Pistilli and Lacroix are Players of the Week

Shawinigan Cataractes teammates forward Matthew Pistilli and defenseman Simon Lacroix are the offensive and defensive players for the week ending October 19th. Over a three game period, Pistilli scored 10 points (6G, 4A) and finished a +4 with Lacroix scoring four goals, tacking on five assists, and also finished a +4. Lacroix netted a point in each game.

Pistilli’s best game was on Friday as he had the hat trick (the fourth of his career) and two assists as he now has a four game goal scoring streak as Shawinigan demolished the Rimouski Oceanic 8-3. He now has 199 points in his career.

Lacroix’s best game was on Saturday as one of his goals tied the game and the other was the game-winner in the Cataractes’ 7-5 win over the Val-d’Or Foreurs. Teammates Cédric Lalonde-McNicoll and goalie Timo Pielmeier were also nominated for the offensive and defensive awards respectively.

Baie-Comeau Drakkar Félix Petit and Victoriaville Tigre Alexandre Labonté were also up for the offensive player of the week award; while Moncton Wildcats teammates forward Mark Barberio and goalie Nicola Riopel received consideration for the defensive player of the week awards.

Four Teams Make CHL Top 10

When the CHL rankings were announced on Wednesday, Cape Breton, Quebec, Moncton, and Drummondville were ranked in the Top 10 with three of the four making the Top 5. Cape Breton stayed at second for a third consecutive week, while Quebec made the biggest jump moving from eighth all the way to third.

Moncton fell from third to fourth, with Drummondville dropping one spot to eighth.

Top 10 Rankings

1. Windsor Spitfires - (8-1-0-0)
2. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles - (10-2-0-0)
3. Quebec Remparts - (9-1-0-0)
4. Moncton Wildcats - (8-0-2-0)
5. Swift Current Broncos - (8-2-0-0)
6. Vancouver Giants - (7-0-0-2)
7. Guelph Storm - (7-2-0-1)
8. Drummondville Voltigeurs - (8-1-0-2)
9. Spokane Chiefs - (6-1-0-2)
10. Belleville Bulls - (6-3-0-0)

Gatineau Sends Prokop To Drummondville

On Wednesday, Gatineau traded rearguard Patrik Prokop to Drummondville for the Voltigeurs' 2009 QMJHL entry draft sixth round pick and 2010 third round pick. The six foot, 187 pound Czech Republic native broke into the league with Shawinigan in the 2006-07 season and was acquired by Gatineau midway through last year. In 123 regular season games, he has scored five times while adding 47 assists. He has also played in 23 playoff games adding two goals and 26 assists along the way.

Mior is a Mudbug

Former PEI Rocket and Gatineau Olympiques netminder Ryan Mior is playing with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in the Central Hockey League this season. Mior played five seasons in the QMJHL from 2003-08 with PEI and Gatineau and had a 98-104-12 record a 3.30 GAA, and 0.895 SAV% with 15 shutouts (a QMJHL record) to go along with 12 assists. Gatineau won the President's Cup title in 2008 but went winless at the 2008 Memorial Cup.

Games This Week

Matthew Pistilli added two goals and one assist, and Cedric Lalonde-McNicholl scored once and assisted on two others as Shawinigan dumped Drummondville 7-0; Felix Petit’s game-winner with 3:17 left in regulation saw Baie-Comeau nip Gatineau 5-4; and Marc-Olivier Vallard’s two goals and one assist to go along with Benjamin Breault’s two goals helped Quebec to a 7-1 win and a six game win streak to boot when play resumed on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, seven different scorers lit the red light for Moncton as Daniel Pettersson, Randy Cameron, Paul Dimtruk, Zach Sill, Scott Brannon, Matt Eagles, and Mark Barberio all scored in the Wildcats’ 7-2 walk over Acadie-Bathurst; Philippe Cornet’s two goals with one of them being the game-winner gave Rimouski a 3-1 win over Lewiston; Matthew Stoddard’s goal with 1:14 left in the second was the game-winner as Saint John nipped PEI 4-3; Quebec’s Mikhail Stefanovich was the only skater to score in the shootout beating Raffaele D’Orso as Quebec extended their win streak to seven games with a 5-4 shootout win over Val-d’Or; and Nicolas Deschamps and Mathieu Populus each scored once in Chicoutimi’s 4-1 victory over Gatineau.

Weekend action kicked off with seven games on Friday night as Mark Yetman was named the first star of the game as he made 43 saves in Halifax’s 2-0 blanking of Lewiston; Matt Eagles led Moncton to a 5-2 win over Baie-Comeau with two goals and one assist; Philippe Lefebvre’s two goals and one assist and Mike Hoffman’s goal and two assists led Drummondville to a 5-1 victory over Val-d’Or.

Guillaume Asselin’s game-winner 5:38 into the second saw Montreal nip Rouyn-Noranda 3-2; Saint John skated to a 2-1 victory over Acadie-Bathurst on Alex Grant’s game-winner with 26 seconds left in the second; Matthew Pistilli’s saw Shawinigan demolish Rimouski 8-3; and Victoriaville come all the way back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat Cape Breton 5-3 with Alexandre Labonte scoring twice.

On Saturday, Jake Allen made 42 saves on 45 shots and was the second star of the game in a losing cause as Cape Breton nipped Montreal 3-2 with Chris Culligan adding a goal and assist; Moncton needed overtime and Mark Barberio’s goal 2:42 in to get past Chcioutimi 2-1; Rimouski edged Gatineau 5-4 in a shootout as Keven Veilleux, Philippe Cornet, Olivier Fortier, and Gleason Fournier beat Maxime Clermont with Jan Stransky, Paul Byron, and Yoan Pinette replying for Gatineau against Maxim Gougeon.

Simon Lacroix’s hat trick with one of the being the game-winner 12:04 into the third and Maxime Legault’s two goals helped Val-d’Or tie a dubious record with most consecutive losses in a season in their 7-5 win; PEI edged Acadie-Bathurst 2-1 when Maxime Provencher scored with 35 seconds left in overtime; and Maxime Macenauer’s three goals was instrumental in Rouyn-Noranda’s skating to a 7-5 win over Lewiston.

Ten teams saw action on Sunday as Tomy Joly’s two goals and one assist led Acadie-Bathurst to a 4-1 win over PEI; Felix Petit’s hat trick gave Baie-Comeau a 4-2 win over Chicoutimi; Marc-Olivier Vachon added two goals with Samson Mahbod, Mike Hoffman, and Mathieu Gingras adding one each as Drummondville skated past Halifax 5-1.

Sameul Morneau’s two goals helped Val-d’Or to escape setting a dubious record of most consecutive losses in a season with their 5-3 win over Gatineau; and for the second time in two and a half days Victoriaville beat Cape Breton as Alexandre Labonte added a goal and an assist in the 5-3 win.

The Leaders

There is a new leader in the Atlantic and overall standings as Moncton has an 11-0-2-0 record and 24 points. They take over the top spot from Cape Breton (11-4-0-0, 22 points who fall to second in the Atlantic and third overall.

Finishing second overall is Telus East leaders Quebec (11-1-0-0, 22 points), while Shawinigan (11-4-0, 22 points) leads the Telus Central, and Montreal (7-7-0-0, 14 points) tops the Telus Western Division.

Among skaters there is no change in the top three from last week as Shawinigan center Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll continues to lead with his 10 goals and 21 assists in 13 games, Drummondville right winger Samson Mahbod (12G, 11A, 14 GP) is second, and Lalonde-McNicoll’s teammate Nicholas Peterson rounds out the top three with his nine goals and 14 assists over 15 games played.

There is also no change in the top three rookies in the league with Rouyn-Noranda right winger Sergey Ostapchuk retaining his top spot as he has scored six times while assisting on 11 others over a 12 game period. PEI center Ben Duffy remains in second place with six goals and six assists in 13 games, and Victoriaville left winger Andrej Nestrasil (5G, 6A, 16 GP) remains in third place.

Between the pipes based on five games played, Moncton’s Nicola Ripel continues to reign supreme and is a key reason for Moncton’s success as he has 10 wins to go along with one loss, a 1.53 GAA, and 0.943 SAV%.

Two new goalies take second and third place honors as Shawinigan’s Timo Pielmeier finishes second with his 5-2 record, a goals against average of 2.32 and 0.931 SAV%, with Saint John’s Robert Mayer (7-4, 2.35 GAA, 0.919 SAV%) taking the third spot.

Among freshman back-stoppers again based on five games played, Cape Breton’s Christopher Holden is the leader with his two wins and three losses, 2.48 GAA, and 0.903 SAV% with Victoriaville’s Loic Boivin backstopping his way into second place with his record of two wins and three losses, 2.59 GAA, 0.878 SAV%, and Chicoutimi’s Sean Coulton (3-4, 3.04 GAA, 0.878 SAV%) rounding out the top three.

The Upcoming Week

Two games will kick off weekly action on Wednesday as Moncton is at home to Chicoutimi, and PEI travels to Rouyn-Noranda. Baie-Comeau is in Halifax, and Chicoutimi continues their New Brunswick swing with a stop in Saint John on Thursday.

Eight games are featured on Friday as Moncton makes their way into Cape Breton, Chicoutimi makes another Atlantic Division stop in Halifax, Quebec takes on Drummondville in Quebec City, Montreal takes on division rivals Gatineau in Verdun, Shawinigan travels to Rimouski, Saint John hosts Baie-Comeau, Val-d’Or welcomes PEI, and Lewiston is in Victoriaville for a two game series that will conclude on Saturday.

Rimouski is at home to Quebec, PEI makes another Quebec stop in Rouyn-Noranda, and Drummondville hosts Acadie-Bathurst in the other Saturday tilts.

Sunday’s action will feature three Atlantic-Telus contests as Cape Breton is at home to Baie-Comeau, Acadie-Bathurst is in Gatineau, and Val-d’Or is at home to PEI.

In the Battle of New Brunswick an all-Atlantic contest will see Moncton traveling to Saint John. Drummondville takes on Shawinigan at home, Lewiston travels to Quebec, and Montreal will face Victoriaville in Verdun in the Telus contests.