At the end of his fourth university season, Laval Rouge et Or offensive lineman Karl Lavoie was on his way to being ranked among the top prospects for the 2015 Canadian Football League draft.

A member of the Quebec conference all-star team in 2011, 2013 and 2014, and a first all-Canadian team in 2013 and 2014, Lavoie sat 14th on the CFL Scouting Bureau list in December of 2014.

The plan was for Lavoie to train hard in the off-season and then shine at the CFL draft combine in order to increase his stock in the eyes of the league’s nine teams.

However, within a week of the event, a right quadriceps injury forced him to revise his plans. Suddenly, he was worried.

“For sure, it kept running through my head,” said Lavoie. “The combine is the perfect place to show what you can do. But my agent had talked with the teams and had sent them good video of me. Scouts already knew me, but there’s no doubt the combine could potentially have helped increase my value.”

His fears were confirmed at the unveiling of the third and final prospect rankings — his name no longer appeared among the top 20 as determined by scouts, personnel directors and general managers from across the league. It’s not as if teams were ignoring him, though.

“The Argonauts had me come to Toronto for a private workout,” recalled Lavoie. “Many teams talked my agent, but none showed particular interest. In fact, the funny thing is that Calgary did not seem at all interested. ”

And yet, the Stamps spent their first-round pick — ninth overall — on Lavoie.

“I was not expecting it at all,” said Lavoie. “Other clubs that had shown more interest were picking before the Stampeders and none of them had chosen me. Then, Calgary’s assistant GM texted (Stamps centre and former Laval teammate) Pierre Lavertu asking for my phone number. It was then I suspected that the Stamps would call my name. As soon as Pierre received the text, we started getting pretty excited.”

Now drafted, Lavoie — who had considered a return to Laval for a fifth season — set his sights on playing in the pros.

But another injury, this time a shoulder problem, thwarted Lavoie’s plans two weeks before the end of his first training camp as a Stamp. He had had to wait until July 18 before making his debut.

“It was awesome,” he said. “At Laval, I was used to playing in front of big crowds and with lots of atmosphere, but it was nothing like the atmosphere in Calgary that day.”

But health issues ruined Lavoie’s big day as he suffered a knee injury in his debut.

“I’ve never been seriously injured before but now, in my first year as a pro, I was seriously hurt,” said Lavoie. “It was frustrating, because when you’re with a new team, you’re trying to fit in. But when you can’t be on the field with your teammates, it’s hard. It was the year in which I wanted to prove that I deserved to play in the league and it didn’t really happen. ”

Away from family and friends, the first weeks of his recuperation were difficult for him. But gradually, he began to see things in a more positive light. He worked hard in the gym and made a comeback in Western final against the Edmonton Eskimos.

Unfortunately, in his first start as a pro, the Stampeders suffered a 45-31 setback to the hands of the eventual champions of the Grey Cup.

“Considering it was my first game as a starter was the West final, on the road, my coach and I agreed that I did well despite everything,” said Lavoie. “But I’m a perfectionist, and I would certainly like to do better.

This season, Lavoie hopes to earn a starting position and join Lavertu as key cogs of a more stable and healthy Stamps offensive line.

But above all, he wants to prove that he can play with the best.

“You can’t do that when you’re hurt like I was last year,” said Lavoie. “I saw the level of preparation that was necessary to play pro, and I saw what I was missing. I’m in better shape now than a year ago. At the end of the season, my position coach (Pat DelMonaco) told me that if I stay healthy, I had a good and long future in the CFL. This year, he expects me to be ready, and if I am, he’s counting on me to go out and play.”