All Habs QMJHL Headlines: Tuesday, November 5th, 2013

by Kathy K., Managing Editor, All Habs Hockey Magazine

►Sea Dogs part ways with Mike Kelly, name Yates head coach: Head coach and general manager of the Saint John Sea Dogs since 2012, Mike Kelly was relieved of his duties October 29th. Saint John is 16th in league standings with a 6-11-0-2 record and recently underwent a nine-game losing streak. His assistant, Ross Yates, has been named as his replacement. Yates has both playing and coaching experience in the AHL and in Europe, notably as head coach with the Syracuse Crunch. His new duties also include co-general manager, along with the team’s head scout, Christian Vermette. On Saturday, Saint John scored three unanswered goals in the second period on their way to a 4-2 win over Charlottetown, Yates’ first win in his new role.

►Oke, Poulin traded to Acadie-Bathurst: The Rimouski Océanic have confirmed the rumblings surrounding a trade that took place this weekend. Overager Scott Oke, a native of Greenfield Park, and Charles-Anthony Poulin, a 16-year old prospect currently playing in Magog, were traded to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan along with a 2014 fourth rounder in exchange for Czech right-winger Patrick Zdrahal and 20-year old Dominic Beauchemin.

►Veilleux flips out…and it works: Down 3-0 against the Rimouski Océanic, Baie-Comeau Drakkar head coach Éric Veilleux let his frustration show in a big way (I’ll let you draw your own conclusions from the video below). He was ejected from the game–which one would ordinarily think was a bad thing–except that it seemed to wake up his team. Nicholas Halagian, Jérémy Grégoire and Alexis Vanier all scored in the third period and a nine-round shootout concluded the comeback, as Baie-Comeau won 4-3. Unfortunately for Veilleux, he did not get to enjoy the win as much as he was eventually handed a two-game suspension and a $1000 fine.

See video (French): Éric Veilleux pète les plombs

►Twenty-three year old Tardif elected: Earlier this month we told you that ex-QMJHLer and McGill student Antoine Tardif was in the running for mayorship of his native Daveluyville. Last night it was announced that with 66% of the vote, he won that race, and will be one of the youngest in the country to undertake this new role.

Telus Three Stars of the Week

★Simon Desbiens, LW, Sherbrooke Phoenix: Desbiens racked up seven points on a three-game roadtrip last week, including four goals. One of these was a game-winner against Charlottetown, a two-goal game where he also assisted on a Jérémy Roy marker. He was named second star in that contest.

★★Chase Marchand, G, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles: The former tenth (!) rounder, still in his QMJHL beginnings, faced 50 shots in two games and let in just three goals in two back-to-back wins over Acadie-Bathurst.

★★★JC Campagna, C, Moncton Wildcats: The former Remparts’ forward, traded to make room for former Habs’ prospect Olivier Archambault, collected eight points this weekend, three of them goals. One of these three contests proved to be his best in terms of offensive production since joining the league, in a 6-2 win over Charlottetown that saw him score one goal and add three helpers.

Telus Three Stars of the Month

★Anthony Mantha, LW, Val-d’Or Foreurs: If you’ve been paying attention, he’s usually in this section on a weekly basis, so with twenty-five points in ten games, there should be no further explanation needed here.

★★Émile Poirier, LW, Gatineau Olympiques: Poirier had four game-winners as well as a six-game long goal streak in October. In addition, there was not one single game he didn’t contribute anything offensively during that month. Gatineau currently sits second in the Telus West division behind Blainville-Boisbriand.

★★★Étienne Marcoux, G, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada: Speaking of BLB, they have still only lost three games this year and a big part of that is attributable to their goaltender. Marcoux, also VAUGHN goaltender of the month, recorded a 1.33 GAA and a save percentage of .944 and currently holds the best goaltending statistics in the league (yes, it helps when your team is #1).