Fabrice Lhenry (Rouen coach): “I feel a lot of pride for this group. We started in May last year, with those who were already there, then the young people who arrived (Goncalves, Hervé, Perret, Tomasino). It’s a pleasure that they are rewarded, it’s a beautiful story of life together. When a team is united, it can go far. The story of Christophe Boivin united us (the Canadian player returned to the game in January, after overcoming cancer). We saw him in good health. We followed him through this ordeal, his chemotherapy, he sent us photos. We helped him not to lose hope. I am very happy for him, he brought us the 18th title (in the history of Rouen in the Magnus League). This will remain written in our memories. I am also happy, because we were able to integrate the young people. They showed very beautiful things. The goal of a coach is to have a team where everyone progresses. Many have progressed. Even if it’s good to have won, it’s my greatest satisfaction.”
Florian Chakiachvili (Rouen defender): “I’m obviously very happy. This is the first time that I am away champion. It’s a different feeling. It was a great finale. I am very happy that it was Christophe Boivin who scored the winning goal. He had other battles to fight. The victory was built a bit like the series. We started well, but as soon as we led (2-0 in the second period), we had difficulty managing. It was character that we won in overtime. We were pleasantly surprised by Bordeaux. They put up a very good opposition.”
Mathieu Pompei (Bordeaux striker): “It’s emotional. For me, for the team. We were very close, but not close enough to win. It’s a good group, a good collective. It was the last season of our captain (the Canadian Maxime Legault, who is calling it quits at 35, after three seasons in Bordeaux). We scored twice, but we also made mistakes. We showed character, we had some dog in the locker room (sic). But it didn’t work out in our favor. However, I am proud of what we accomplished this season. There had already been this series in the semi-final against Grenoble (big hockey player, but beaten in five matches), a lot of people had put us aside. Rouen is a very big hockey team. But we didn’t give up. It’s motivation for next season. »
2024-04-15 23:21:06
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