CC DesLauriers ’23 stands out in many ways. Despite her height of 4’11”, she is hard to miss on the path, characterized by a beaming smile and persistent, positive attitude. On the ice, she uses her short stature to her advantage, utilizing her remarkable speed to recover loose pucks and create chances for her team in the offensive zone.
While DesLauriers has experience playing soccer, cheerleading, and dancing, hockey has been her passion since she was three years old. “I’ve actually always kind of loved hockey,” she said. “Normally, you see a lot of the younger kids crying, but my parents said I never cried when I was on the ice, and it’s been the only sport that I’ve stuck with until high school.”
Growing up in the small city of St. Albans, Vermont, DesLauriers cites her biggest inspiration in the sport to be her older brother, Owen. Outside of her brother, DesLauriers has a litany of experience in the world of men’s hockey. The St. Albans native grew up playing in local elementary hockey leagues in Vermont—“Squirts.” At the age of 10, she began playing for her allboys state team, with her as an exception, a team in which she would come to make lifelong friends.
DesLauriers joined the Deerfield community as a reclassed freshman during the 2019-20 school year, after meeting Deerfield Girls Varsity Hockey Head Coach Brooke Fernandez. Ms. Fernandez played collegiate hockey at St. Lawrence University, but also has experience playing in a men’s league, much like DesLauriers. DesLauriers is now the sole four-year member of the team and leads the team alongside Annie Dinges ’24.
Her co-captain, Dinges, remarked, “CC always has her head up, she’s always looking around to get a pass, and looking to help her teammates out. Especially, with eleven new girls [this year], she’s been doing a lot to make sure everyone feels comfortable in the locker room, and feels welcome, and lets everyone know they can be themselves.” Ava Carvel ’25, a new sophomore on the team, added, “She’s done everything she can to show us how a player should act on and off the ice. She exemplifies Deerfield hockey always, and I admire that a lot about her.”
While DesLauriers’ skill as a hockey player and proficiency as a leader may be common knowledge to those who know her, she does have some hidden truths. When asked about her pre-game routine, she said, “This sounds kind of odd, but every time I get dressed, I have to put everything left on first. I’ll put on the left sock, then right sock, then left skate, then right skate. This started probably, during Squirts, more than ten years now. And randomly this year, I needed something new, so I decided to go half-black, halfwhite on my stick [for taping].”
Additionally, to get pumped up before every game, DesLauriers turns on “Dreams and Nightmares,” by Meek Mill. “Since I’ve been [at Deerfield],” DesLauriers described, “that’s been my song before every game…When they play it in the stands, my teammates are like ‘that’s your song!’”
While DesLauriers has made several treasured memories on the Deerfield ice, she cites her favorite to be during the COVID-19 pandemic, when DAGVH beat Cushing Academy during their senior night, after having lost the championship the year prior.
Playing alongside her in this game was Keri Cloughtery ’21, who now plays ice hockey for Boston College. Cloughtery is a player and teammate who DesLauriers holds in particularly high regard: “I was a freshman and she was a new junior, and we met at a tournament the summer before we came to Deerfield.” She said, “The second we got here, she was someone that was not only my best friend off the ice, but someone that I could always trust on the ice. And even today, if I have any issues or need advice about being a leader, I still always contact Keri.”
Former teammates will face off next year when Boston College plays the University of Vermont, where DesLauriers committed to play ice hockey, prior to attending Deerfield at 14 years old. When discussing her reasons for committing to UVM, she said, “I grew up 30 minutes from UVM, and every game you got to play at [Gutterson] Fieldhouse (UVM’s ice hockey Rink) was such a huge deal. But, I’m very much a homebody and I love being home with my family. Being able to play in front of them after being away at school where not all of them can see me play every weekend is a really exciting opportunity to have.”
DesLauriers’ impact on the Deerfield community and especially the DAGVH team has been incredibly significant. From inspiring leadership to breathtaking goals to gritty defense, #8 has made a name for herself over the past four years, and she’ll surely be missed next year as she looks to tear up the Hockey East Conference.