A year ago at this time, Dean Letourneau didn’t know what he didn’t know.
He had just been drafted by the Bruins in the first round (25th overall) and was ready to embark on his first NCAA season at Boston College. At 6-foot-7 and well over 200 pounds, he had high expectations.
But soon enough, reality set in. Letourneau had been playing prep school hockey in Canada for St. Andrew’s College and was originally scheduled to do a year in the USHL before heading to Chestnut Hill.
But then Eagle standout Will Smith signed with the San Jose Sharks after being drafted fourth overall and there was an open roster spot. Letourneau filled it, and the challenges of the huge transition became evident. Centering a fourth line, he finished the season with no goals and three assists.
Those aren’t the numbers that Bruins fans wanted to see from their team’s latest first-round pick. But whether or not Letourneau becomes a formidable NHL center, a little perspective is prudent at this stage of is development.
“It’s a massive jump,” said B’s director of player development Adam McQuaid. “And going to a program where he went to, where they were top-ranked in the nation and they’re always having talent coming and going from there. It was a step. But I think it was a good opportunity for him to be around those guys and practice and have that level of battle that’s there, fighting for your ice time. It was a year of growth, for sure.”
Whether or not he should have played at BC last year is a fair debate. B’s GM Don Sweeney even said last week that everyone was in agreement that he may have been better served with a full season in the USHL. But that decision cannot be changed. What’s important now is that the player takes the challenging experience for what it was and grow from it. McQuaid believes Letourneau has had the right attitude to do that.
“He honestly handled it really well. There were days of disappointment where he felt like he could and wanted to impact more,” said McQuaid. “We were obviously preaching smaller details, protecting pucks and being physical and strong. Then he started getting a little bit of time on the PK and got much better with the stick. Just little details. He took all that in stride, and yet he still wanted to impact more. Those are all positive things. And at the end of the year, he said, ‘I’m going back to BC, I’m ready to compete for a spot.’ Nothing’s going to be given to him, he knows that and it says a lot about him. So we learned a lot about his character. Adversity at that age, a lot of the guys haven’t seen it, so for him to go through it now (is good). There’s always going to be critics and adversity to face – and, for him, being in Boston, it probably magnifies it a little bit – but he’s handled it really well.”
The giant step up in competition was not the only thing Letourneau had to contend with in his freshman season. He broke his hand in an Oct. 19 exhibition against the U.S. National Team Development Program and played through it until he had surgery on it at Christmas time.
“The jump was decently hard. But after Christmas, I thought I fit in a little more,” said Letourneau. “I thought I got better as the season went on. But right away, there was definitely an adjustment, especially with those Michigan State games (in the first weekend of the season) being my first games and getting aware of where the level was at. It was definitely a jump for sure.”
After a while, he felt he started to figure out the role he was being asked to play.
“I was put into a role that was kind of new, playing a hard forecheck, a hard backcheck, so I think overall I learned a lot of different things that I needed to work on for my game, but it will definitely help me for next year,” said Letourneau. “If I got put into a more offensive role and got more opportunity and those habits will still be there to be able to play my B game. I think overall, it was definitely a useful year. Points-wise, the numbers weren’t there, but other than that I think I learned a lot.”
While he’s determined to make his freshman season a positive experience, it was not fun while he was in the midst of it, especially waking up each morning and seeing a goose egg in the goal column that never went away.
“It definitely weighed on me a little bit as the chances weren’t going in,” said Letourneau. “I had a couple of chances in the Beanpot game I thought were going in. I hit a couple of crossbars, a couple of posts. Usually when those don’t go in you get really frustrated. And then not having any goals, it definitely hurts a little more.”
Letourneau has gained strength over the year, adding 10 pounds to his formidable frame. He spent June in Boston, splitting his time between BC and the Warrior Ice Arena. The commitment is there. And he’ll be rejoining an Eagles squad that has become a mini farm team for the B’s with six Bruins draftees in Chestnut Hill (James Hagens, Will Moore, Oskar Jellvik, Andre Gasseau and Kristian Kostadinski). Now it’s a matter of putting his hard-knock education to good use.
“It’s more motivation,” said Letourneau. “Getting frustrated with yourself only leads to harm. It definitely happens, though. It happens with everybody. But using that as motivation is something I’ve been looking forward to doing.”
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