Off The Post: Peter Delmas

The Lewiston MAINEiacs have much to thank this year for the services of its back-up netminder, Peter Delmas. The 16 year-old native of Bedford, Nova Scotia has been called upon to lead the team down the stretch in the battle for the eastern division crown, as lead goaltender Jonathan Bernier has been battling injury.

For most rookies goalies, the challenge of leading a top team in the QMJHL into the post season is nothing but a dream while sitting on the bench, usually with clipboard in hand tracking shots and other statistics that the coaching staff is looking for. For Delmas, he’s living out the dream every night.

Delmas was selected by Lewiston in the 5th round, 83rd overall in the 2006 QMJHL Entry Draft. He was the highest ranked goaltender taken by the MAINEiacs in the past draft, one of three netminders picked. Out of all the goalies in the system, Delmas made a strong impression early on. With Travis Fullerton dismissed from the club abrubtly in August, Peter found himself with the main back-up role, and was able to earn playing time early in the season while Bernier was given a night off.

“It’s been a great experience for me,” the rookie states of his time here in Lewiston thus far. “The pressure of being a 16 year-old goalie and with as much starts as I have had lately, it’s been great. It gives you chance to develop more and become more consistent as a goalie, so I have really enjoyed my experience so far.”

Not only has Delmas played very effectively for Lewiston since Bernier’s injury, he has done so while battling an injury of his own. A pesky hip-flexor has plagued Delmas since January 25th at Halifax, which occured the same night as Bernier’s ankle injury. Since then, not only has Delmas been forced to carry the load of starting every night, but has battled the injury at the same time.

“It’s tough because it is a little bit injured and each game doesn’t really help it.” Delmas mentioned of dealing with the injury. “It either gets worse or stays the same. It’s pretty unpredictable, too. You never know when it is going to tweak out. It’s been tough, but I have been able to manage.”

Manage? Delmas for the month of February is 7-3 with a 3.15 GAA and a 0.886 save percentage and has helped keep the MAINEiacs ahead of Cape Breton for the division and Val d’Or for the league championship. Certainly respectable numbers for 90% of the goaltenders in the league… as 19 year-olds. With the fact the Delmas has been putting up respectable numbers on most nights, and doing so while hurt, leads even the most critical of pundits to tip their cap to the young man for not only winning as a rookie, but playing hurt on top of that as well.

With any goaltender breaking into a higher level, there comes a period of adjustment. Where speed and skill of the game are often mentioned first by aspiring netminders, Delmas agrees but views the acclamation to the league beyond that.

“The shots are so much better, the speed is so much better,” Delmas speaks of the transition from Nova Scotia midget AAA. “You have to bear down and be really focused in each game. You have to be really patient, too. Patience is huge in this league. Probably being patient and being confident is the two big things to have in this league.”

With any rookie goaltender, and even those that have been around the level for a while, bad goals are going to happen. The success of the upper level goaltenders in the league is not based so much the occasional faux pas that happens from time to time, it is what happens after the fact that separates the best from the average. For some rookie netminders, a bad goal more times than not causes bad games, as their confidence takes a hit and they struggle to regain their confidence and composure. Delmas is not immune to giving up a bad goal. What makes him different is what happens after the fact.

“I think that it is basically my focus,” Delmas talks of rebounding after giving up a weak marker. “I just focus on my strengths and just go back to thinking about what I was doing before when I played well before letting up the bad goal.”

The success of any goaltender can be quickly attributed to the defense playing in front of the netminder. Over the course of the season, the MAINEiacs “big four” of Chad Denny, Kevin Marshall, Michal Korenko and Sebastien Piche have seen plenty of ice time over the course of the year. The fifth and sixth spots have been more or less a rotation of rookies Marc-Andre Crete, Patrick Cusack, Michael Ward and Tom Michalik. While being lean on experience at the position in the league, the level of talent of the young corps has certainly been exhibited. Delmas is quick to acknowledge that his success has much to do with the players working immediately around him.

“Our D are great,” the rookie mentions with a smile. “They are really smart. It’s a pretty young group of defenseman, which is great for next year as well. They have been really great for me.”

Another part of Delmas success he points out is being able to work with Bernier. Bernier, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the 2006 NHL draft, has had a strong influence on the younger Delmas.

“Joe is a great goalie,” Delmas speaks of Bernier. “He’s NHL quality so you learn a lot from him, and he has a lot of little details that you can pick up on that you can apply to your own game. Working with each other has been great this year.”

Another piece to Delmas success this season is that of MAINEiacs goaltending coach Dan Bouchard. Bouchard, who comes to Lewiston twice a month to work with his goalies, brings 16 years of NHL experience to Lewiston’s netminding tandem, and as Delmas notes, a different approach to the game.

“Dan’s been great,” the young man speaks of his coach. “He’s a different kind of goalie coach, he’s not too much on the technical (aspect). He’s been great (as far as) the mental (aspect). He has so much experience. You can learn a ton from Dan. Every time he’s down I learn so much. He’s been great for me.”

In 27 games played for the MAINEiacs this season, Delmas has a perfect 3.00 GAA and a 0.896 save percentage, while accumulating a 16-10 record. His numbers are the best of any rookie in the QMJHL, and combined with Bernier, the duo has the best overall numbers in the league, as well.

With Delmas, the future looks bright between pipes for the Lewiston MAINEiacs.

Oh Where, Oh Where, Has Webcasting Gone

Yours truly here has learned something about the way the QMJHL does business. Until something happens, don’t report it. Here I have been walking around with egg on my face since reporting that the league would have webcasting in place long before this and at the end of February, nothing has happened. Sometimes the best thing to say, is nothing.

That said, I bring good news. A high level source within the league’s board of governors copied me on an email stating that Telus (those folks that bring us the new title to the western division) will start installing equipment within the next two weeks and should be online in time for either the tail end of the season or by the start of playoffs on March 23rd.

For those that want to take the “I’ll believe it when I see it” option on the complaint form to the league, I’ll take it with you. This has been a long time coming, and I am certainly not going to hold my breath waiting for it to happen. But at least it looks like something fairly newsworthy and with substance.

The Week Ahead

The MAINEiacs have their skills competition Tuesday evening at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee at 6:00 PM before they embark on the grueling three game in three night swing, sarting Thursday in Gatineau, Friday in Rouyn-Noranda and Saturday in Val d’Or.

The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles host the Shawinigan Cataractes on Friday and the Quebec Remparts on Saturday.

Val d’Or hosts the Victoriaville Tigres on Friday before hosting Lewiston on Saturday.

The magic number to clinch the division is 11 and to clinch the league and home ice all the way sits at 12.

Good Read

Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail reports that NHL GM’s like what they see.

Tomorrow is trade deadline day… could Alexandre Picard or Alex Bourret be someplace else?

A Nice Shot

Way to go Jaro!

News, comments, and questions appreciated… keep the faith, people. offthepost@lewistonhockey.com