QUEBEC CITY P.Q.— Like Jose Theodore, Christian Bronsard, David Tremblay and Eric Lafrance, the youngest player to enter the QMJHL has earned his mark as the number one netminder with Jerome Dupont’s team, the Gatineau. Teams know the importance of being able to count on very good goaltenders, but in Gatineau the organization devoted special attention to recruit a netminder who can make a difference. “It’s like all teams it’s very important,” recognized Gatineau General Manager Charles Henry. “We tried to find good goaltenders to be competitive as soon as possible. When we realized it became more and more difficult to find very good goaltenders via trade, we opted for drafting them and developing them into our organization. So Maxime Clermont and the young Carrignan, (Gabriel, a second round selection from the Montreal Canadiens midget AAA team) went in that direction.” With 11 wins in 18 games played so far this season, Clermont has a .910 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.37, the Montreal Native has begun to demonstrate to scouts that he can do the job as a number one goalie. He is giving team a true chance to his to win games on a nightly basis. Michel Valliere, the goaltender coach for Gatineau, is the one often mentioned when it comes time to give credit for his teams goaltending development. “Our guy Michel Valliere is very good for us, and he does an excellent job in that department” said Henry. As a 16 year old, Clermont made the team during the 2007-08 season playing 29 games at the end if the regular season and finished with a 13-4-3 record, a 2.97 goals against average , and a .893 save percentage. Ryan Mior was the main man in the net the majority of the games (54) that season. Clermont’s height and his excellent performance in the midget AAA was the main reason why the Gatineau organization looked closely at him and made the young kid (born in 1991) a first round selection (13th overall) in 2007. “In the case of Clermont, his height and his excellent performance in the Midget AAA were two key elements in making us looking more closely at him. He was dominant at his position. He also went to a training camp in Chicago so it helped us tremendously when it came time to make our selection.” “The fact that he want to go to an American college picked our curiosity and we made lots of effort to convince him to come and play in Gatineau. We thought he want to come to play in our league. This year, we gave him the net and he managed it very well. In fact he will probably be one of two goaltenders who will get a chance to be a first round selection in next NHL draft.” Like most of today’s modern netminders, Clermont uses a butterfly style and moves very well in his crease in covering the lower area of the net. He also has good control of rebounds. Like almost every goaltender he needs to work on having better control of the puck around his net. In his third year in the QMJHL, the 6 foot 201 pounder become stronger mentally, and continued to work hard to get better at the next level. “Maxime became stronger mentally but needed to work around his net” said Henry. In their first visit in Quebec back on November 7, 2009, Clermont’s team trailed 3-1 after one period and 4-1 after forty minutes before the Olympiques came from behind to win 6-5 that ended in a shootout. The third year netminder made some crucial saves and Gatineau took advantage of several Remparts give aways in their defensive zone. It helped them come back and forced overtime to win the game at Le Colisee Pepsi in Quebec. “It wasn’t his best game but he was fantastic in the shootout,” said DuPont after the game. “It was his opportunity to make the difference and he made it.” “He needs to work on his puck handling skills around the net and Maxime knows it. Besides that I didn’t see any other weaknesses. As far as I’m concern he is the best goaltender in the league.” Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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