On Dec. 6, 2023, the Alberni Valley Bulldogs announced the signing of 2005-born forward Philippe Lalonde.
Lalonde joined the Bulldogs midway through the 2023-24 season after spending time in the United States Hockey League and the North American Hockey League.
This article is about Lalonde’s path to the Bulldogs. Before that, I will talk about some of the Bulldogs’ college commitments earned this season.
College-bound
Both Lalonde and Jacob Terpstra, who signed with Alberni Valley in October, earned college commitments before joining the Bulldogs. In 2025-26, Lalonde will attend Dartmouth College, and Terpstra will head to Northern Michigan University.
In November, defender Mason Croucher committed to the Rochester Institute of Technology to attend starting this autumn. Also committed to Dartmouth is forward Hayden Stavroff, who joins the Ivy League school the same year as Lalonde. Meanwhile, forward Grayson Badger is committed to Northeastern University for 2024-25.
As for forward Lucas Buzziol, he is off to Union College this September while defender Lenny Greenberg is committed to Sacred Heart University for 2024-25.
From Southern California to the U.S. Midwest
Lalonde played his first minor hockey of note with the Anaheim Junior Ducks hockey program, playing 41 games for the U13 AAA team in the 2018-19 season.
In those 41 games, Lalonde achieved a point per game. Afterward, Lalonde traveled to Faribault, Minnesota to attend Shattuck-St. Mary’s School.
From 2019 to 2021, Lalaonde played on four different teams at Shattuck-St. Mary’s. In 2019-20, he played for the 14U AAA team, and then in 2020-21 on the 15U AAA team. In 2021-22, the Irvine, California product played on the Shattuck 18U AAA squad in a pair of leagues. In 113 games at the school, Lalonde notched 41 goals and 78 points.
Also in 2021-22, Lalonde started playing at the Culver Military Academy, getting into 42 games for the 16U team. Last season, he played 48 games for the Academy’s Prep team as a 17-year-old before moving on from the Culver, Indiana-based school.
Three teams before January
At the start of the season, Lalonde played for the Cedar Rapids Roughriders in the USHL. Across five games, he tallied one assist. In early November, Lalonde joined the NAHL’s Minot Minotauros, scoring one goal and two assists in seven games.
While he was with Minot, Lalonde committed to Dartmouth College and a few weeks later, the Bulldogs signed him to their roster. On Dec. 8, he made his BCHL debut with Alberni Valley against the Victoria Grizzlies. As of this writing, Lalonde has six goals and six assists in 21 games with the Bulldogs. His first career BCHL goal came in a 10-2 drubbing of Cowichan Valley on Dec. 30.
