RED DEER– Rouyn-Noranda captain Francis Perron won’t lie: He did some celebrating on Wednesday night.
The Ottawa prospect and a couple teammates were watching Red Deer take on Brandon, knowing a Rebels win meant his team would advance to Friday’s semi-final at the MasterCard Memorial Cup, and a Brandon victory would put them in a tie-breaker situation on Thursday against the Wheat Kings, with the winner moving on.
“It was kind of weird, because you don’t wanna cheer for [Red Deer],” Perron said, grinning, wearing a backwards hat and his lower gear and flip flops after a morning skate. “But at the same time, if they win you play one less game.”
When the Rebels scored in overtime, Perron said: “We celebrated a little bit.”
Teammate A.J. Greer watched with his roommate, Sharks first-rounder, Timo Meier. “I don’t know if it’s called cheering,” the Colorado second-round pick said, “but I was definitely happy we got another day off. It would have been a tough way to go, playing Brandon tonight and hopefully playing Red Deer tomorrow.
“I think focusing on two more games, the first game ahead of us is Red Deer right away, is a big plus.”
The Huskies (1-2) find themselves with an extra day to “reboot the computer,” as Perron puts it, ahead of Friday’s semi-final. “That’s the word that we’re using with the coach. He’s always telling us to reboot the computer, reset and get back to the base.”
The reboot on Wednesday involved a visit to the massive West Edmonton Mall, which Perron is pretty sure might be bigger than the small town they play for. “Actually,” he said, laughing. And seeing as there are only four or five stores back home, “it cost a lot for a lot of guys,” the captain said.
The focus now shifts to the task at hand: Taking down the host for a chance to face the undefeated London Knights in Sunday afternoon’s final.
Goalie Chase Marchand is looking forward to having another chance at the Rebels, who beat the Huskies 5-2 in their round robin meeting.
“It’s fun, I like the fans,” he said. “They’re pretty loud, and you don’t want silence in the rink, or it’d just be practice.”
Although, the truth is their goal is to suck the air out of the place. “You really like that, too,” Marchand said, grinning.
Greer says the key is drowning out the noise and keeping emotions in check. The power forward didn’t do a good job of that in Game 2, when he got a 10-minute game misconduct and was jarring with the refs.
“I’m not a guy that loses my temper a lot,” Greer said. “That’s the first time I broke down since Peewee or something. I respect the referees a lot….You just have to maintain your emotions at the right level. Don’t get distracted with all the noise around you.”
He and the Huskies are used to playing in loud buildings, seeing as they play for a small town that lives and breathes with its team.
“That’s one of the things that helped us be successful, the whole town would support us, came to our games,” Greer said. “You go out to eat, people want to take pictures and tell you how much they appreciate you. It’s a really good feeling.”
Does this atmosphere in Red Deer remind him at all of home, seeing how much this city supports its team?
“Our building’s way louder, and our fans are way better, but yes,” Greer said, straight-faced. “You can quote that.”