QUEBEC CITY, P.Q. — Lots of things promise to be interesting in one of QMJHL semifinal to begin this Friday in Quebec. First Quebec came out of grueling seven games matchup against Cape Breton facing the elimination twice, being able to regroup, to finally nail the Screaming Eagles coffin in Quebec in front of 13,861 fans, happy of seeing their favorite staying alive.
Quebec Remparts:
Everyone knows how important goaltenders are especially in playoff. Charles Lavigne who was acquired by Patrick Roy last summer, as his new potential number one netminder proved during the regular season that he answered the challenge very well.
In playoff he became the main reason behind the great performance of his team until now. With a goaltending average of 1:93 and saving percentage of.932, he will certainly be count on to perform at least equally to, what he did in previous series, or maybe even better, if his team want to surprise their next opponent, and earn the right to play for the emblem of the QMJHL champion the President trophy.
On defense, the team did pretty well against other team first line, even if the best scoring leader of Cape Breton Robert Slaney was unable to play in third game. On the other hand Joey Haddad and Chris Culligan tried to do their best but whether it was the duo of Kevin Marshall and Guillaume Monast or Samuel Grouxl and Mikael Tam they did an excellent job neutralizing the offensive Screaming Eagles duo. Hubert Genest and Alexandre Neron who also came in last trading period from Rimouski complete the effort of first two pairs every time their coaches asked them to step on the ice.
Offensively, author of a record of six goals eleven assists in twelve games; it will be interesting to see how Dmitry Kugryshev will react under more scrutiny from Shawinigan team. Mikhail Stefanovich (9g-3a), Marc-Olivier Vallerand with (7g-5a) and Kelsey Tessier (8g-2a) having the distinction of getting four game winning goals, played key role for Quebec. For his part Benjamin Breault who had some difficulty during last series, got 11 points (3g-8a) scoring his latest to seal Cape Breton’s fate in an empty net.
Another important aspect in the incoming series that won’t be neglected is special unit efficiency. On Quebec side the Remparts got the third best penalty killing efficiency with 89.6 percent scoring three times being in shorthanded situation. The power play worked at 26.9 percent.
Shawinigan Cataractes:
Before facing Quebec in the upcoming semifinal, the Cataractes swept the Victoriaville Tigres four games to none in first round. They discarded Gatineau Olympiques in five earning the right to sit and wait the winner of the series between Cape Breton and Quebec. It will be interesting to see how Shawinigan will begin the first game on Friday night with one week off. You know what is the general thought in regard of witch team might get the advantage in first game of new series, in those circumstances. Some will say the team that get the week off, will get the advantage over the other because; the team that has to play a seventh game will be tired. Some other will say otherwise.
In goal Quebec will have to find a way to beat Timo Pielmeier. In regular season the German netminder ended his season with record of (8w-1L) and a goaltending average of 2.27 with a saving percentage .910. In playoff he wasn’t really tested but did the job when he had to. Everyone recognized the talent of Cataractes goalie. Good confrontation to preview between Lavigne and Pielmeier.
On defense: Charles-Olivier Roussel who is one of the best QMJHL defenseman with Dmitry Kulikov in Drummondville, for the upcoming NHL entry draft is the main element on Shawinigan defense. He quarterbacks the power play unit playing key offensive role from defensive unit. Besides being use on his regular shift, his coach uses him on penalty kill and on power play unit.
On offense: Mathew Pistelli (4g-1a), Nocholas Petersen (4g-0a) and Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll ( Colorado free agent signee) (1g-3a) were the offensive leader in their confrontation against Quebec in regular season. In playoff McNicoll is the Cataractes offensive leaders with seven goals and eleven assists. Pierre-Alexandre Vandall (3g-10a), Charles-Olivier Roussel (4g-8a) and Nicholas Petersen (6g-5a) all in nine games played. Trying to stop these players offensively will be tough task for Quebec.
Shawinigan power play runs at 34.4 percent efficiency with 22 goals scored in 64 opportunities. During the regular season Shawinigan won two out of three confrontations between them. On November 9, 2008 Shawinigan won 3- 1 in Quebec against the Remparts, on February 27, 2009 the Cataractes won 7- 2 in their own building before losing 4- 2 in Quebec on March 6, 2009.
Prediction: Shawinigan will prevail in six.
Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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