The Olympiques keep on rising

GATINEAU – The Olympiques hosted the Armada de Blainville-Boisbriand on Saturday evening at the Slush Puppie Centre. The home team scored four goals in the first third and easily gained two more points in the playoff race, as Serge Beausoleil’s troupe defeated their division rival 7-2.

Gaudio makes the hats fly

Just 25 seconds into the game, Alexander Gaudio (16th) opened the scoring by slipping the disc between Édouard Gauthier’s pads. Thomas Chafe (7th) added another moments later to give his side an early two-goal lead. Alexander Gaudio (17th and 18th) then scored twice in just 5 minutes. The hats are off for number 45 of the Olympiques, who have a four-goal lead. Jérémie Minville is ejected from the game moments later for giving a knee. The Armada are awarded a five-minute power play, the first two of which are five-on-three. Justin Carbonneau then scored two goals in 17 seconds during this one-goal, two-man advantage. The gap is reduced to just two goals as the teams head back to the locker room.

A quieter second twenty

After a festival of goals in the first third, the game calmed down in the second. Sander Wold (9th) was the only scorer of the period, scoring while short-handed. The Olympiques end the period with a comfortable three-goal lead.

Gatineau welcomes Derik Brouillard

In the third period, Justin Dumais (7th) added to his team’s 7-2 lead. Following Dumais’ goal, Édouard Gauthier was replaced by Derik Brouillard. Gauthier has allowed several goals between the pads that he would like to see again, and Mathieu Turcotte, his head coach, decides to withdraw him. It’s a first for Derik Brouillard, goaltender for the Saint-Eustache Vikings in the M18AAA, who concedes a goal on only his second shot, when Émile Dubois (2nd) takes advantage of a loose puck in front of the net. A few skirmishes and some solid checking followed, but the Olympiques won the game 7-2.

Zach Pelletier was removed from the game after allowing two goals in 17 seconds. However, after a short discussion with Serge Beausoleil, Pelletier returned to the front of the net, without Kian Hodgins seeing a single second of play.

“Zach was surprised on the first shot and the second came quickly too,” says head coach Serge Beausoleil. “I wanted to tell him to go back in the net and that it was okay. He did very well afterwards.

Indeed, Zach Pelletier didn’t allow any further goals afterwards, playing his second game in as many days.

“Sometimes, young people just need to know that we believe in them,” adds the Olympiques’ pilot.

The Olympiques’ next game is on Friday (March 8) against the Québec Remparts at Centre Vidéotron.

Text by Philippe Villeneuve