After leading the Superior International Junior Hockey League in points this past season for the Fort Frances Lakers, Lucas DeBenedet will be seeking a spot in the North American Hockey League.
DeBenedet, a 2013 Falls High School graduate who played forward for the Broncos and then joined the Lakers last season, was selected last month in the second round of the NAHL draft by the Minot Minotauros.
He currently is playing in a night league as part of the Falls Summer Hockey Camps and getting ready for the Minotauros' try-out camp July 18-20 in Andover.
“I'm looking to have a really good camp there,” he said. “I already got drafted by them, but I'm still not technically on the team, so I've got to do well and impress them, so I can sign after the camp.”
Going into this coming season, DeBenedet said Minot has openings on its top lines.
“I'm looking to lead the team in points and get some goals,” he said.
DeBenedet noted the NAHL is a larger junior hockey league with more teams than the SIJHL.
“Each year there's a hundred and some Division I-III (commitments from the NAHL),” he said.
DeBenedet said he hopes playing on an NAHL team next season would land him a scholarship with a Division I team in Minnesota.
“That would be pretty awesome if Bemidji (State University) or maybe (the University of Minnesota) Duluth could be interested,” he said. “It would be awesome to be picked up by them.”
This past season, three players from the Falls played Division I college hockey – Jake Youso, a forward with Holy Cross; Willie Corrin, a defenseman with UMD; and Matt Youso, a defenseman with the University of Nebraska Omaha.
