There was no shortage of excitement for the Québec Remparts last week. On Tuesday, goaltender Callum Booth left the game after the first period of an eventual 8-4 win over Victoriaville. It turns out the Carolina Hurricanes fourth-rounder has appendicitis and is out indefinitely.
Things didn’t go so well Friday night with backup Julian Galloway starting against the Shawinigan Cataractes. Galloway only made it through half the game, allowing four goals on 13 shots in an 8-2 loss.
Saturday night, the Remparts were once again under siege, this time by the Saint John Sea Dogs who fired 42 shots on Galloway. After the 7-3 loss, Remparts head coach and GM Philippe Boucher was fuming. He picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the third on a play that saw Massimo Carozza pick up a slashing penalty and an additional unsportsmanlike conduct call. It was the fourth unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to Québec on the night (Saint John had three).
According to Mike Sanderson of Yahoo Sports, who translated Boucher’s French comments, the coach was upset with the number of bench penalties he’s picked up this season. He also said QMJHL attendance is down because of the league’s focus on polite, smart students instead of players with an edge. Boucher went on to say he wants to hear from the league to get an explanation on what’s going on.
Kathleen Lavoie of La Presse reports Gatineau Olympiques head coach and GM Benoit Groulx supports Boucher and says he is respected by his peers. Groulx also expressed frustration with penalties and the lack of dialogue with the league. Boucher can expect to hear from QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau about the comments.
On the ice Sunday, the Remparts stormed back for a 10-6 win over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. It was an historic night for Nikolas Brouillard who set a franchise record for defencemen with six points in a game after scoring a hat-trick and adding three assists. He’s the 42nd D-man to accomplish the feat. The last time it happened was Feb. 4, 2007, when Jean-Claude Sawyer turned the trick for Cape Breton. Brouillard was named the league’s first star after seven goals and five assists in four games. He’s sixth in blueliner scoring with 17 points but has only played nine games, half the amount as the five players ahead of him.
Here are some non-Remparts notes from around the QMJHL:
Chabot goes coast-to-coast
There’s a reason the Ottawa Senators drafted Saint John Sea Dogs defender Thomas Chabot 18th overall in June. After picking up the puck behind his own net on the power play, Chabot cruised past all four Drummondville skaters before pulling off a tricky deke and popping the puck over an outstretched goalie. Not bad for a blueliner. The next night, he scored again and had three assists in a 7-3 win over Québec.
Oh man. Goal of the year candidate from Thomas Chabot. pic.twitter.com/NrhXY2ulM7
— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) November 7, 2015
Gatineau rookie continues to score
Olympiques forward Vitalii Abramov is looking like an early contender for QMJHL rookie of the year honours. He leads rookie scoring with 30 points in 21 games, including a pair of goals and assists over the weekend. The 13th pick of the 2015 CHL Import Draft is NHL Draft eligible this season. NHL Central Scouting gave him a ‘B’ rating as a potential second or third-round pick.
Nicolas Roy continues to improve
Call it a bounce-back season. Originally projected to go in the first round of the NHL Draft, Roy tumbled to the fourth, where the Carolina Hurricanes nabbed him at No. 96. He looked pretty good Friday night in a 5-1 Chicoutimi win over the Halifax Mooseheads. He began by losing a lot of puck battles, but as the game wore on, the 6-foot-4, 202-lb. centre looked stronger and stronger.
While he’s not an overly physical player, he’s learning to use his giant frame to protect the puck and he uses his speed to avoid contact. Roy is on the first power-play and penalty-kill units and takes key faceoffs for Chicoutimi. He’s averaging 1.64 points per game after a disappointing 0.74 last season.
No one is talking about it but Nicolas Roy (Carolina) is having a strong season so far. He's on a 14 games point streak right now (11g-12a)
— Jérôme Bérubé (@Jerome_Berube) November 9, 2015
Meier snaps goal drought
Last season, Timo Meier finished the season with 44 goals for the Halifax Mooseheads and went ninth overall to the San Jose Sharks. On Saturday night, he snapped a career-worst nine-game goalless streak in a 5-4 overtime win over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. His shooting percentage of 5.8 is bound to go up as the season continues. Meier now has 20 points in 13 games.