Friday Night Hockey
Drummondville Voltigeurs 6, Gatineau Olympiques 5 (SO)
I anticipated this contest being one of the best of the Friday Night Hockey schedule and it didn’t disappoint. The game featured 10 regulation goals, four fights, four ejections, a game-tying goal in the last second and a seven-round shootout.
Drummondville bench boss Martin Raymond struck up a relationship with Volts general manager Dominic Ricard while Raymond was the head coach of McGill. The common thread was then-coach Guy Boucher.
Charles-David Beaudoin, Louis-Philip Guindon and the rest of the Voltigeurs have taken to young Kory-Anthony Roy-Legace whose illness remains a mystery to doctors. Kory, from Rimouski, and the Volts became close two years ago when they learned of Kory’s plight.
(Left to right: Louis-Philip Guindon, Kory-Anthony Roy-Legace, Charles-David Beaudoin)
That has lead Beaudoin to become a champion in the community for his charitable works.
Guindon has been working with sports psychologist Wayne Halliwell.
William Carrier continues to be an enigma. Raymond said it best: “He has to play like a truck, not an F1 (car).”
Each team featured three Ontario-born players (although Matthew Donnelly did not dress from Drummondville). Both teams have done an excellent job in the past of finding OHL castoffs.
Gatineau’s power play continues to struggle after hours of work on it in practice and consultation with U of Ottawa coach Real Paiment. It will need to be better than 15.8 percent if the Olympiques want any hope of a long spring run.
As he has a late birthday, Alexandre Carrier will be an interesting study for the 2015 NHL draft.
Gatineau continues to lead the CHL with 17 short-handed goals for, two more than Spokane.
This and That
Condolences to the Vosbourgh family on the loss of Sarnia radio voice Murray Vosbourgh, who left us way too soon last week at the age of 61. Here’s a nice piece on Vos.
Talk of the Belleville Bulls and the Yardmen Arena have resurfaced. It must be weird for team owner Gord Simmonds to have to hear his play-by-play man/city councillor Jack Miller explain to him that the Yardmen Arena issue is on the back burner.
This comes on the heels of the Sarnia Sting being put up for sale. Any chance the Hunter brothers split up and one of them purchases the Sting?
What about Thursday night’s melee in Quebec City between the Mooseheads and Remparts? I wonder if it had anything to do with the Adam Erne hit on Jonathan Drouin previous to the world juniors?
Don’t look now, but here comes Anthony Duclair. Thanks to a torrid month of January, where Duclair potted 14 goals and added 14 assists in just 12 games, he now trails Anthony Mantha by just three points in the QMJHL scoring race.
After years of speculation, the Gatineau Olympiques are expected to be playing in a new home for the 2016-17 season. From the hockey side, plans are about 75 percent complete.
Seeing former Vancouver Giant Brendan Gallagher in a McDonald’s commercial is quite amusing considering his physical shape and his father’s job as a strength and conditioning coach for the Giants.
It’s not surprising the Baie-Comeau Drakkar is riding a 10-game win streak, but it is surprising Victoriaville is. I’ve had a couple of QMJHL sources say the Tigres are a playoff sleeper.
Stat trick
Anthony Mantha’s season: Before world juniors
Anthony Mantha’s season: After world juniors
Completely off topic
Addiction is something you don’t overcome, it’s something you battle daily. The case of Philip Seymour Hoffman is sad beyond belief. He was one of the most talented actors of our generation and a sobering reminder of how hard it is to battle addiction.
More Friday Night Hockey
Friday Night Hockey will return Feb. 28, with a yet-to-be-determined game. In the meantime, be sure to check out the American Hockey League on Sportsnet, beginning Sunday, Feb. 9 when the Toronto Marlies host the Hamilton Bulldogs.
American Hockey League
We’ll also have the AHL All-Star Classic, which features an entirely new format that includes Farjestad BK.