A clear victory for the Olympiques

GATINEAU – The Olympiques hosted the Foreurs de Val d’Or on Friday evening at the Slush Puppie Centre. Serge Beausoleil’s squad didn’t miss the opportunity to earn two important points against the team occupying last place in the QMJHL overall standings, as five Olympiques players had multiple-point performances in a 7-1 victory for the hosts.

Gatineau takes a three-goal lead

The Olympiques dominate the Foreurs in the first third of play. Jérémie Dumas-Larouche (2nd) opened the scoring with a point shot that beat William Blackburn. Félix Ouellet (3rd) then deflected Nolan Ling’s shot into the back of the net. Charles-Antoine Pilote, formerly of the Olympiques, causes a dangerous turnover behind his net to allow Charles Boutin to pass the disc to Jérémie Minville (37th), who scores his 100th career QMJHL point. It was a 3rd goal on 10 shots on net for the hosts, while the Foreurs directed only 4 shots at Zach Pelletier.

Locals double their lead

In the second period, the Olympiques rattled the strings 3 times in under 7 minutes. Sander Wold (8th) completes a perfect pass from Nathan Lévesque in front of the net. Charles Boutin (19th) sends the disc onto the skate of the Foreurs defender, which bounces over Blackburn’s shoulder. That made it 5-0 in favor of the hosts, with Mathis Lussier replacing William Blackburn. Lussier’s departure was not all plain sailing, as a puck rolling off the goalie’s back fell onto the ice and was pushed by Nathan Lévesque (21st). The Olympiques went into the locker room with a 6-0 lead.

Minville scores his 38th in the win

In the third period, Jérémie Minville (38th) fired a powerful wrist shot on the power play for his second of the game and seventh for his team. Finally, Zach Pelletier’s chance of a shutout ended when Alexandre Guy deflected a shot into the back of the net. A skirmish saw Justin Blais and Fredéric Potvin sent off for misconduct. In the end, the Olympiques win the game 7-1 against the last team in the QMJHL standings.

Jérémie Minville reached the 100-point plateau in his QMJHL career with his first goal of the night, while coming within two goals of the 40-point plateau this season.

“It’s fun to reach 40 goals. I try to score to help the team, and today it worked,” says Jérémie Minville.

Only 8 games remain in the Olympiques’ season. If the playoffs were to start now, the Olympiques would face the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

“We’re going to play Rouyn-Noranda twice more between now and the end of the year. We want to send out messages and show that we’re capable of keeping them if we face them in the first round,” says Minville.

The Foreurs only directed 16 shots at Zach Pelletier in the game. Head coach Serge Beausoleil was pleased with his team’s defensive play.

“The zone exits were on point. There was great chemistry between the guys and the transitions were solid,” Beausoleil points out.

The Olympiques’ next game is on Saturday, March 2 at 4 p.m. against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

Text by Philippe Villeneuve