For the fourth time in its history, the Océanic will cross swords with its great rival from the National Capital in the playoffs.
The two clubs will face off in a best-of-five series starting tomorrow night (Sunday) at the Videotron Centre. Unsurprisingly, the Océanic is the big underdog against the Remparts, the club that amassed the most ranking points during the season.
“In terms of preparation, we don’t need to go very far. We are in copy-paste. Saint John had the best offense in the circuit with 311 goals and Quebec is second with 302. That said, the challenge is even greater, because Quebec plays much more structured. They give very few chances to score and have a lot of speed. We are happy to be here, we are still playing hockey on May 15 and we did not steal it, ”comments Serge Beausoleil.
The latter insists on the importance for his troop to stay away from the dungeon. “Their power play was one of the worst in the first half of the season, but their coaching staff turned that around because they had one of the best in the second half. We have been disciplined this year and we must continue like this. I like the guys to play solid hockey, but you have to stay within the bounds of the law. In the last game, we took two penalties in the opposing zone that we must absolutely avoid. »
Hamrla ?
We should expect to see Patrik Hamrla take place in front of the net. On the other hand, Beausoleil did not confirm anything in his interview with the media on Saturday afternoon. “We will evaluate tonight. I have a good idea, but it will go to tomorrow to announce it. The turning point of the last series was Hamrla’s performance in Game 4 which blocked all 40 shots which kept us alive. But, Gabriel Robert had done that very well at the start of the series. This year, we used our two goalkeepers. They can see action and are competitive and improving from game to game. The one who has pole position is the one who stops the pucks and who has the momentum. And, we know we have a good second,” he explains.
Of the four injured in the Rimouski camp, two, Maxime Coursol and Julien Béland, could return to the line-up in the series according to Beausoleil. On the other hand, he does not expect to see Xavier Cormier again during the week while the season of young defender Luke Coughlin is probably over.
The Océanic will hold a morning practice session, Sunday morning, in view of Game 1, in the evening (7 p.m.), just after the end of the pee-wee tournament, the last final of which will be played at 3 p.m. 30.
The last series between the Océanic and the Remparts dates back to May 2015 when the Rimouski team won the President’s Cup, in game 7 of the final, on a goal by Michaël Joly in the second period of overtime.
Schedule of the Oceanic / Ramparts series
- Sunday 15 7 p.m. Océanic vs Remparts
- Monday 16 7 p.m. Océanic vs Remparts
- Thursday 19 7:30 p.m. Remparts vs Océanic
- *Friday 20 7:30 p.m. Remparts vs Océanic
- *Sunday 22 4 p.m. Océanic vs Remparts
* : if necessary
