King on CHL: Playoffs begin with a bang

Moncton Wildcat Phillip Danault is facing his former mates on the Victoriaville Tigres. (QMJHL Images)

Playoff time makes for some good quotes, but Rimouski head coach Serge Beausoleil and Gatineau bench boss Benoit Groulx took it to new heights recently.

Beausoleil, who appears as somewhat of a Guy Boucher disciple, went on the defensive before his team’s series started with the 13th ranked Gatineau Olympiques by anointing Groulx’s group the favourite. Rimouski finished with the third-most points this season, and 28 more than Gatineau, yet because of several key injuries, Beausoleil surprisingly labeled his team the underdog.

When the puck dropped for Game 1 of the series on Friday, four of the five players Beausoleil projected would be out of the lineup with injuries all played; those being Francis Beauvillier, Casey Babineau, Samuel Morin and Maxim Gravel.

Groulx saw through the ploy, and delivered what may be the best one-liner this season in speaking to Le Droit beat reporter Jean-Francois Plante, saying, "Serge Beausoleil, there’s two things he really likes doing. Talking and buying the paper to read it the next day."

The Oceanic overcame the adversity to win Game 1 3-2 and a day later, the Olympiques tied the series at one with a 5-3 win. Maybe there was something to it, after all.

HOSTS OFF TO A STUNNING START

There was an awful lot of knee-knocking prior to last year’s MasterCard Memorial Cup after the host Shawinigan Cataractes were bounced in the second round of the playoffs. The Cataractes wound up winning the national championship, and those whispers about the validity of their team hosting subsided.

Those same questions about the strength of the MasterCard Memorial Cup host team are intensifying. The Saskatoon Blades have run hot and cold all season and their temperature now is as frigid as a Saskatchewan winter. The Blades lost Games 1 and 2 against the No. 7 seed Medicine Hat Tigers over the weekend, which now gives this team a streak of 10-straight playoff losses dating back the past three seasons.

Saskatoon scored just once in the two games and is clearly in must-win territory to avoid the virtual kiss of death of falling behind 3-0. Forward Lukas Sutter tried taking a positive out of a negative.

"We have to win four out of five," he told the Star Phoenix’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman. "Coming into this, if you said we had to win four out of five to win a series, we’d have taken that. We need to get our focus. We need to get going. But we’ll be alright here."

YANICK JEAN SOUNDS OFF

The beauty of a 1-versus-16 playoff round in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is that Quebec-based teams and Maritimes-based teams can meet in the opening round. That sentiment may not be shared by Victoriaville Tigres head coach Yanick Jean, however.

After winning Game 1 in Moncton on Friday, his team dropped Game 2 to the favoured Wildcats in overtime on a power-play goal by former Tigres captain, Phillip Danault. Jean was remarkably candid in his post-game interview suggesting the Wildcats were flopping in search of a call, and the Maritimes-based officials were buying it.

"I can’t wait to return to Quebec [for games 3, 4 and 5] because at least in Quebec, diving is called and we know that for sure. Here, it’s not the same refereeing. We didn’t have the same spark as yesterday, maybe not the same energy. Still, if you get two or three [penalties] less if the referees called the diving, it’s not the same game. The difference in the refereeing will have a huge impact."

HAIR-RAISING PLAYOFF STYLES

A year ago, while speaking with Niagara forward Tom Kuhnhackl after a game, teammate Mitchell Theoret walked by and changed the complexion of our conversation. Theoret’s playoff hairstyle was unique, and redirected conversation with Kuhnhackl immediately. I asked Kuhnhackl why he didn’t follow his teammate’s lead and he responded with a stunned look and two words: "Come on!"

Theoret shaved the top of his head, minus the bangs, which were dyed pink. It’s no wonder it didn’t catch on. Here’s a pic he tweeted from an interview with our Rob Faulds:

Well, the playoffs are here again and the now the Barrie Colts forward took it up a notch.

Several more players followed his lead this year, with many of them captured in this story by Yahoo’s Sunaya Sapurji.

– The Windsor Spitfires haven’t a hope in landing the hosting rights to next year’s MasterCard Memorial Cup, writes the Windsor Star’s Bob Duff:

– Edmonton Oil Kings forward Stephane Legault enjoyed a seven-point night in his team’s series opener against Kootenay on Friday. It put him tied for second in points in one playoff game while his first-period hat trick also tied a record.

– Among the more shocking developments from the weekend was the opening game loss by the Portland Winterhawks. They finished first-overall in the regular season, and appeared to be biding their time until the playoffs.


They were stymied time and again by Everett’s NHL draft-eligible goalie Austin Lotz, which was less concerning than their effort.

– Playoff hockey means sacrifice, which isn’t always pretty:

– Although this one came in practice before the post-season:

– It may not have the same ring as #FreeGardiner, but Owen Sound Attack fans are suggesting something similar:

– Nice work here by PEI Rocket equipment manager Andrew Macneill setting the tone for Sunday practice:

Junior graduates are keeping close tabs on their former teams in the playoffs:

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