QUEBEC CITY, P.Q. — In our series of articles on the QMJHL playoffs, we take a closer look at Chicoutimi opening their series in Drummondville and Rimouski going to the Robert Guertin arena facing the Gatineau Olympiques.
Chicoutimi Sagueneens vs. Drummondville Voltigeurs.
Every coach would like to enter the playoffs on positive note. For Guy Carbonneau who became bench boss after firing Richard Martel, it didn’t go the way he would like, losing his last game of the year 3-1 against Lewiston and also go 3-6-0- 1 in his last ten games.
First, in looking at6 the overall standings you realize that the Voltigeurs ended the regular season 32 points ahead of the Sagueneens. Drummondville had a record of 45-15-5-3 for 98 points. Drummondville scored 257 goals allowing only 187; Chicoutimi scored 197 but allowed 220.
Staying on the ice and out of the penalty box, to be discipline, to be in control of your emotions is important come playoff time. Special units play an important role for the team that will come out of this first round. The Drummondville power play runs at 25.6 (69/270), at home it is 24.5 (37/151) and on the road Voltigeurs power play is equally good at 26.9 (32/119).
The Chicoutimi power play overall is 16.1 (48/299), at home Chicoutimi power play runs at 13.4 (19/142), on the road the Sagueneens power play runs at 18.5 (19/157).
As for the penalty killing units Drummondville’s penalty killing runs at 82.7 (46/266), at home they run at 85.7 (18/126) and on the road it runs at 80.0 (28/140). On the other side, Chicoutimi’s penalty killing is 79.3 (47/227), at home 81.7 (20/109) and on the road 77.1(27/118).
Players to watch on both sides are Drummondville’s Ondrej Palat (96 points, 39goals in 61 games), Sean Couturier ((96 points, 36 goals), Jonathan Brunelle (51 points, 16 goals), Marc-Olivier Vachon (50points, 23 goals), Pier-Antoine Dion (40 points), Marc-Andre Brouillard (37 points) and Andre Bouvet-Morrissette (30 points) also brings important contributions to Drummondville offensive.
On defense, the Voltigeurs can count on Jean-Philippe Mathieu (52 points, 16 goals) Andrew Randazzo (34 points, 9 goals), Lars Lundin (27 points, 7 goals) and Remi Blanchard (25points, 5goals in 68games) are a group of four defensemen on whom Drummondville head coach Mario Duhamel can count on to get the puck out of their zone.
For Chicoutimi: Guillaume Asselin (82 points, 35 goals), Charles Hudon (60 points, 23goals), Alexandre Lavoie (55 points, 24 goals) Jonathan Bonneau (42 points 23 goals) and Billy Lacasse (32 points, 15 goals) are the players on whom Drummondville team will try to stop if they don’t want to be surprise.
Prediction: Drummondville in five.
Rimouski Oceanic vs. Gatineau Olympiques.
Ending fifth in the QMJHL Gatineau earned the right to begin their first round series against Rimouski. With only nine loses in Robert Guertin arena in 34 home games the chance to begin their series at home could weigh heavily in this first round.
The task of coming into Gatineau and winning one of the first two games on the road for Rimouski will be tough considering they won only 13 games on the road.
The Oceanic ended their regular season on the road defeating Victoriaville by the score of 6-3.
To be able to win one game in Gatineau, Rimouski head coach Jodoin will have to be able to count on an excellent performance by number one goaltender Morgan Clark. Signed as free agent, the Toronto native, who ended with a 2,79 goaltending average and .901, will have to count on his defensive units to clear his view to make the first save and be able to control rebound.
Players to watch on both sides: For Rimouski Felix Lefrancois (75 points, 26 goals), Alex Belzile (67 points, 27 goals), Jerrad Struthers (49 points, 25 goals) will be heavily counted on to produce goals. Without them Rimouski won’t stay alive for long.
To have a chance to not just steal a game on the road but have a chance to cause a surprise, Rimouski won’t just have to count on good goaltending and great offensive production but defensemen Jerome Gauthier-Leduc (56 points, 18 goals) and Gleason Fournier (44 points, 12 goals) will be the Oceanic cornerstone on the blue line. Etienne Boutet and Alex McDonald are two other defensemen on whom Jodoin will have to count on.
For Drummondville, Philip-Michael Devos (114 points, 47 goals), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (79points, 32 goals), Tye McGinn (64 points, 31 goals) and Philippe Halley (48points, 27goals) represent four players Rimouski team will have to contempt if they want to have winning chances.
Defensively Nicolas Deslauriers (43 points, 13 goals), Adam Jenosik (32 points, 7 goals), Mathieu Gagnon (31 points, 4 goals) and even he just play 9 games due to major injury Hubert Labrie (7 points, 3 goals) are the main men on Defense for.
In goal Francois Lacerte (2.50 goaltending average, .900 saving percentage in 24 games earns the right to begin the playoff instead of Maxime Clermont (2.55 goaltending average .896 save percentage.
Prediction Gatineau in five.
Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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