Over winter break, Lake Forest Academy’s Prep Hockey team travelled to Calgary, Alberta to play in the Circle K Classic. At the tournament, captain Romain Lellouche ‘26 stood out for the Caxys, earning a second team all star nomination. He finished with 3 goals and led the team with 6 assists. As a whole, the Caxys were happy with their performance, finishing with a 2-2 record after a long four days of games.
This was the first time the team had participated in this tournament, and by all accounts, it was a success. It was unclear how the team would perform coming in after a week off school, especially because of the tough competition they would be facing. “They were the best teams we’ve played all year,” Lellouche said. Many of the teams they played were nationally ranked within Canada and also had projected NHL draft prospects. The competition was difficult, but the team came together well, and they were able to have a good showing despite the challenge. “We honestly did really great,” Lellouche said about their performance.
Having a tournament over winter break was also different for the team. They have games throughout the year and often travel over fall and winter weekends, but coming back together during winter break after a week away from the team was something different and new. “At first, I didn’t want to play over winter break, but after I realized I was with my closest friends, I honestly liked it,” Lellouche said. It was special for him to be able to have a tournament focused on having fun and playing hockey, rather than having to worry about school.
Coming together after time away was certainly tough, especially in the middle of relaxing over winter break. When asked about how the team managed this, Lellouche said, “As soon as we landed and came together in the hotel, we all looked at each other. We were like, ‘we’re not here for nothing, so let’s just play together and let’s win.’”
When asked about the most memorable moment in the tournament, Lellouche pointed to the third game of the tournament against the South Alberta Hockey Academy. After two games of pool play, the winner of this game would move on to the final bracket and have a chance to compete for the championship, while the loser would be eliminated. After entering overtime tied at 3-3, no goals were scored throughout the period, forcing a shootout to decide the result. During the shootout, Lellouche was next in line to shoot when forward Kyle Paswater ‘26 “completely faked” the goalie and scored an “incredible goal”. As the other team went up to shoot, goalie Justin Cossais ‘26 made an amazing save to clinch the game for LFA.
The team’s next major tournament is the Midwest Prep Hockey League (MPHL) playoffs from February 13-15. They will play against Ridley College and Gilmour Academy, two of their biggest rivals. They will enter the tournament with their sights set on the championship after a tough loss last year in the final game.
