France's Lore Baudrit (#19), the tallest player at this tournament, wants to stay in the top division at her first IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship.
photo: Matt Zambonin / HHOF-IIHF Images
From the big-city lights in Montreal to the Northern Lights in Umea and Ornskoldsvik, Lore Baudrit has accumulated her share of air miles lately. However, the French assistant captain really wants her winless national team to start flying on the ice at these Women’s Worlds in Espoo. Baudrit, a 27-year-old forward, has been a fixture in Division I play with Les Bleues since 2008.
Baudrit went pointless in 16 regular season games for the CWHL’s Les Canadiennes de Montreal last season after honing her skills for three years with the University of Montreal. This year, she got a preview of the two cities that will host the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship (18-28 April). Baudrit tore up the Swedish first division with Umea’s IF Bjorkloven (23+27=50 in 15 games) before jumping to the SDHL’s Modo Ornskoldsvik for the end of the regular season (3+4=7 in four games) and the playoffs (2+1=3 in six games).
Baudrit, the tournament’s tallest player at 190 cm, was both gracious and outspoken when we caught up with her after France’s 3-1 loss to the Czechs on Friday.
How do you feel about France’s performance so far?
We are proud to play in the top division, but I think we want to win one game. The feeling after two games is, yeah, we lost two games, but we have played better over time. So that's good for us. We need to take points now to stay in the top division. My hope for this team is that we go on in the top division. We’re not here for tourism. We want to go to the quarter-finals. I think now it's more difficult, but we have two games to go. We'll try and we'll work hard for that.
What about your own game?
I think I'm happy about my defensive zone play. I haven't been giving up too many chances 5-on-5. So that is good. But I need to do more for the team in the offensive zone. The leaders of Team France, we all need to do more in the offensive zone and get some goals.
You’ve done it before. You scored two shorthanded goals in 1:31 when France beat Slovakia 7-1 on home ice in Vaujany and qualified for Espoo in Division I play last year.
Yeah! It was special. But now the level is higher, and it's more difficult for us. Now we don't have much time in the offensive zone and that's tough.
What kind of place does Montreal hold in your heart?
I lived in Montreal for six years. I liked this very much. But for hockey, I needed to move to get more playing time, more time on the ice. Still, I liked my life in Montreal. I hope after hockey, I'll go to live in Montreal. Maybe!
Baudrit went pointless in 16 regular season games for the CWHL’s Les Canadiennes de Montreal last season after honing her skills for three years with the University of Montreal. This year, she got a preview of the two cities that will host the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship (18-28 April). Baudrit tore up the Swedish first division with Umea’s IF Bjorkloven (23+27=50 in 15 games) before jumping to the SDHL’s Modo Ornskoldsvik for the end of the regular season (3+4=7 in four games) and the playoffs (2+1=3 in six games).
Baudrit, the tournament’s tallest player at 190 cm, was both gracious and outspoken when we caught up with her after France’s 3-1 loss to the Czechs on Friday.
How do you feel about France’s performance so far?
We are proud to play in the top division, but I think we want to win one game. The feeling after two games is, yeah, we lost two games, but we have played better over time. So that's good for us. We need to take points now to stay in the top division. My hope for this team is that we go on in the top division. We’re not here for tourism. We want to go to the quarter-finals. I think now it's more difficult, but we have two games to go. We'll try and we'll work hard for that.
What about your own game?
I think I'm happy about my defensive zone play. I haven't been giving up too many chances 5-on-5. So that is good. But I need to do more for the team in the offensive zone. The leaders of Team France, we all need to do more in the offensive zone and get some goals.
You’ve done it before. You scored two shorthanded goals in 1:31 when France beat Slovakia 7-1 on home ice in Vaujany and qualified for Espoo in Division I play last year.
Yeah! It was special. But now the level is higher, and it's more difficult for us. Now we don't have much time in the offensive zone and that's tough.
What kind of place does Montreal hold in your heart?
I lived in Montreal for six years. I liked this very much. But for hockey, I needed to move to get more playing time, more time on the ice. Still, I liked my life in Montreal. I hope after hockey, I'll go to live in Montreal. Maybe!
Lore Baudrit during the interview.
photo: Matt Zambonin / HHOF-IIHF Images
Do you treasure the time you spent with Les Canadiennes?
For me, it was the best opportunity. I had the chance to practice and play with the best players in the world. Every day I took that chance. There aren't many people who get this opportunity. All the time I looked how they practiced and what they did to get better. I took so many valuable experiences with these guys. These great players were very nice with me too.
What was it like to play with Hilary Knight?
The first practice with Hilary, I watched her and I'm just, "What the [heck]?" She's crazy. She's very good with the puck. She goes to screen the goalie and she tips all the pucks. Lots of details. The physical side of things, she's a machine too. That first practice, I just said: "OK. That's one of the two or three best players in the world."
Are you happy with what you did in Sweden?
Well, I went to the first division in Sweden. For me, it wasn't a big level, but I played well, and I had lots of ice time. Before that, I didn't have a name in Sweden, because I'm French, and French players aren't big there. But now I think people know me in Sweden. That gave me an opportunity to go to Modo. I did well, but not my best, as we didn't go to the final. Still, it was a good opportunity for me.
What’ll be the key to success in your remaining preliminary round games versus Sweden and Germany?
I think we need to not take penalties. We're playing against very good players and if we give them chances on the PP, we'll lose a lot of energy on the PK. After that, we can't take momentum. We need to just play safe in the defensive zone. Maybe we'll just have one or two chances to score and we need to be efficient. If we have a chance, we need to score.
For me, it was the best opportunity. I had the chance to practice and play with the best players in the world. Every day I took that chance. There aren't many people who get this opportunity. All the time I looked how they practiced and what they did to get better. I took so many valuable experiences with these guys. These great players were very nice with me too.
What was it like to play with Hilary Knight?
The first practice with Hilary, I watched her and I'm just, "What the [heck]?" She's crazy. She's very good with the puck. She goes to screen the goalie and she tips all the pucks. Lots of details. The physical side of things, she's a machine too. That first practice, I just said: "OK. That's one of the two or three best players in the world."
Are you happy with what you did in Sweden?
Well, I went to the first division in Sweden. For me, it wasn't a big level, but I played well, and I had lots of ice time. Before that, I didn't have a name in Sweden, because I'm French, and French players aren't big there. But now I think people know me in Sweden. That gave me an opportunity to go to Modo. I did well, but not my best, as we didn't go to the final. Still, it was a good opportunity for me.
What’ll be the key to success in your remaining preliminary round games versus Sweden and Germany?
I think we need to not take penalties. We're playing against very good players and if we give them chances on the PP, we'll lose a lot of energy on the PK. After that, we can't take momentum. We need to just play safe in the defensive zone. Maybe we'll just have one or two chances to score and we need to be efficient. If we have a chance, we need to score.