For more information:
Chris Bilder, Public Relations, Eugene Generals
541-359-4154 (office)
541-680-6222 (cell)
Generals Alumni Update: Lucas Romero
Lucas Romero was a prominent member of the Generals 2005/06 and 2006/07 teams, and has become one of the most successful players the Generals have produced in their five year run. Romero was very successful as a member of the Generals, but he has enjoyed even more success in his career since his tenure in Eugene.
Romero played for the Generals for two seasons, and after his second season with the Generals he moved on to one of the preeminent Canadian Junior A hockey teams, the Pembroke Lumber Kings. Romero enjoyed two very successful seasons at Pembroke, and is now playing Division III college hockey for Westfield State College.
In two seasons with the Generals, Lucas Romero had a lot of success on the ice. In 46 career regular season games Romero racked up 39 goals and 25 assists, but he really shined in the playoffs. Romero played 18 career playoff games with the Generals where he scored 13 goals and added 13 assists. Romero still holds the Generals post-season records for most single season assists (10), most career playoff power play goals (8) and most single season playoff power play goals (4), which is a feat he accomplished twice.
Romero is also second in the record books in five other post-season categories. He is second in sing playoff season goals (8), career playoff goals (13), career playoff assists (13), single season playoff points (15) and career playoff points (26).
“It’s pretty cool to still have those records,” Romero said. “It just shows how good the team was during the two years that I was in Eugene. If I have an assist record it means that I could give to puck to [Michael] Frei or [Garrett] Bossert and they could put the puck away. We had awesome chemistry on those teams, and we completely bought in to Coach Freeland.”
With all of his success in the post-season it is not surprise that Romero’s favorite moment with the Generals came after a big playoff win. The Generals had entered the 2006 Pacific Division Playoffs as the third seed, and they were facing the Puget Sound Tomahawks, who had owned them late in the regular season. The Generals and Tomahawks were tied 1-1 heading into the final game of the best-of-three series in Puget Sound, and the Generals won with a decisive 4-0 shutout.
“My favorite moment with the team was in the locker room after we beat the Tomahawks in the first round. We were a first year team, and we weren’t expected to win, but we did. When we got into that locker room Coach Freeland crouched down really low, and all of a sudden he jumped up and yelled ‘Yeah’. I think it all sunk in at that moment what we had done and we celebrated pretty hard.”
Romero played one more season for the Generals after their unbelievable rise to the top of the NORPAC Pacific Division, and then he moved up to the Pembroke Lumber Kings of the Central Junior Hockey League (CJHL) in Pembroke, ONT. The Lumber Kings are perennially one of the top teams in Hockey Canada, and they had won the CJHL Championship the season before Romero arrived.
The 5-8, 165 lb. forward had just about as much success in Pembroke as he did in Eugene. In 122 games with Pembroke during the regular season Romero scored 34 goals and added 75 assists. Romero also played 25 games in the playoffs in Pembroke, and he put up one goal and 12 assists. The Lumber Kings won the CJHL Championship in both seasons that Romero was with the team.
“My two seasons with Pembroke were unbelievable. It was probably one of the best places I could have played at that level. My coach played in the NHL, and he taught us a ton. Playing for him was awesome.”
Playing at that high Junior hockey level, Romero is thankful that he came to Eugene to get used to Junior hockey, and adapt to the new style of play.
“Playing in Eugene gave me a great start in Juniors. It definitely got me used to the overall Junior hockey game. They Junior game is so much different than youth hockey and even college hockey. It really helped to play against teams with a lot older, and a lot bigger, players. It really helped me to learn how to defend myself on the ice. It also really helped to have a team in Eugene that was completely bought into the team. Our team was all pulling in one direction, and with that we accomplished a lot.”
Even with the Junior hockey experience there were a lot of changes for Romero from NORPAC to the CJHL. The players are bigger and faster, and the two styles of play are different in each league.
“A lot of the difference in the leagues is the skating ability at that level. The style of the team was also different. Everything for us in Pembroke was based a lot more on X’s and O’s. It’s almost like we were taught to be robots with a little creativity thrown in every once in a while. We had our systems down to a T, and it was very tough to beat us because we knew exactly what to do in every situation.”
Romero was able to not only adjust to the higher level, but he was able to succeed tremendously at that higher level. Romero just wasn’t successful on the ice, however, as he was named Assistant Captain in his last season with Pembroke.
“It meant a lot to be named assistant captain because it showed that my coach believed that as a 20 year old I was a big part of the team and a leader. It showed that the team trusted me to get the job done. I had my ups and downs in the final season, but it was great to win two championships and it was a great way to cap everything off.”
Romero’s Junior career might have been capped off by two championships, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have the chance to win even more in his hockey career. Romero is now one of the top freshmen on his Westfield State College Division III hockey team. In 18 games this season with Westfield Romero has scored seven goals and added nine assists. Romero is seventh on the team in scoring, and second among Freshman.
“Our coach this year is in his first year, and he’s feeling things out and getting used to being a head coach. He’s doing the best he can, and he’s letting the players run a lot of things. He’s great with letting us give him input, and he’ll put it to use. The players have a lot of say in the systems we run, and I’m getting a ton of minutes which is awesome.”
Westfield State is 12-7-2 this season and 9-3-2 in the MASCAC Conference. They are currently in fourth place in the conference, but only four points out of first place. Romero believes that this team can have the same kind of post-season success that he has had in Eugene and in Pembroke.
“I definitely thing that our team is capable of the same success my teams in the past have had. We have a really strong team, and I think we can win our conference. Playoff time is the hardest part of hockey, and that is when you have to play your best. In college it’s only a one game elimination, and it can be a hit or miss type of thing, but I like our chances for sure.”
One thing is for sure, and that is Lucas Romero will be playing highly competitive hockey for a long time to come. Romero has matured both on and off the ice beyond his years since coming to the Generals as a seventeen year old, and that growth doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.