Huskies ruin the party at Centre Slush Puppie

GATINEAU – The Olympiques were visited by the Huskies for the inaugural game of the 2024-25 season on Friday evening at the Slush Puppie Centre. Despite a fiery atmosphere in front of a near-capacity crowd, the Olympiques were defeated 5-3.

Hungry Huskies

In the first period, it was the visitors who opened the scoring. Charles-Éric Tremblay took advantage of a loose puck to score his team’s first. Lars Steiner then doubled his team’s lead on the power play, just before adding a third for his team with a powerful shot under the horizontal bar, ending the night’s work for Kian Hodgins, replaced by rookie Caleb Shuker.

A Gatineau push

Jérémie Minville (1st) , unleashed a powerful slap shot into the back of the net to put his team on the scoreboard on the power play in the second period. Moments later, Gabriel Séguin (1st) grabbed a loose puck and cut the lead to a single goal. However, the Huskies had not said their last word, as Ty Higgins and Alexis Lemire scored back-to-back goals. The Olympiques retreated to the locker room with a three-goal deficit after 40 minutes.

In the third period, the two teams traded scoring opportunities, but it was their respective goalies who had the last word. Samuel Meloche frustrated the Olympiques on numerous occasions, while Shuker keep his team alive at the other end of the rink. A glimmer of hope with less than five minutes to go, as Lukas Landry spotted Emeric Gaudet (1), who redirected the puck and cut the gap to two goals.

Despite the attempts, Alexis Loiseau’s men had to concede defeat. Kian Hodgins’ evening was certainly shorter than expected. The head coach stressed that the team needed a change of scenery. “It was certainly a way of changing the momentum. There are one or two goals he could have stopped, but we didn’t really help him in the first period. It was more a decision to try and whip up the troops”.

The man who was directing a first regular-season game in Gatineau was keen to emphasize the atmosphere and energy that reigned at the Slush Puppie Centre. ”It’s an impressive crowd. I think that in the long term, it will be very beneficial for us. We’re lucky to have fans like this. We’d certainly have liked to give them a better show tonight, but we’ll have a chance to get back on track very soon.

The Olympiques will hit the road for Drummondville this Sunday (September 22) when they visit the Voltigeurs at Centre Marcel-Dionne starting at 4 p.m.

*By Philippe Villeneuve