They are done with the Volts

I think everyone on the MAINEiacs organization is glad they don’t have to see the Drummondville Voltigeurs until the New Year.

For a team that I fully expected to be on the bottom of the Telus Central, they have proven me wrong.  Yannick Riendeau has been a great pick up for them along with Samson Mahbad.  Riendeau has won the QMJHL Player of the Week for the second straight week.

The biggest addition has been defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.  I spoke with Guy Boucher after the game on November 9th.

“He’s incredible, for me it’s been ten years in this league for me; I’ve coached (Mike) Ribeiro, (Derek) Brassard, and (Sidney) Crosby. He’s the second best total package behind Crosby,” said Boucher. “He’s a total player, he’s gritty, he hits, and he has incredible vision.” Boucher also mentioned he had a great shot.

You can read the rest of my thoughts on Kulikov here.

Getting Out to Fast Starts

If there was a sign that this team is turning around is the fact this past weekend they got out to a good lead.  It was tough to see they couldn’t hold onto the lead on Friday.  At the same time if teams are going to think it was a cake walk when they face Lewiston, the Maineiacs should use that use motivation.  At the start of each period, they should think the game

You have to give credit to Jonathan Connelly who was in net for the first time since the Home opener on September 19th.  On top of that, he was facing Rimouski, albeit an Oceanic club that was depleted with injuries.  The kid showed no signs of rust when he faced three breakaways.

More kudos goes to Dany Coulombe for the fight at the end of the contest.  The rookie stood up and sent a message to Guillaume Pelletier.  It’s nice to see a player that gets limited playing time making an impact like that.

When I looked at the four away games that Lewiston has before returning the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, it didn’t look to good that they would win two games.  They have Shawinigan Friday and Gatineau on Saturday.   They can win at Gatineau and they have defeated Shawinigan already this year.  Maybe this road trip will be better then expected.

The red hot Pirates made the Fire Alarm go off

The Portland Pirates invaded the Androscoggin Bank Colisee this past Friday, and the fire department had to be called in.  The way the Pirates are playing, I think the fire alarm in every building will be going off.  I wasn’t in attendance but from reading stories from different media outlets, it was a success for everyone.

The Pirates won, Stefan Chaput and Jonathan Paiement both got on the scoring sheet, and the Lewiston hockey fans got a taste of the AHL.  I did go see the Pirates when Manchester came to Portland earlier this year and they are an exciting team to watch.  Buffalo doesn’t always have the Crosby’s or Ovechkin’s in the system but have some great finds like a Nathan Gerbe.

In other AHL news, the Binghamton Senators resigned Pierre-Luc Faubert to a Professional Tryout Contract over the weekend and only to release him today.

QMJHL News

The QMJHL is dominating the top half of the CHL Mosaik MasterCard Top 10 rankings with the Moncton Wildcats and the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles ranked 2nd and 3rd respectfully.  What’s so interesting is no one really gave anyone in the Atlantic Division a chance this year except for the Saint John Sea Dogs.  Cape Breton didn’t have their A game on Friday when I tuned into the game before the Maineiacs started.

Another team that I questioned, the Drummondville Voltigeurs, is ranked 7th.  Shawinigan is hanging in the Top Ten at the 10th slot.  I wouldn’t put too much stock into these ranking right now.  In a week or two, these ranking will have some stock as everybody will be back from NHL camps.  They should start releasing these rankings until late October for this very reason.

The QMJHL released the September Players of the Month.  The Offensive Player of the Month went to Samson Mahbod who had six goals and seven assists in six games.  No question about it.  He has found his scoring touch as a 19-year-old.  He put numbers up in Junior A and it has finally translated to the QMJHL game.

Another Drummondville Voltigeuer, Dmitry Kulikov, has won the Rookie of the Month award.  The defenseman had two goals and six assists.  He will be eligible for the NHL Draft next summer.  If he keeps this pace up, he could sneak into the first round of the NHL Draft.  These two players are a big part of Drummondville’s success.

Nicola Riopel was the Defensive Player of the Month.  The Maineiacs saw first hand how good he has been so far this season.  If Robert Mayer was able to sign a free agent contract, Riopel should be getting some offers soon.

The Rouyn-Noranada Huskies and the Prince Edward Island Rocket completed a deal today.  The Huskies got veteran goaltender Antoine Lafluer for an eighth round draft pick in next year’s Midget Draft.  Last year was a struggle for Lafluer after being a high draft pick of the New York Rangers.  What a pick up he would be if he can turn it around this season.

Travis Stacey of the Gatineau Olympiques has been suspended three games for throwing a punch in the final five minutes of the game against Montreal Sunday.

That’s My Take

(Nathan also started “The World of Junior Hockey Blog” and is a contributor to the Maine Hockey Journal His email is fourniern@students.nescom.edu.)