Like many teams in the QMJHL, the Rimouski Océanic have been playing games at a breakneck pace for some time and this week will not be accepted with four games in seven days which will be followed by four games in five days on the road the week next.
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“You have to live with this rhythm and take the matches at a time, even if some teams have less distance to cover than us. For example, we came back at 11 p.m. last night (Sunday) after making a round trip to Drummondville the same day (4-2 win). A 15 hour journey. Last week we had only one practice on Wednesday and it will be the same this week on Thursday. Two training sessions in eight days,” commented Océanic head coach Serge Beausoleil.
Young people progress
Despite the lack of training sessions, Serge Beausoleil believes that these young players are progressing. “A guy like Charles Côté played 5-6 minutes per game at the start of the season. He played 23 Sunday in Drummondville on our first pair of defenders with Simon Maltais. We said we wanted him to play more when we let Hinds and Biakabutuka go. Mathis Aguilar and Zachary Lessard also do very well on the ice. They are dirigible players who want to learn and good people”, illustrated the pilot known to be demanding with these players. “You have to be to strive for excellence. The guys are responding well and they are progressing.
The Sags are coming
Serge Beausoleil is not expecting an easy game on Tuesday as the Chicoutimi Saguenéens will be in Rimouski. “It’s a team that looks a lot like us, one of the hardest working teams in the league. It’s a team that is very rarely downgraded, a bit like ours. Our duels are always close.
This will already be the 7th meeting this year between the two teams. So far the Océanic have won four times against the Sags two, but it was Yannick Jean’s team that won the last match, a 4-3 victory in overtime on February 20 at the Saguenay. With the exception of a 6-1 win by the Océanic on November 21, all games ended with a difference of two goals or less.
In short
Even if the final decision was not made, Serge Beausoleil planned to give the net back to Gabriel Robert who was excellent on Sunday in Drummondville.
It’s Tuesday that we should know if forward Luka Verreault and defender Zachary Lessard will be able to return to action.