Remparts and Océanic have score to settle
It was a week ago Sunday that the Rimouski Océanic overcame a 4-1 deficit in Game 6 of the President Cup Finals at the Colisée, stunning the Remparts who were up 3-2 in the series to roar back for a 5-4 victory to push a Game 7 in Rimouski.
The Océanic took a 2-1 victory on home ice in Game 7, getting 47 saves from Philippe Desrosiers as Michael Joly scored the double overtime winner to give Rimouski their first President Cup crown since 2005.
Tonight, the Remparts have a shot at redemption with Rimouski on the ropes. A Québec win would send the Océanic home with an 0-3 record, advancing themselves to a semi-final matchup with the Kelowna Rockets on Thursday.
A win for Rimouski would mean a tie-break rematch on Thursday between the two clubs. The Océanic would need to win by an eight goal margin to surpass the tie-break scenario and advance directly to the semi-finals. An Océanic win would also put three teams at 1-2 to conclude the round robin, something that has never occurred in MasterCard Memorial Cup history.
For Rimouski, a strong goaltending performance is desperately needed in front of what’s sure to be a capacity crowd at the Colisée for ‘Game 8’ between the two clubs.
“We should admit that our two goaltenders can be better,” said Rimouski coach Serge Beausoleil, who hadn’t announced whether he’d be turning to Philippe Desrosiers or Louis-Philip Guindon as of Tuesday. “It’s not entirely their fault, it’s not just one guy. We lost as a team. We all can play better.”
Despite the advantage of last change as the home team on Wednesday, the Océanic know they’ll have the pro-Remparts crowd, taking in one of the final games of their beloved team in the confines of the Colisée, against them.
“I know Québec’s fans want to see the Remparts in the final and that’s normal,” added Beausoleil. “We care. we like to play in front of a big, noisy crowd.”
So do the Remparts.
“I like the focus we showed in our morning skate,” said coach Phillipe Boucher, who was the general manager in Rimouski from 2011-2013, playing a role in the development of such talent as Samuel Morin and Frédérik Gauthier.”The guys know what’s at stake and what this game means and who we’re playing against.”
The Remparts remember very well what happened in the QMJHL finals, but Boucher says revenge won’t be the first thing on their mind.
“I think if we focus solely on revenge we’ll be missing out on what’s important here. We want to advance to the next stage of this event and that’s what we’re looking at.”
The puck drops at 7:30pm ET on ‘Game 8.’ Tune in on Sportsnet and TVA Sports and listen live on Sportsnet 590 The FAN online.
