Kansas City Mavericks' Jack LaFontaine Enjoying Season Of Triumph And Challenge

Kansas City Mavericks goaltender Jack LaFontaine leads all ECHL goaltenders with a 0.950 save percentage in the playoffs

Kansas City Mavericks' goaltender Jack LaFontaine is no stranger to individual success. The former University of Minnesota standout finished his college tenure with the second-best career goals-against average (2.29) and the third-best save percentage (0.920) in program history.

Added, LaFontaine picked up a number of accolades in his time with the Gophers: Mike Richter Award (2021), First Team All-American (2021), Big Ten Goaltender of the Year (2021), First Team All-Big Ten (2021), Hobey Baker Award Finalist (2021). The list goes on.

Now, the 26-year-old has the Mavericks on the cusp of a special season. LaFontaine has backstopped Kansas City to a 4-1 record in five ECHL Playoffs games. Added, he owns the best save percentage (0.950) and the fourth-best goals-against average (1.93) among goaltenders in the postseason.

However, the path to get to this point was not always linear. For starters, LaFontaine, originally a third-round pick, 75th overall, in the 2016 NHL Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes, signed a one-year contract with the AHL's Coachella Valley Firebirds prior to the 2023-24 season after spending time in the Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning organizations.

LaFontaine posted a 28-save shutout in his Kansas City debut. However, several call-ups to the AHL and reassignments to the ECHL made it challenging for him to find consistency.

"The beginning of the year was tough," LaFontaine told The Hockey News. "I was being called up and down from Coachella to Kansas City, so I never really found my groove. I was like called up four times in a row. Once I had my feet planted and in one place for a while, it was nice to get into a little bit of a rhythm."

He finished the 2023-24 regular season with a 16-3-1 record in 23 appearances, a 2.77 goals-against average, a 0.911 save percentage, and one shutout. LaFontaine has primarily played a rotational role with former Notre Dame goaltender Cale Morris as well as Dillon Kelley. The Mavericks became the first team in ECHL history to have three goalies with 15 or more wins each on one team.

Once Big Ten foes, LaFontaine and Morris have formed a dynamic duo in net in the playoffs. The 28-year-old Morris accumulated a 21-7-2 record in 32 outings during the regular season. LaFontaine has been driven to match his teammate's effort by going game-for-game through the regular season and extending that same mentality into the postseason.

"Cale and I are very close," LaFontaine said. "We've grown up playing against each other in college and even in pro. We have a relationship where we're both extremely competitive. If Cale goes off one game and has a great game, it's like, 'Okay, yeah, that's pretty good. Now watch me' and vice versa. At the end of the day, we're both extremely competitive individuals, and we just want to win. I'm his biggest supporter, and I know the same of him."

The two goaltenders have alternated starts in Kansas City's playoff games. Going up against highly-skilled teams at this time of year, both netminders have seen a higher volume of shots in every game compared to the regular season.

LaFontaine has seen at least 32 shots on goal in every game, with 40 or more in three of his five starts. In Game 5 against Idaho, he turned aside 53 of 56 in the Mavericks' series-clincher, sending them to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since the 2012-13 season and the first time as members of the ECHL.

"You just feel like you're always in your flow state," LaFontaine said of high shot totals. "For me, personally, I like seeing that volume. It's not really something you prepare for. Each game is its own little challenge, and you just take the game shot-by-shot. Sometimes, you look at the scoreboard, and you go, 'Well, I got 40 tonight.' It's just one of those things."

The Mavericks are back on home ice for Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against the Toledo Walleye on Friday night. Kansas City will look to make it a 3-1 series lead, with LaFontaine the expected starter in net.