(LHJAAAQ)

Veteran Kahnawake Condor Kevin Talbot knew last summer that to improve his game he would have to keep in shape and step up his training.

"I trained hard all summer," Talbot told The Insider after the game against the Lachine Maroons, a game the Condors won 6-4 with the help of Talbot's first career hat trick. "I power-skated and was ready for training camp and tonight we played well. It was a good team effort."

Talbot got his first at 3:47 of the second period, and his second came at the right moment, on a breakaway with just over a minute remaining with the teams tied at four. Talbot was in full flight down the left side of the ice
when defenseman Jonathan Lapointe-Tousignant hit him with a flip pass. Talbot streak him one-on-one and snuck one through the legs of the Lachine goaltender. Talbot capped off the evening with his third goal into an empty net, an opportunity created by the unselfish play of Manuel Kourtoglou -who had an empty net to himself but chose to set up Talbot.

"It was a nice thing for him to do," said Talbot. "That's the type of team we have this year."

Team captain Nicolas Biniek scored his second of the season, Corey Dawson and Maxime Guerin scored the others.

It wasn't all easy. The Maroons scored first in the game and Biniek evened it up.

The Condors were ahead 4-2 starting the third, but some penalties put the Condors in trouble early and the Maroons evened the score, before Talbot took over.

"Almost every chance they had they scored," said Condor goaltender Jean-Francois Labrosse, who with 12 minutes remaining in the third made three back-to-back pad saves, motivating his players.

"That's what we want out of our goaltenders,' said Condor Head Coach Guy Guertin. "This is a game of hockey, goalies are scored on, but they also make great saves and that is what Labrosse did for us.

Delmar Moses, on his first shift in the first period, was shoulder-checked, dislocating his right shoulder and was forced to sit out the remainder of the game.

"It's one of those things," Moses said. "I went out and got the check and something just popped."

Status on Moses is yet to be determined.

The Condors still need to work out some kinks. It's a new team with talented players who are just learning about each other and understanding how each play, and that, according to Guertin, is coming together fast.

By: Richard Tardif

The Condors Insider

Info from: http://www.condorsjraaa.com/