INSIDE HOCKEY

Pistilli and Roy are Players of the Week

Gatineau Olympiques forward Matthew Pistilli and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles goaltender Olivier Roy were named the offensive and defensive players for the week of February 17th. Pistilli scored five times, added eight assists, and was a +9. His goals came on 16 shots. On Friday, he had a career night with six points (2G, 4A) in Gatineau’s 8-1 win over Shawinigan. Sunday afternoon his hat trick and two helpers helped Gatineau demolish Shawinigan 9-2. His teammate Claude Giroux (3G, 9A), Shawinigan’s Cédric Lalonde-McNicoll (5G, 3A) and Acadie-Bathurst’s Tomas Svoboda (6G, 1A) also received a nomination.

Roy went 2-0 with a 0.50 GAA, and a 0.974 SAV % over a two game period last weekend. He made 21 saves on Saturday as Cape Breton shutout Rouyn-Noranda 2-0. Sunday afternoon saw him make 17 more saves in Cape Breton’s 4-1 beating of Moncton. He needs one more win to tie the league record of 23 wins by a 16-year-old that Lewiston MAINEiacs netminder Peter Delmas set last season. Also receiving consideration were Acadie-Bathurst’s Drew Paris (1G, 3A with a +4 rating) and Gatineau teammates Patrick Prokop (1G, 3A with a +5 rating) and Hubert Labrie (3A with a +9 rating).

Mior Named ADT CHL Goaltender of the Week

On Thursday, the Canadian Hockey League named Gatineau Olympiques goalie Ryan Mior the CHL Goaltender of the Week as he went 2-0-0 with a 0.50 GAA, and a 0.981 SAV %.
The award is for the week ending February 10th.

On Wednesday, February 6th the St. John’s, NL native made 32 saves as Gatineau beat Victoriaville 5-1. In Saturday`s 3-0 win in Quebec where he made 21 saves, he tied Jose Theodore`s team record for shutouts set in the 1995-96 season and set the league record for shutouts as he now has 14 in his QMJHL career. The previous record was set by Acadie-Bathurst’s Adam Russo from 200-01 to 2003-04.

Baie-Comeau, Rouyn-Noranda, Saint John Crack CHL Top 10

When the CHL Rankings came out on Valentine’s Day, the Baie-Comeau Drakkar moved up one place from last week to sixth, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies dropped three places to seventh, and the Saint John Sea Dogs stayed at ninth. A panel of NHL scouts determines the CHL Weekly Rankings.

Top 10 Rankings – Week 20

1. Kitchener Rangers - (41-9-1-2)
2. Tri-City Americans - (43-12-1-2)
3. Spokane Chiefs - (39-13-1-4)
4. Calgary Hitmen - (41-15-1-3)
5. Belleville Bulls - (37-12-3-2)
6. Baie-Comeau Drakkar - (38-14-1-4)
7. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies - (38-17-2-1)
8. Vancouver Giants - (37-13-2-5)
9. Saint John Sea Dogs - (36-16-1-3)
10. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds -(34-15-2-4)

Huskies and Saguenéens Fined

On Monday, QMJHL Commissioner Gilles Courteau fined the Chicoutimi Saguenéens and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies $1000 each for incidents that happened in the final minute of the game last Saturday night in which Chicoutimi was handed a total of 17 penalties and 18 to Rouyn-Noranda. Chicoutimi received eight majors and game misconducts along with a two minute minor, while Rouyn-Noranda had nine majors and game misconducts. The Huskies won the game 5-4.

Marcel-Robert Trophy Nominees Revealed

On Tuesday, QMJHL teams announced their nominee for the Marcel-Robert Trophy, which will be handed out to the Scholastic Player of the Year at the Golden Puck Awards Gala on April 2nd. The league expects to reveal the names of the five finalists next week.

The 18 finalists will receive a $400 bursary each with the five finalists being awarded an extra $400 grant. The winner will receive the Marcel-Robert Trophy, an additional $500 grant, and the Guy Lafleur student bursary valued at $6000.

Each team’s candidate will receive a $400 bursary. The five finalists are expected to be announced next week. They will earn an additional $400 grant.

Candidates:

Acadie-Bathurst Titan – Éric Faille
Baie-Comeau Drakkar – Marc-André Dorion
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles – Robert Slaney
Chicoutimi Saguenéens – Maxime Provencher
Drummondville Voltigeurs – Stephen Valente
Gatineau Olympiques – Jean-Philip Chabot
Halifax Mooseheads – Ben MacAskill
Lewiston MAINEiacs – Marc-André Daneau
Moncton Wildcats – Chris Morehouse
PEI Rocket – Matthew Lachaine
Quebec Remparts – Kevin Desfossés
Rimouski Océanic – Olivier Fortier
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies – Pier-Luc Giguère
Saint John Sea Dogs – Keven Guérette-Charland
Shawinigan Cataractes – Cédric Lalonde-McNicoll
St. John’s Fog Devils – Matt Fillier
Val-d’Or Foreurs – Samuel Richard-Létourneau
Victoriaville Tigres – Joël Chouinard

Filion Receives One Game Suspension

On Sunday, the league disciplinary committee handed down a one game suspension to Shawinigan forward Francis Filion for kneeing a Gatineau Olympiques player on Friday night.

Games This Week

On Monday, Pierre-Alexandre Vandall led the way for the Shawinigan Cataractes with two goals in their 6-3 doubling of Cape Breton.

Tuesday night, the Halifax Mooseheads’ woes continued with a 9-2 shellacking at the hands of the Quebec Remparts with Felix Petit and Kelsey Tessier leading the way with two goals and two assists each.

Wednesday’s action saw Alexandre Picard-Hooper net the game-winner and Robert Mayer make 24 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the Moncton Wildcats 3-2. Tomy Joly netted one goal and assisted on another as the Acadie-Bathurst Titan beat the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 5-3, and Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll added one goal and one assist to help Shawinigan double Victoriaville 6-3.

On Thursday, the Halifax Mooseheads finally came out of their slump as Jakub Voracek’s two goals and two assists helped them beat the Chicoutimi Sagueneens 4-1.

There were eight games on tap on Friday night as Spencer Jezegou’s hat trick was a big factor in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s 7-1 rout of the Lewiston MAINEiacs; Geoff Walker’s two goals gave the PEI Rocket a 4-1 victory over the hometown St. John’s Fog Devils; Andrew White helped the Halifax Mooseheads win two in a row with his two goals as they went into Baie-Comeau and came out with a 4-1 win; Francis Pare scored twice and assisted on one other as Chicoutimi doubled Quebec 4-2; Tyler Hawes’ overtime marker helped Rouyn-Noranda nip the hometown Saint John Sea Dogs 5-4; Matthew Pistilli provided two goals and assisted on four others as Gatineau dominated Shawinigan 8-1; Maxime Gratchev scored the shootout winner as Rimouski nipped Val-d’Or 3-2; and Victoriaville edged Drummondville 3-2 in overtime on Alexandre Labonté’s 20th of the season 2:18 into the extra frame.

On Saturday night, Philippe Cornet and Michael Frolick had one goal and one assist each as Rimouski doubled Val-d’Or 4-2, Claude Giroux and Paul Byron also netted a goal and an assist each in Gatineau’s 4-1 victory over Victoriaville, second star of the game Drew Paris bagged the overtime winner as Acadie-Bathurst edged Lewiston 3-2, Luke Adam led the way for St. John’s with a hat trick as they edged PEI 5-4, and Joey Haddad and Jordan Clendenning scored one maker each in Cape Breton’s 2-0 shutout of Rouyn-Noranda.

Six games were on tap on Sunday afternoon with Spencer Jezegou scoring the game-winner 2:31 into the second as Acadie-Bathurst beat Saint John 6-4; Jacob Lagace scored twice and assisted on one other as Chicoutimi got by Baie-Comeau 5-3; Haddad’s two goals were instrumental in Cape Breton’s 4-1 win over Moncton; Shawinigan doubled Victoriaville 4-2 on the strength of Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll’s two goals, and Matthew Pistilli’s hat trick helped Gatineau give Drummondville a 9-2 pounding.

Leaders of the Pack

Baie-Comeau leads the Telus Division and overall standings with their 38-16-2-4 record and 82 points. Hot on their heels are second place Rouyn-Noranda as they are 39-18-2-1 and have 81 points.

Saint John still leads the Eastern Division with 36 wins, 17 losses, two overtime losses, and three shutout losses for 77 points. Halifax (35-18-0-5) is just two points behind.

There is a new leader on the points board this week as Gatineau right winger Claude Giroux has 33 goals and 55 assists in 47 games followed by Acadie-Bathurst center Mathieu Perreault (30G, 57A, 53 GP), and Cape Breton center Dean Ouellet (38G, 48A, 60 GP).

Among first year players, Halifax center Tomas Knotek continues to lead as he has 19 goals and 38 assists in the 57 games that he has played in. Chicoutimi center Nicolas Deschamps skates into second place with 20 goals and 34 assists, while Quebec right winger Mikhail Stefanovich has 26 goals and 27 assists in 51 games to round out the top three.

Two players from Quebec and one Newfoundlander are in the top three among netminders as Lac Etchemin, QC native and Chicoutimi’s Bobby Nadeau is the top netminder with his 17-18 record, 2.60 GAA, and 0.899 SAV %. Baie-Comeau’s Marco Cousineau, a native of Les Cedres, makes his way into second place as he is 28-17 with a 2.73 GAA, and 0.906 SAV %. Gatineau’s Ryan Mior (St. John’s, NL) is third as he has 26 wins versus 17 losses, a goals-against-average of 2.76 and a 0.902 SAV %.

Among rookies, Cape Breton’s Olivier Roy tops the list with his 22-14 record, 2.85 GAA, and 0.896 SAV %. Coming in second is Cousineau’s teammate Mathieu Leclair as he is 10-5 with a goals-against-average of 2.86 and a 0.897 SAV % followed by Gatineau’s Maxime Clermont (11-6, 2.89 GAA, 0.894 SAV %).

Coming Up

When play resumes on Wednesday, Halifax will host PEI, Saint John is in Moncton, Quebec is at home to Baie-Comeau, and Rimouski travels to Chicoutimi.

The three games on Thursday will see Cape Breton travel to Halifax, Acadie-Bathurst is at home to St. John’s, and Shawinigan makes their way to Rouyn-Noranda.

A busy Friday night will see seven games played as Moncton hosts Lewiston, PEI is at home to Cape Breton, Saint John is in Bathurst to take on the Titan in the Eastern Division. Over in the Telus Division, Gatineau hosts Drummondville, Chicoutimi travels to Rouyn-Noranda, Val-d’Or hosts Shawinigan, and Victoriaville faces Rimouski in Victoriaville.

It will be a light schedule on Saturday with only four games played when Cape Breton finishes up their visit to PEI, and St. John’s is in Drummondville in the games involving the Eastern Division teams. The All-Quebec affairs will see Chicoutimi in Val-d’Or, and Baie-Comeau hosting Quebec.

Sunday will be a busy day with seven afternoon games played as the games involving the Eastern Division teams will see Acadie-Bathurst in Halifax, Moncton host PEI, St. John’s continue their swing through Quebec with a stop in Shawinigan, and Lewiston continue their New Brunswick trip as they travel to Saint John. The three Telus games has Gatineau at home to Chicoutimi, Drummondville making their way to Rimouski, and Rouyn-Noranda hosting Val-d’Or.