It’s back to school, and especially the first match, for the ice hockey players of Grenoble, reigning French champions, since their victory on April 13 in the Magnus League final. A friendly match at home to start this season, this Friday August 5 at 7:30 p.m. The Wolf Burners take on the Lahti Pelicans at the Polesud ice rink.
Three new recruits
The team has changed little but has three new players, including two young people from Grenoble. Paul Siraudin, striker in U20 with the academy, trains with the pros and could play matches with them: “For me it’s a source of pride, because it’s still the best team in France. It’s been my goal since I was little, I’m happy to play with them.”
Joining the Grenoble team is also an honor for Brent Aubin, who arrived in Grenoble this week. The Quebecer, who comes from a German club, is very happy to play with the Brûleurs de loups: “I know there weren’t many free places in attack so I [m’estime] very lucky to be here.“
I think this is the best place for me – Brent Aubin
“The guys welcomed me, he smiled. It’s a team that [veut] win every night. And that’s what I asked my agent: ‘I want to play for a winning team’. I believe that here is the best place for me.“
For this season, the team has different objectives explains the manager, Jeff Dufour: “We want to be champions. We have a lot of deadlines before going all the way to the Magnus Cup. We have the Champions League, which will start very early, in September. This is our number 1 objective. Then, the Coupe de France, where, for two or three years, we were less efficient.” “Today we want to play on all three tables, he continues, but you will have to be able to handle all situations well.“
Retain title
Bringing the title of Champions of France back into play, “it’s an extra pressure, admits forward Damien Fleury. Above all, all the other teams are going to want to beat us, so it’s going to be even harder than last year (…) It’s going to be up to us to work even harder if we want to keep our title.“But he remains confident:”We know what we are capable of, and we know that we are capable of even better.“