All Habs QMJHL Headlines: Monday, September 16th, 2013
by Kathy K., Managing Editor, All Habs Hockey Magazine
► Voltigeurs kick off 2013-14 with a bang: Emotions (more than just my own) were on high for opening night at the Centre Marcel Dionne, where the hometown Drummondville Voltigeurs walked away with a 6-3 win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. The game saw 73 minutes in penalties and the Volts capitalized on half their chances, notching all six of their goals with the man-advantage. Veterans Nikolas Brouillard, Matthew Boudens, Guillaume Gauthier and Olivier Caouette got on the board along with youngsters Joey Ratelle and Jérémy Auger. Meanwhile, in relief of Louis-Philip Guindon, who was still away at Washington Capitals’ training camp at the time, 6’5” American goaltender Joe Fleschler made 20 saves for the win.
They weren’t done, however. The next night saw even more offensive explosion and this time the Val-d’Or Foreurs were the victims as the Volts walked away with a 7-2 win. Newcomers Mitch Graham, Alexandre Roy, Cameron Askew and Latvian import Georgs Golovkovs were among the scorers. Meanwhile, former Canadiens’ prospect Olivier Archambault was forced to sit out all of this weekend’s action, as he awaited his trade to Quebec. The 20-year old was the fourth Drummondville overage player (only three are allocated per team).
►Other teams finishing 2-0 this weekend: Acadie-Bathurst, Victoriaville, Gatineau, Blainville-Boisbriand, Chicoutimi, Charlottetown, and Rimouski.
►Mooseheads, not-so-good: Finding themselves at the bottom of the heap for the first time in a long time were the Halifax Mooseheads, who have some obvious missing key parties. One of them is Canadiens’ prospect goaltender Zachary Fucale, who was busy making 13 of 15 saves in last night’s shootout loss to the Sabres. On Thursday, however, the only game on the slate was the Mooseheads vs. the Moncton Wildcats, who stomped the defending Memorial Cup champions out via shutout, 4-0. That was followed up with a 5-2 loss to the team formerly known as the P.E.I. Rocket, the Charlottetown Islanders. They will have an opportunity to redeem themselves against the Moncton Wildcats this Friday night at 6:00 p.m. EST.
►Also in need of a rebound: Shawinigan, Sherbrooke and Val-d’Or, the latter of whom ended up with 12 goals against this weekend. Ouch!
►Tigres support Fonds Avenir Lac-Mégantic: The Victoriaville Tigres welcomed two hundred people touched by this summer’s tragedy on Sunday afternoon. In addition, a total of $1795 in donations was collected for the Fonds Avenir Lac-Mégantic. This comes after a special game a few weeks ago where the Tigres and the Sherbrooke Phoenix faced off in a preseason contest at the Centre sportif Mégantic, a game the Tigres won 3-1.
Read more (French): Des partisans généreux!
Telus Three Stars of the Week
★ Anthony DeLuca, LW, Rimouski Océanic: DeLuca had a great weekend, notching five points in two Océanic wins over Baie-Comeau. He also had a whopping combined total of 14 shots on goal.
★★ Steven Veilleux, G, Victoriaville Tigres: He only allowed one goal in two games, recording his first league shutout at the expense of the Quebec Remparts on Sunday.
★★★ Alexandre Carrier, D, Gatineau Olympiques: The second-year rearguard recorded four assists against the Sherbrooke Phoenix in a 6-2 win, his best offensive game thus far. He also retained a league-best +4 differential, tied with three other players including Gatineau team captain Taylor Burke.