Bring on the playoffs

By Peter Assaf – Acadie-Bathurst Titan forward Gabriel Lévesque couldn’t help but crack a smile when asked about scoring his 100th point of the season.
Levesque hit the century mark on March 4 with his 34th goal of the season, to cap off a five-point night, in an 8-1 win over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at the K. C. Irving Regional Centre in Bathurst.

“For sure I feel good about it,” said the 20-year-old Montreal native, who quickly turned the conversation to his team’s success.  “But we have a main goal and we need to stick with it, and that is to win a championship.”

Lévesque became just the second Quebec Major Junior Hockey League player to reach 100 points this season, and trails only Philip-Michaël Devos of the Gatineau Olympiques in the league’s overall scoring race.

With less than two weeks left in the regular season, the Titan look to be in a battle with Gatineau for fifth or sixth place in the league’s overall standings, although mathematically either team could still finish as high as fourth or as low as eighth.

Lévesque said it doesn’t matter who Acadie-Bathurst faces once the playoffs begin, as long as they are ready to bring their best game to the ice each night.

“I think for sure we can beat anybody,” he said.  “We have everything in this room to win it.  But there are always teams that have everything to win but when it is the moment to step up their game, their level of competition, they still have to step up and do it.  I don’t care who we play.  We need to (beat) everybody (to win it all).”

To successful in the post-season, Lévesque said the Titan need to come out fast and not let up.

“We have a lot of speed, we have guys like (David) Gilbert and (Jonathan) Lessard just flying out there, but I think we need to work on our consistency,” he explained.  “When we start to get a lead we take risks and they can come back.  We can’t give the momentum back to the other team.  We have to have the killer instinct.  If it is 5-1, don’t back off, keep going and put pressure but think defensively at the same time.”

The Titan have had their share of ups and downs this season, but Lévesque said those are the type of things that build character in a team.

“Sometimes those teams that go up and down during a season, with injuries and everything, forge their character,” he said.  “We’ve had good tests this year and I hope we’ll be ready for the playoffs.”

After spending his first three junior seasons in Rouyn-Noranda, where he scored 41 goals and added 97 assists in 185 games with the Huskies, Lévesque was traded to Acadie-Bathurst last June.  He admits the move has turned out to be a good one.

“I can’t say that it is not good for me,” he said.  “Here I am playing with seriously the two players I would choose to play with if I had the whole league to choose from.”

Those two players are linemates Sébastien Trudeau and rookie scoring leader Zach O’Brien.  Levesque credits both players for his success on the scoresheet this season.

“Those two players I am playing with are so amazing,” he said.  “I think we compliment each other the best we can.  Trudeau wins every battle one-on-one.  He’s physical…and he is a shooter, if you give him the puck he will score.  Zach is an all around great player.  He can do everything.  He sees the play and he can score.  Wow, I can’t have better linemates than that.”

“I wanted to beat my 82 points from last year for sure,” he continued.  “I knew I was able to…but I had to focus on the process instead of the results…doing all of the little details everyday.”

As a 20-year-old, Levesque knows he’ll need to find another place to play next season when his junior eligibility runs out.  He said he hasn’t made any decisions yet on where that might be.

“I really don’t know where I am going.  That is a big question mark,” he concluded.  “I want to keep playing hockey.  If it is pro hockey, it is pro hockey.  If it is university, it is university.  Whatever I can do I will do.  It is tough not to think about (next season), but right now it is just to stay focused on the playoffs and winning.  I don’t think about it too much, but in the playoffs maybe I will have the extra desire to do whatever it takes.”

PHOTO CREDIT – Acadie-Bathurst Titan