SAINT-JEAN, NB | The loss to the Saint-Jean Sea Dogs on Saturday night hurt the Shawinigan Cataractes. However, on Sunday, she was forgotten and head coach Daniel Renaud expects his players to have learned lessons from what happened against their QMJHL rivals.
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The Cataractes practiced Sunday morning for Monday night’s Memorial Cup semi-final against the Hamilton Bulldogs. And the mood was no longer brooding over having slipped a 3-0 lead after one period on Saturday night.
“During the post-match meal, it was important that she hurt,” said Renaud. We left the guys a little in their emotions and I felt that they were frustrated and disappointed, with good reason. We voluntarily left the group in this summer of spirit but, when we woke up this morning, we had a good team meeting. We just reframed things and I see the way they carry themselves, their intensity and the atmosphere in the locker room and on the ice and I have no doubt that the group is going to be ready tomorrow night. »
For the head coach, maybe Saturday’s loss wasn’t a bad thing after all.
“It’s as if it took us that to refocus. From what I have just seen of the group, I am convinced that we have learned the right lessons. »
Path error
What particularly detonated, Saturday at the Cataractes, is the collapse in the second period and their inability to regain their concentration thereafter. Since the start of the playoffs, the team had been able to weather some storms on several occasions and come back from behind in games.
“Yesterday was a major mental mistake, admitted Renaud. The good news is that we gave ourselves some leeway by making sure to play in the semi-finals. We will have learned good lessons and it will not happen tomorrow evening, ”he repeated.
Now they will face the Bulldogs, a team they defeated 3-2 in the preliminary round.
“We’ll have to play the same way,” said forward William Veillette, proud owner of a Longueuil Cup worthy of the name. They are a team with a lot of speed and we will have to arrive with the right state of mind. We will have to make sure we have a better start to the game but there is not a team that impresses us too much here, we are confident. »
Dube packed?
In practice on Sunday, the Cataractes withdrew forward Pierrick Dubé from the first wave of the power play in favor of Lorenzo Canonica. Like just about everyone else, Dubé had a tough game on Saturday and he’s had a goal and one assist in three games since the start of the competition.
“We wanted to try the experience and I liked what I saw during practice,” simply mentioned Renaud yesterday, refusing to elaborate further on whether it was just a past message. to his veteran or a prelude to what we were going to see tonight.