The Olympiques lose an emotional game
Gatineau – The Gatineau Olympiques hosted the Rimouski Oceanic on Saturday at the Slush Puppie Centre. A ceremony was held before the game to honor the memory of Creed Jones, the former goaltender for both teams, who died in a road accident on August 3.
A career first for #91
In the first period, the Olympiques wasted no time. Justin Boisselle won a face-off in opposition territory and passed to Simon-Xavier Cyr (1st), who fired a shot that found the back of the net after a few bounces. It was the 16-year-old’s first career QMJHL goal. However, Zach Pelletier fumbled the disc behind his net moments later and Jacob Mathieu replied for Rimouski. Before the end of the first third, Pavel Simek found himself alone in front of Pelletier, giving the visitors the lead. The Olympiques went into the locker room with a one-goal deficit.
Two goals in 16 seconds give Gatineau the lead
In the second period, the Olympiques were once again quick to knock on the door. Jérémie Minville (3rd) unleashes a power-play slap shot past William Lacelle to tie the game. The Océanic then regained the lead, but Gatineau’s Lukas Landry (1st) took advantage of a timely leap and scored his first in an Olympiques uniform. 16 seconds later, Justin Dumais (1st) redirected rookie Maxim Dubé’s pass into the back of the net, giving his team their first lead of the game. Each team then gets a one-man advantage, but Gatineau leaves the period with the lead.
The Olympiques have no answer to the visitors’ attack
In the third period, Jacob Mathieu scored back-to-back goals to complete the hat trick in his first game of the campaign. Olivier Théberge then scored his second of the game with a shot that beat Pelletier between the pads. This sixth goal put an end to #40’s game, as Kian Hodgins stepped up in front of the home goal. Maxim Coursol then confirmed his side’s victory in a gaping cage. The Olympiques lose 7-4.
Rookie Simon-Xavier Cyr scored his first goal of his young junior career.
“He’s a solid guy for us,” says head coach Alexis Loiseau. “I’m happy for him. He’s a guy who’s already very responsible. Offensively, I think there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”
The Olympiques and Océanic held a ceremony to pay tribute to Creed Jones before the game.
“It was extremely touching,” confides Loiseau. “It’s something quite capoté what happened. My heart goes out to his family and friends. He’s a guy I knew for a year in Rimouski. He was an extraordinary kid, a good person. It’s incredibly sad what’s happened.
The Olympiques will be back in action on Friday, October 4, at Glencore Arena against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
Text by Philippe Villeneuve.
