Nelson Home Building Centre Leafs Player Profile of the Week — Darnel St. Pierre
By Bruce Fuhr
Unfortunately, when your a hard-nosed defenceman, known for his on-the-edge play, like Darnel St. Pierre sometimes there’s a bulleye on your back.
Which maybe explains why the 19-year-old St. Pierre is serving a two-game set for too many “hit to the head” penalties.
However, the former Revelstoke Grizzlies star will be back on the blueline for Sunday’s afternoon home tilt against the Spokane Braves at 2:30 p.m. in the NDCC Arena.
And that game can’t some soon enough for a Green and White team needing all defencemen on deck for the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League stretch run.
While watching his Leaf teammates on the ice last week, the Nelson Leaf captain sat down with The Nelson Daily.com Sports Editor Bruce Fuhr for the latest installment of the Nelson Home Building Centre Leafs Player Profile of the Week.
Nelson Home Building Centre Leafs Player Profile of the Week
Darnel St. Pierre
Age: 19
Born: Kelowna, BC
Height: 6-feet
Weight: 175 pounds
Years in Hockey: 15
Hometown: Kelowna, BC
Favorite NHL Player: Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins
Favorite NHL Team: Colorado Avalanche
KIJHL Stats: 129 games, 27 goals, 65 assists, 157 points, 270 penalty minutes
Favorite Music: Hip-hop, Rap
Pre-Game Meal: mainly pasta
Biggest accomplishment in hockey: Named captain of the Nelson Leafs
Work: Warehouse One
Nickname: Saint or DSP
Other interests: Working out, spending time with friends and family and playing video games
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram: All three
The Nelson Daily: What type of player would you classify yourself?
Darnel St. Pierre: I think I’m a hard-working, two-way defenceman. I like to scores some goals . . . creates opportunities and shut down the other teams top players while playing a responsible game.
TND: What are your individual goals, this season and beyond?
DSP: Individual goals? Hopefully be names top defenceman of this (Neil Murdoch) division if not the league. Help the (Leafs) obviously win the Cyclone Taylor Championship and beyond this season get a scholarship somewhere in hockey to continue my career.
TND: What attracted you to come to Nelson?
DSP: I requested a trade to Nelson (during the offseason). My mom is from (Nelson). Nelson teams are obviously very good as well Nelson hosting the Cyclone Taylor had some factor in my decision. Just figured I might as well try it out playing for Nelson.
TND: Being the captain of the Leafs comes a lot of responsibility and added pressures. How do you cope with that pressure?
DSP: Pressure is doing what is right because the guys won’t listen to you if you doing the opposite of what you’re saying in the room. So I need to make sure I’m that I’m using my head out on the ice all the time and really thinking while I’m playing.
TND: Nelson has done with five defenceman most of the season and still ranks as one of the better defensive teams in the KIJHL. What has been the secret of this success?
DSP: We’ve some really talented defencemen here. Any one of our defencemen could probably be the top one or two D-men on any other team in the league. There’s really a lot of skill with this unit, but our forwards help us out and we’ve been working a lot on our D-zone coverage lately, which has helped a lot.
TND: The Leafs lost Cole Arcuri right before the roster deadline. How big of a loss is that for this team?
DSP: It leaves a pretty big hole with only having five defencemen right now. He was a big part of this team. I loved playing with Cole myself . . .. At such a young age Cole was able to carry a pretty big responsibility with the team so it’s tough to lose him. But it’s great for him moving up to Junior A. Still we’ll find a way to replace him, whether it’s more minutes for us, but it’s a tough loss for sure.
TND: Is the team upset that Cole left?
DSP: No, not at all. Cole is a good guy, a good friend and I’m just happy to see him move up to Junior A. I rather Cole not get stuck down in here with all the talent he’s got.
