Patrick King

Kevin Poulin.

The Victoriaville Tigres’ playoff run has been four years in the making.

The Victoriaville Tigres’ playoff run has been four years in the making.

The pieces began to fall in place at the 2006 Québec Major Junior Hockey League draft. Newly-appointed general manager Jérome Mésonéro planted the seeds at that draft in Charlottetown, P.E.I. and since then he has been like a farmer, carefully grooming and watching his crop grow.

His team’s playoff run may be surprising to some, but for him, it all comes down to patience and believing in the plan.

"Sometimes during that four years it’s up and down and we had a couple of chances to change the plan or give up, but we always came back and stuck to the original plans," explained Mésonéro.

The plan revolved around goaltender Kevin Poulin. Mésonéro chose Poulin with the third-overall pick, opting to take a goalie because Poulin was not only the best available, but because of the possible future impact he would bring to the team.

Poulin is the ultimate equalizer for the small market team.

After missing the majority of last season to various knee injuries, he asserted himself as one of the best goaltenders in the league this season. He recorded seven shutouts during the regular season with the last two coming against Gatineau and Lewiston in his final two starts before the playoffs.

"He was ready to start the playoffs and since then he’s been unbelievable," Mésonéro said. "He’s playing his best hockey since he’s been in the league."

The Tigres will face their toughest challenge against the No. 1 ranked Saint John Sea Dogs in the semifinal. Victoriaville posted the fourth-best point total this season and, as if scripted, all four of the top teams are still alive.

The playoff format pits division-rivals against each other in the first round and subsequently re-seeds the teams. Each division winner is awarded the top four positions, then determining the placement by points.

Even though the teams remaining finished with the fourth-best point totals, it’s somewhat surprising that only two divisions are represented. Victoriaville finished nine points behind the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the Telus Central Division while Saint John finished seven points up on Moncton in the Atlantic Division.

"We have the four best teams in the league in the semifinals for sure," Mésonéro said. "I have no doubt about that."

Poulin isn’t the only elite goaltender still playing. But unlike the Sea Dogs and Voltigeurs who both sought a top-flight goaltender through trade, Victoriaville and Moncton are reaping the rewards of strong drafting and a home-grown goaltender.

It’s for that reason when teams like Drummondville and Saint John were in the market for a goaltender that the Tigres and Wildcats were able to clean up by adding forwards or defencemen.

Like the drafting of Poulin four years ago, adding the pieces around him this season had always been part of the plan.

"When you want to challenge for the cup, the piece to the puzzle that costs a lot on the trade market is the goalie," he said. "So when all those GMs were working on goalies, I was able to negotiate to make some talk about forwards and defencemen."

Victoriaville’s biggest splash on the trade market came with the P.E.I. Rocket. The Tigres acquired forwards Chris Doyle and Joel Champagne for two players and four draft picks. Also coming over was overage defenceman Emmanuel Boudreau from Rimouski.

Those additions gave the Tigres a balanced lineup. Victoriaville boasts the best power-play and penalty kill in the playoffs, in spite of missing some key players to injury. Sophomore forward Brandon Hynes, the team’s top goalscorer in the regular season, and hard-hitting defenceman Keven Dupont are both expected back for the beginning of Round 3.

Hynes played seven playoff games, but was ineffective while nursing a lower-body injury.

"We were still winning because (Guillaume) Goulet took charge, (Philippe) Maillet took charge, (Travis) MacIsaac took charge," Mésonéro explained. "When you have an injury to a key player, someone else can take the spot and make the difference."

Mésonéro credits his team’s wins over Shawinigan and Québec due to his depth and goaltending. By starting to build his team between the pipes, Mésonéro believes it has enabled his team to feel confident when going up against elite teams.

"When you have a good team and you don’t have a good goalie, all the forwards and the defence and everybody are a little bit nervous," he said. "When you have the goalie, everybody feels more comfortable and they know that at the end, if they have the goalie, they have the chance to win."