QMJHL Quarter-Final preview part four

QUEBEC CITY , P.Q. — All quarter-final series will be interesting to follow, in regards of players to watch. The one between Voltigeurs and the Olympiques, will give fans in both cities an opportunity at one last look at the points leader in the QMJHL in Philip-Michael Devos ( Gatineau) and one of not the best QMJHL prospect in the next NHL entry draft, Sean Couturier ( Drummondville).
 
Both teams defeated their respective opponents in first round, Rimouski lost in five games against Gatineau, and Chicoutimi was been swept in four consecutive games against Drummondville.
 
The regular season series between the two teams ended 3-2-0-1, in favor of Drummondville. At the end of this series some questions will be answered. Questions like, if you are in Gatineau head coach Benoit Groulx’s shoes, which of your goaltenders will you send between the pipes to begin the series? Will you send veteran Maxime Clermont or Francois Lacerte?  
 
Fans would certainly like to know, which team has the best first line? Will it be Gatineau Tye McGinn (64 points in 42 games), Philip-Michael Devos (114 points in 68 games and Christian Ouellet (42 points in 56 games), or Drummondville one of Ondrej Palat (96 points in 61 games), Sean Couturier (96 points in 56 games) and Pier-Antoine Dion (40 points in 65 games)?
 
Let’s try to shed some light on those questions. Let’s start with the question about Gatineau netminders. Lacerte saw actions in four out of the first five games in first round, veteran Clermont has been sent between pipes only once, winning his game. Olympiques head coach has confidence in both of his goaltenders.
 
Clermont faced Drummondville four times in 2010-11 regular seasons, losing in shootout 2-1 on September 10, 2010, earning the second stars. He also earned first stars in a 3-0 shutout victory, on October 1, 2010. The Montreal native saw the puck crossed the goal line seven times in a losing effort 7-1 on October 17 at the Marcel Dionne Center. He ended with a 2-1-1 record, a 2.51 goal against average and a save percentage of .903.
 
Lacerte won his only game against Drummondville by the score of 4-3 ending with a 2.50 goal against average and .885 in 72 minutes of play. It will be interesting to see who will get the nod as Gatineau goaltender to begin the series on Friday night?
 
Clermont or Lacerte? Where ever you might be on next Friday, if you are a QMJHL fans and interest to find the answer to that question,   you should finds a way to watch the game or log you on internet and go to the QMJHL website, you will get your answer.
 
Now let’s have a look at each position between those two teams trying to determine which one might get the advantage.
 
Goaltenders: The Gatineau head coach will have to determine who will be is starting netminder before first puck drop on Friday night. You can guess Groulx already know who will he send, but you will have to wait to see.
 
In Drummondville: Guillaume Nadeau earned Voltigeurs head coach Mario Duhamel confidence during the regular season, being designated as starting goaltender in 47 games, ending with a goal against average of 2.62, and .897 save percentage. The St-Charles-de-Belchasse native gave up 118 goals on 1026 shots in 2703 minutes of play in regular season. In the first round, Nadeau saw action in four of five games, seeing 10 pucks crossing the goal line on 62 shots in 189 minutes of play. His goal against average is 3.18 and .861 save percentage.
 
If something should happen to Nadeau, Domenic Graham saw action in 27 regular season games, ending with a goal against average of 2.54, and .896 save percentage. In first round, he saw only 51 minutes action, allowing 2 goals on 19 shots, for a goal against average of 2.33 and .905 save percentage.
 
Whether Grouxl sends Lacerte or Clermont they will have to perform up to expectations knowing how important goalies are in playoff. Slight advantage to Gatineau.
 
On defense: Nicolas Deslauriers (43 points in 48 games), Adam Jenosik (32 points in 60 games), Mathieu Gagnon (31 points in 67 games), and David Weckworth (8 points in 50 games) are the best four offensive defensemen for Benoit Groulx team. Hubert Labrie who played in just 9 games due to a severe injury (7 points) and Rory Craddok (2 points in 30 games) complete the Gatineau defensive unit.
 
In Drummondville: Jean-Philip Mathieu (52 points in 66 games), Andrew Randazzo (34 points in 64 games), Lars Lundin (27 points in 44 games) and Remi Blanchard (25 points in 68 games) are Voltigeurs best four offensive defensemen. Jonathan Oligny (13 points in 65 games) and Julien Levaseur (11 points in 44 games) complete the Drummondville defensive unit.
 
Another interesting battle to preview, which defensive unit will be the most productive offensively? Which one will play better defensively? Drummondville should have the edge.
 
On offense: Besides Devos, McGinn and Ouellet, Gatineau can count of other players able to contribute offensively on second and third lines. Jean-Gabriel Pageau (79 points in 67 games), Philippe Halley (48 points in 67 games), and Tommy Tremblay (35 points in 61 games, 32 points in 57 games with Gatineau after coming in from Shawinigan).
 
Mitchell Porowsky (29 points in 64 games), Igor Levetsky (27 points in 64 games), Raphael Lafontaine (18 points in 60 games), Cody Linteau ( 16 points in 58 games, 7 points in 29 games after coming in from Prince Edward Island), and Felix Bergeron (15 points in 62 games, 8 points in 27 games with Gatineau after coming in from Cape Breton) represent players who plays on second, third and fourth lines for Gatineau.
 
In Drummondville: Beside Palat, Couturier and Dion, you can find other interesting players, on whom Voltigeurs head coach Duhamel can count on, when it comes time, to produce offensively.
 
Jonathan Brunelle (51 points in 68 games), Marc-Olivier Vachon (50 points in 59 games), Marc-Olivier Brouillard (37 points in 66 games), Andre Bouvet-Morrissette (30 points in 65 games), Alexandre Contois (26 points in 41 games) and Mathieu Guertin (24 in 59 games) complete the group of forwards who are ready to works hard every times they were ask to bring contributions offensively for the Voltigeurs.
 
Drummondville gets slight advantage.
 
Intangibles:     Drummondville only scored 8 more goals than Gatineau 251- 243. In the goals against the Voltigeurs allowed only 182 compare to 193 against the Olympiques.
 
The power play, Drummondville power play runs at 25.6 percent (69/270), Gatineau power play works at 22.3 percent (61/273). The penalty killing Drummondville still has the nod with a penalty killing working at 82.7 (46/266), Gatineau penalty killing work at 79.2 percent (48/231).
 
After looking at every possible number, it’s the hardest series to prognosticate, but Drummondville should prevail in seven.
  Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com