All Habs QMJHL Headlines: Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013
by Kathy K., Managing Editor, All Habs Hockey Magazine
►Gatineau rolls to perfect weekend: Canadiens’ prospect Martin Reway notched two goals and two assists as his team got by Drummondville twice, at home and on the road, and also handed the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada their first regulation loss for three wins in three nights. In a first period where saves were scarce, Reway scored the second of six goals between the Olympiques and the Voltigeurs. His other goal opened the scoring in an eventual shootout win that saw Gatineau go up 4-1, only to end up with the game tied as two quick power-play goals were scored within the final minute of regulation. Gatineau next plays the Sherbrooke Phoenix on Thursday night at the Palais des Sports Léopold-Drolet, the first game of a three-game roadtrip.
Read more (French): Week-end parfait pour les Olympiques
►Drakkar on verge of snatching lead position: The Baie-Comeau Drakkar have scored 29 goals in their last five games alone, all wins. Like his team, Habs’ sixth-rounder Jérémy Grégoire has also climbed up to second place among forwards on the leaderboard behind top scorer Anthony Mantha. With 12 goals, 10 assists, he has had seven multi-point contests thus far and is only ten points behind last year’s total, split between his time with the Drakkar and the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. He has earned praise from scouts and his head coach, Éric Veilleux, who noted that given the short amount of time between the end of the Drakkar’s season, the draft and his first camp with the Canadiens, the amount of improvement accomplished over the summer is a (very) pleasant surprise.
Read more (French): L’étonnante progression de Jérémy Grégoire
►Finally in the “W” column: Kris Hodge scored in overtime and the Shawinigan Cataractes finally busted their season-long losing streak on Saturday night, at the expense of the Rimouski Océanic. Goaltender Marvin Cüpper made 30 saves for the win, but the team’s joy was shortlived as they fell to Baie-Comeau the following day by the score of 5-1, and 4-2 to the Val-d’Or Foreurs tonight. They will try again tomorrow night when they face off against Rouyn-Noranda.
Telus Three Stars of the Week
★Philippe Cadorette, G, Baie-Comeau Drakkar: The Baie-Comeau netminder, also named CHL goaltender of the week, retained a goals against average of 0.67 and a save percentage of .974 on his way to a perfect road weekend. The Victoriaville Tigres couldn’t solve him on Saturday night, falling 7-0. Sherbrooke had fared a little better the night before (“only” losing 7-1). He is the second-best goalie in the league behind Blainville-Boisbriand’s Étienne Marcoux.
★★Sebastien Sylvestre, C, Chicoutimi Saguenéens: Wednesday he notched a career-high five points (goal, four assists) , leading the Sags to a 6-4 win over Rimouski. The Boucherville native would add a goal and two assists to that performance over the weekend, and was named Sunday’s first star of the game against the Saint John Sea Dogs in a 2-1 Chicoutimi win.
★★★Nikolaj Ehlers, LW, Halifax Mooseheads: The league’s rookie leading scorer is tied for first among Halifax Mooseheads point-getters, and seven of his 17 points were recorded this week as he also maintained a +7 rating. First, against Cape-Breton, a goal and two assists as Halifax won 7-3. Then, his seventh and eighth goals of the season, plus two helpers, as Halifax beat the Val-d’Or Foreurs 5-2.