Xander Lamppa: ‘I play my style - that isn’t scoring goals. They are a bonus’
Xander Lamppa wasn’t the only player to look round the rink and wonder what on earth was happening as the team and fans united in a noisy post-game celebration.
The chants from the stands flowed on to the ice pad as the players banged their sticks along in what has become a new tradition to mark the end of a win - one sparked by netminder Dominik Groh’s somersault routine. In Section G, it was another ‘taps off’ night.
“We were asking each other ‘is this normal?’ “ he said. “Afterwards we realised it was new.”
It was also fun - and that sense of enjoyment underlines his experience since arriving in Kirkcaldy.
The 26-year old from Rochester, Minnesota, is one of a host of new faces in the dressing-room.
He arrived on the back of the best part of three seasons with Maine Mariners in the ECHL.
“I always wanted to come to Europe to play. I didn’t have any specific place in mind - it was a case of let‘s give it a try and see how it goes,” he said.
“Fife was not particularly on my radar right away - not even this league as much, I didn’t know much about it, but Tim (Wallace) got in touch through my agent, gave me the run down on everything and it was a great fit.
“He was pretty honest and said it was going to be a year rebuilding the foundations, bringing in new guys. I learned more about this league and it was one I wanted to be in. So far I’ve been very impressed with every team in this league.”
Lamppa was one of the later arrivals in the dressing-room, and quickly forged bonds with his new team-mates - and the speed with which which everyone has bonded has been a huge factor in Flyers’ fine start to the campaign.
“The guys gelled almost immediately,” he said. “All the boys had become good friends by the time we arrived, and we just jumped in right away. The golf outings in the first week were really great fun.
“The guys made my wife and I very welcome,and the whole experience has been very good - that is testament to Tim and the guys he has brought in.”
Lamppa’s hockey career goes back to junior action with Rochester John Marshall High in 2015-16 and two seasons with Waterloo Black Hawks in the USHL before going to Penn State University and a four-season spell in the NCAA.
The sport runs across his family. His dad Brent played with University of Notre Dame, brother Isaac laced up to play Elite Senior ‘A’ with Fox Cities Ice Dogs in the Great Lakes Hockey League, and cousin Kasey was with Rock Ridge High on the USHS.
“I was a big lacrosse player, but when I turned 15 or 16, I chose pro hockey,” he said. “I really had to work for it. I’ve always been a bad skater - that put me on the back foot. You have to show your value and worth in other ways. I’m not a big scrapper so I have win my battles to match players
“At high school as a sophomore I was 16 and my brother was 18. I was playing with him and his mates, and it was the most fun in hockey. We were really good. Being able to play with them, on the line with him, I fell in love with the game.” Lamppa stepped up to the Austin Bruins in the NAHL in 2017 where his hockey education continued.
“I got scratched for 14 or 15 games that year, but the coach was an assistant coach with the SHL the year before - and he saw I had potential.
“The following summer I was not planning on going to the USHL draft but I got drafted by Waterloo in the 16th round when most other teams were done. I spent two years there and then jumped into Penn State University.”
Lamppa spent four years with the uni team and had an option for a fifth, but pro hockey was on his radar, and Mainer Mariners and the ECHL beckoned.
“University was an amazing experience,” he said. “It was a great programme with a great group of guys - I could not have had a better experience. “At Maine I had an incredible coach and team mates who showed me how to be the best player I could be. He helped me a lot, and that all led to here.”
Switching his sights to Europe and the UK was also a watershed moment for the forward.
“I gave up on the AHL dream - that was too good a level.” he said., “My skating wouldn’t have got me there. Accepting that was the best thing I ever did. I play my style - that isn’t scoring goals. They are a bonus.”
That bonus has included a hat-trick in that remarkable 10-2 demolition of Guildford Flames - his first, he reckons since about the age of 12.
“My main goal is to enjoy my time here and help the team be the best it can be, win games and achieve their goals. If I get a three game slump I am not going to go home unhappy any more - whether that’s scoring goals, winning face offs or penalty killing, these are things to focus on.”