MSU's Lalonde goes pro

Spartan senior Mike Lalonde
is heading to Vegas

Article by Matt Mackinder

Michigan State senior forward Mike Lalonde signed a contract with the ECHL's Las Vegas Thunder on Thursday, March 30, and made his professional debut on April 1 against Victoria. The Thunder concludes their season with a pair of games against the Alaska Aces on April 8 and 9.

He closed his four-year career with 156 games played and 50 goals and 52 assists for 102 points. He reached the century club with an assist on State's fourth goal in a 6-3 win over Ohio State on Feb. 18, 2005.

As a senior in 2004-05, Lalonde appeared in 35 games, recording five goals and nine assists for 14 points. He missed five games (Nov. 27-Dec. 11) after suffering a knee injury in a 2-0 win at Wisconsin (Nov. 26). He recorded four multiple-point games on the season, including a goal and an assist in a 4-3 win over New Hampshire (Dec. 29), the game winner and a helper in a 3-1 win over Western Michigan (Jan. 15) and a goal and an assist in an 8-0 blanking of Lake Superior State (Jan. 21).

During his junior campaign (2003-04), he appeared in 42 games with 22 goals and 18 assists for a career-best 40 points. His 40 points ranked second on the squad in scoring and tied for sixth in the CCHA overall scoring race, while his 22 goals put him 12th in the country.

In 2002-03 as a sophomore, the Chetwynd, B.C. native played in 38 games with 13-18--31 totals to rank sixth on the squad in scoring. As a freshman (2001-02), he played in all 41 games, adding 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points. He scored his first collegiate goal at Nebraska-Omaha on Oct. 26, 2001.