CHLTV GOTW preview: Titan vs. Olympiques, Oct. 29, 2022
The matchup
The QMJHL takes centre stage tonight as the Acadie-Bathurst Titan (4-9-1) and Gatineau Olympiques (7-5-2) battle in an inter-conference matchup in the CHLTV Game of the Week.
The host Titan enter tonight’s contest on a three-game losing streak although two of those losses came against the high-flying Mooseheads and Remparts.
Despite being tied for the second fewest wins in the QMJHL this season, the Titan’s 43 goals this season are tied for the third most in the Eastern Conference in large part due to Riley Kidney (MTL) and Jacob Melanson (SEA) who have each played at better than a point-per-game pace.
On the other side, their 64 goals against are the most in the QMJHL as they give up 4.57 goals per game.
Gatineau, who earned an honourable mention in Week 4 of the Kia CHL Top 10 rankings, sit fifth in the Eastern Conference also enter tonight’s tilt on a three-game losing streak after defeats to Blainville-Boisbriand, Saint John and Moncton. However, that comes on the heels of a six-game winning streak beforehand. Four of Gatineau’s five regulation defeats this year have come on the road.
The Olympiques are the seventh highest scoring team in the QMJHL this year with 45 goals and have been paced by Cole Cormier and Zach Dean (VGK) early on.
Zach Dean avec son 7e de la saison!
Zach Dean with his 7th of the season!#goOLgo♠️ pic.twitter.com/cBed1RT6KC
— Olympiques de Gatineau (@OlympiquesGAT) October 29, 2022
Gatineau continues to be without prized offseason acquisition Olivier Nadeau (BUF) who underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason and is expected to miss 4-6 months but welcomed the return of Noah Warren (ANA) who made his season debut last night.
Who to watch
Last season, Riley Kidney (MTL) became just the eighth different player in Titan history to reach 100 points in a season.
So far in 2022-23, he’s tracking towards doing it again. The 63rd overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft has five goals and 18 points in 13 games. His 189 points rank 10th all-time and he is just 11 points away from the 200 plateau in his career.
Kidney’s 57 shots this year rank third while his 160 faceoff wins place him in a three-way tie for the second most in the Q.
Kidney gets us on the board.
Kidney nous inscrit au pointage.#GoTitanGo pic.twitter.com/hZVyMcHIXS
— Titan Acadie-Bathurst (@ABTitan) October 5, 2022
On Gatineau’s side, d-man Isaac Belliveau (PIT) has been piling up the points from the blue line.
The 19-year-old has 12 points in 12 games, good for third most among QMJHL blueliners. His 39 shots are the fourth most among QMJHL d-men while half of his points this season have come on the power play. In last night’s tilt against Moncton, he appeared in his 100th QMJHL game with the Olympiques.
A season ago, Belliveau had career highs in goals (10), assists (28) and points (38) but looks well on his way to surpassing those totals with ease.
Stats leaders
Kidney’s 18 points are tied for the 11th most in the QMJHL as he leads the Titan in scoring. Melanson and Ben Allison each have 13 points thus far with Allison’s nine goals a team high.
Rookie defencemen Harry Clements leads Titan blueliners in points with seven (two goals) alongside sophomore Ty Higgins.
Ben Allison buries two dimes from Riley Kidney before a solo beauty completes the hatty! 🎩🎩🎩 @ABTitan pic.twitter.com/9yzeaUVVWa
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) October 19, 2022
Gatineau’s Cole Cormier is currently riding a 10-game point streak that has included eight goals and four assists. His 14 points leads the team alongside Dean who has played three fewer games.
Cormier’s 10 goals this year are tied for the fourth most in the QMJHL as are Belliveau’s 12 points among d-men.
Rookie netminder Tye Austin has enjoyed a successful start to his QMJHL career with a perfect 3-0-0 record that included a 24-save shutout Oct. 14 against Baie-Comeau.
Where to watch
Saturday’s contest can be seen live on CHL TV at 6pm ET / 3pm PT.
Available to fans from coast to coast, CHL TV is accessible on the CHL mobile app, in addition to Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire, and online at watch.chl.ca. Each year, CHL TV offers access to more than 2,000 regular-season games covering the CHL’s three Member Leagues and 60 markets across Canada and the United States. Fans can download the free CHL app via the App Store and Google Play.