Chicoutimi Sagueneens @ Lewiston MAINEiacs
Friday, October 26, 2007
Androscoggin Bank Colisee
Season Five - Game # 16 - Home Game # 9
Game Time: 7:00 PM ET

Media: ESPN 1470 AM in Lewiston/Auburn; ESPN 870 AM in Portland;
Audio Stream; Webcast on TELUS

Quick Stats

Lewiston MAINEiacs
4th Place, Eastern Division
Record: 8-6-1-0 (17 pts)
Streak: Lost 2
Last 5: 3-1-1-0
Power Play: 20.7% (19 PPGF) 5th (3 PPGA)
Penalty Kill: 84.0% (15 SHGA) 10th (2 SHGF)

Players to watch:

11-LW- Stefano Giliati (10-8-18) 3 PPG; 5 GWG
22-LW- Chris Tutalo (2-10-12) 2 PPG
34-C- Stefan Chaput (6-5-11) 1 PPG; 1 GWG
47-RW- Danick Hudon-Paquette (6-4-10) 5 PPG
46-D- Kevin Marshall (5-5-10) 4 PPG; 1 GWG
 
1-G- Jonathan Bernier (0-1; 3.07 GAA; 0.842 SAV%)
30-G- Peter Delmas (7-6; 2.75 GAA; 0.909 SAV%)
33-G- Kirk Rafuse (1-0; 5.86 GAA; 0.773 SAV%)

Chicoutimi Sagueneens
7th Place, TELUS Division
Record: 7-9-0-0 (14 pts)
Streak: Lost 1
Last 5: 1-4-0-0
Power Play: 8.6% (9 PPGF) 17th (1 PPGA)
Penalty Kill: 87.7% (9 SHGA) 4th (1 SHGF)

Players to Watch:

9-C- Francis Pare (7-6-13) 1 PPG
64-C- Joel Champagne (4-6-10) 1 SHG; 1 GWG
25-LW- Antoine Roussel (2-7-9)
10-LW- Jacob Lagace (5-3-8) 1 PPG; 1 GWG
22-D- Mathieu Bolduc (2-6-8) 1 PPG

38-G- Bobby Nadeau (4-6; 2.08 GAA; 0.916 SAV%)
30-G- Francois Levesque (3-3; 3.70 GAA; 0.879 SAV%)

MAINEiacs Look To Rebound Tonight Against Sagueneens

‘Puzzling’ is the word that comes to mind after Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Puzzling as to why the team didn’t play more inspired in Jonathan Bernier’s return to the line up. Puzzling as to why a sudden shuffling of the line up after an eight game point streak. More puzzling as to why GM & Head Coach Ed Harding accepted full responsibility for the loss in the quotes  printed in Thursday’s Sun Journal in a story by Justin Pelletier:

“If it wasn’t working, that’s my fault,” Maineiacs’ head coach Ed Harding said. “There’s some things we need to work on; there’s some things we need to address. The players weren’t prepared, so I look at myself right in the mirror and do a better job tomorrow.”

Hopefully the mirrors didn’t shatter when the players and thier head coach looked at them Wednesday night after what was one of the poorest overall efforts of the season, since the last time Sea Dogs and MAINEiacs played in Harbour Station in September. At that time, Lewiston got off the bus and had an early morning skate to work on the issues that plagued them in that game. Maybe that was needed Wednesday night, too.

The Sagueneens, like the Sea Dogs, aren’t exactly an offensive juggernaut. In fact, Saint John (42) has only scored two more goals than Chicoutimi (40) as both clubs are near the basement in the league in goal production. The Sags power play is as dreadful (8.6%), as the penalty kill is impressive (87.7%).

Gone from the Sags is the name of David Desharnais due to age, and his loss has been a tough one to overcome for GM & Head Coach Richard Martel. While the pick up of Francis Pare from the Shawinigan Cataractes helped a little, the void left by Desharnais has had a noticeable affect on the Sags approach to the game.

The club plays a much more defensive game this season, something uncharacteristic for Martel who in the past has opted more for the run-and-gun game. Given the Sags recent teams with the weapons of Desharnais, Maxime Boisclair, Stanislav Lasek, Marek Zagrapan & Francis Lemieux, the 2007-08 version is a shell of it’s former self in a big way.

But don’t be fooled. With goalie Bobby Nadeau, the Sags have been in most games all season, with 7 games decided by one marker. Since Nadeau found a home in the Saguenay area of Quebec after being on three other QMJHL clubs before his 18th birthday, he’s settled down into being one of the leagues more steadier performers, despite not having a whole lot of offensive support in the past season-plus.

There are no easy teams to play in the QMJHL. Take a night off, lose games that should be won, all have a way of coming back to bite you in the long run. Every point in October will have an influence in March. Hopefully for the MAINEiacs, coaches and players will be on the same page when the game starts tonight and Wednesday’s game will be just a small crack in the mirror.

CHL Mosaik MasterCard Top 10 Rankings – week 5

1. Sault Ste-Marie Greyhounds (12-0-1-0)
2. Calgary Hitmen (11-3-0-1)
3. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (12-3-1-0)
4. Windsor Spitfires (10-1-0-2)
5. Tri-City Americans (10-3-0-0)
6. Kitchener Rangers (8-2-0-0)
7. Halifax Mooseheads (10-3-0-1)
8. Vancouver Giants (9-2-1-1)
9. Niagara Ice Dogs (9-4-0-0)
10. Baie-Comeau Drakkar (9-4-0-2)

Quick Hits Around The QMJHL

Jean Brousseau, Governor for the Moncton Wildcats, was named President of the QMJHL’s Board of Governors at a meeting in Dorval, Que. yesterday. Brousseau takes over for Marc Savard of the PEI Rocket, who had to resign as a result of a new career venture.

MAINEiacs Upcoming Bus Trips

Nov 18-19 Drummondville & Shawinigan
Dec 8 Chicago Wolves @ Manchester Monarchs (AHL)
Dec 16 Victoriaville
Jan 11-13 Quebec & Chicoutimi
Feb 2-3 Quebec Winter Carnival
Feb 22-24 Moncton & Saint John

See Sheila under the Lee Auto-Fan Attic (Section 7) at the game this weekend to book your trip or call her at 783-9650.

Join the new voice of the MAINEiacs Alex Reed and yours truly tonight for the call of the game begining at 6:40 for the pregame show on ESPN 1470 AM in Lewiston/Auburn and ESPN 870 AM in the Portland area. If your attending the game tonight, make sure you turn us on for complete pre- and postgame coverage on your ride home.

offthepost@lewistonhockey.com