Laberge finally took his National Hockey League solo rookie lap.
PHILADELPHIA, P.A. -- It may have taken longer than expected, but 26-year-old Samuel Laberge finally took his National Hockey League solo rookie lap.
Going "no bucket," he skated out onto the ice at Wells Fargo Center ahead of his long-awaited NHL debut. He finished his solo lap and fired off one shot before Akira Schmid led the rest of his New Jersey Devils teammates out for warmups ahead of their game versus the Philadelphia Flyers.
The versatile forward spoke to the media the day before his debut and discussed what he hoped to bring to the lineup.
"I'm bringing a lot of energy and a physical game to the (Comets)," Laberge said. "That's why I think I'm at this level, to try and bring energy to the team. I'm going to keep doing the same thing I'm doing and try to play my role."
"I won't try to do too much," he continued, "play my game, do the little details, go 100 percent and go from there."
He played four minutes and was credited with one hit on Rasmus Ristolainen in the second period. After the game, he couldn't help but smile when talking about his debut.
"It was amazing," he said. "A lot of emotion and feeling in my head; I was kind of seeing blurry. After a couple of laps, it was awesome. The group was awesome to bring me in and make me feel comfortable."
"All the effort and everything I put in just for that moment, it was amazing," he continued. "A lot of emotion."
His sister and girlfriend were in attendance at Wells Fargo Center to experience his debut. Congrats, Samuel!