The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
USA women’s hockey offers twin billing
Just call it a sister thing. Whenever another hockey team has sisters on the rosters, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando take notice.
Well, the U.S. Olympians are twins themselves. “It’s just cool to see,” Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson said. The Lamoureux sisters will have some sisterly company at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Teammate Hannah Brandt’s sister, Marissa, plays for the unified Korean women’s team, and Switzerland has two sets of sisters on the roster with Nina, Isabel and Monika Waidacher, plus twins Laura and Sara Benz. Canada nearly had its own sister act with Sarah and Amy Potomak, though neither made the Olympic team. Being sisters definitely can provide an edge in hockey.
“When we get the opportunity to be on the ice together, there’s a chemistry that just never goes away,” Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson said. “It’s always there. So whenever we have an opportunity to have a couple shifts together or if we’re ever put on a unit or line together, it’s always there. And we’ve pushed each other every day whether it’s workouts, during on-ice training, it’s just that accountability that we’ve always had growing up.”
The Lamoureux sisters played a year in college at Minnesota before switching to North Dakota for their final three seasons, the last in 2012-13. They have played internationally for the United States since 2006. Both play forward, though Monique also plays defense.
Now 28, the sisters credit each other for their long success, which now includes a third Olympic berth. “(The reason we have) been competing at this level for quite a long time is that built-in accountability day-in, day-out even...” Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson said. Monique Lamoureux-Davidson calls it the benefit of having grown up together, playing every sport together on the same team. “It’s just that thing when we’re on the ice together, we have that undeniable chemistry,” she said.