QUEBEC CITY P.Q. – After eliminating Victoriaville (4-0), Gatineau (4-1) and Quebec (4-1), the Shawinigan Cataractes earned their place in the QMJHL final after a 38 year absence. For Drummondville, they eliminated Lewiston (4-0), Montreal (4-0) and Rimouski (4-0) in four game sweeps to earn the right to face their arch rival in the finals. With the Rimouski Oceanic getting it’s place in the Memorial Cup as the host team, QMJHL fans around the league will see two of the best teams in the league face each other in what promises to be a very interesting series. Trying to establish a favorite between these two teams isn’t as easy as it might appear. Both teams have well balance offenses, very good defenses, and good goaltending, but when we look deeper in analyzing both teams, we will try to determine which team might prevail at the end. Let’s begin by trying to see who might be the best strategically speaking between Head Coach’s Eric Veilleux (Shawinigan) and Guy Boucher (Drummondville). It will be interesting to see right from the start, when the referees drop the puck if both coaches will try to go offense against offense, or if they will try to use line-versus-line tactics. Other aspects that will contribute in deciding who might have an edge in the series will be the way both coaches adapt to the other teams tactic during the game. Everyone who saw how Boucher contributed to Team Canada’s success in the recent World Junior Championship, so for Eric Veilleux, it might be a good personal challenge and a small victory for himself if Shawinigan comes out the winner at the end. One thing to be sure is these are two very good coaches at the helm of two very good teams. Even if the regular season confrontations between the two teams doesn’t mean anything, especially now that they will face each other in the final, it’s interesting to see that Shawinigan won the regular season series (5-2-1). On the other hand, when you look at how easy Drummondville dispatched their opponent in previous rounds, you might have the right to believe that the Voltigeurs might start the series with a mental edge over their opponent. Now let’s try to begin our analyses with the goaltending matchup. For Shawinigan it might not be a surprise to see Veilleux give the nod to Timo Pielmeier, who had a record of 14-2 with a 2.43 goals against average (gaa), and a save percentage of .905. Except for 40 minutes, the former San Jose prospect who was traded this year to Anaheim at the NHL trading deadline, played in every playoff game. In Drummondville, Boucher sent Marco Cousineau in for 10 games and Antoine Tardif for 3. Even if the Voltigeurs coach sent both of his netminders in the game don’t be surprised if Boucher goes with the veteran Cousineau to begin the finals and sees how it goes from there. It might be possible to see Tardif in a game if the coach isn’t completely satisfied with his veteran, who came from Baie-Comeau at the QMJHL trading deadline. Cousineau played in 9 games, cumulating a record of 9-0, with 2.20 gaa and a save percentage of .899. Keys in goaltending confrontation will be how both goaltenders will control the rebounds, and it will be very important for their respective defensives to protect their netminders and take control of the rebound. The team that will be most successful in that department will have the edge in the confrontation. On defense, Shawinigan will have to find a way to stop Drummondville’s offense. With 345 goals scored during the regular season, the Voltigeurs have the leagues best offensive during the regular season and in the playoffs with 85. On the other hand, Shawinigan allowed only eight more goals (35) than Drummondville, so it promises to be a great confrontation. Key players defensively for Shawinigan are Charles-Olivier Roussel (4g-10a), Simon Lacroix (1g-6a), Alex Grant (1g-4a) and Gabriel Lemieux (1g-2a), but don’t forgot veteran Adam Leblanc-Bourque. Offensively, Shawinigan isn’t bad either with players like Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll (11g-14a) who played much better after getting only one assist in the first two games against Quebec, Pierre-Alexandre Vandall (4g-16a), Nicholas Petersen (9g-9a) Dave Labrecque (2g-12a), Matthew Pistilli (9g-3a), Maxime Legault (9g-1a) and Maxime Macenauer (4g-6a). These are the players on whom the Cataractes will rely heavily on to produce if they are to have a chance at winning the President Cup and earn the second place as the QMJHL representative in the Memorial Cup. Defensively Drummondville’s leader is Dmitry Kulikov, who is the best defensive prospect in the QMJHL as far as the NHL Central Scouting Bureau is concerned, will face a great challenge since he will face Charles-Olivier Roussel from Shawinigan. It will be interesting to see how both defensemen will play under pressure. Kulikov (2g-17a) is very dangerous every time he steps on the ice. Marc-Antoine Desnoyers (1g-8a) and Patrick Prokop (4g-3a) will lend a hand to Kulikov on the Drummondville side. Offensively, Drummondville is very impressive. They simply outplayed every opponent they’ve faced until the finals, which will begin this Friday in the Voltigeurs home arena. Yannick Riendeau (19g-16a), Christopher DiDominico (4g-29a), Danny Masse (11g19a) and Mike Hoffman (17g-9a) are the offensive leaders, but guys like Gabriel Dumont, Marc-Olivier Vachon, Samson Mahbod, and Philippe Lefebvre will bring some great contributions to the Drummondville team. Last, but certainly not least, are the special team’s units from both sides. Drummondville’s power play work at 40.2 percent (43 in 107 attempts), while Shawinigan is right behind Drummondville at 32.6 percent (28 in 86 attempts). Drummondville’s penalty killing runs at 83.3 percent (11 in 66), while Shawinigan’s penalty killing unit runs at 85.5 percent (11-76) Finally the prediction: Drummondville will win in six games. Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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