playing a high level of hockey and get a high level of education at SFU.

“I just liked the school, and the program they have, and hockey obviously was a big part of it, I knew the league was on the way up, and I thought it’d be a good place to play, close to home, and get a really respected education.”

A student of communications with a minor in business, the hardest part of transitioning from the BCHL to the BCIHL was hitting the books.

“That was pretty difficult at first, it was definitely a bit of an eye-opener after having played junior hockey,” he says. “But I’m used to it now, [. . .] it’s fulfilling.”

His game translated immediately, with his speed and grit causing headaches for his opponents, not to mention his 18 points in his rookie season.

In his second year, he has flourished as one of SFU’s key offensive contributors. Similar to his final year with the Express, he is now part of one of the BCIHL’s most dangerous lines, finding a chemistry with Adam Callegari and Scott Patterson (and Daniell Lange, who has subbed in for Patterson when injured).

“Honestly, it’s just been getting those guys the puck and letting them shoot,” Lamont explains. “Lange has a great shot, same as Patterson, so just finding areas where I can get them the puck and let them use their weapons, and Callegari’s great at playmaking as well, and getting open, and we just read off each other nicely.”

With 23 points in 22 games so far, Lamont has found his niche on the team as a dangerous playmaker who knows where to place the perfect pass.

Now, the work turns to earning SFU its fourth BCIHL Championship, and with his record, Lamont knows what it takes — he’s the perfect guy for the job.

Fun Facts:

FAVORITE FOOD: Keg steak
FAVORITE MOVIE: The Dark Knight
FAVORITE MUSICIAN: The Eagles
NEWS YEARS RESOLUTION: “Just win a championship for SFU.”