The Phoenix gets bounced in the opening round

An overtime goal by Charlottetown’s Spenser Cobbold in Game 6 clinched a quarterfinal series win for the Islanders over the Sherbrooke Phoenix. That marked the first time Charlottetown has reached the second round since 2004, while Sherbrooke will have to wait another year before their first series victory in their franchise’s young history.

“It certainly wasn’t the scenario we imagined before the playoffs began. I don’t think we were opportunistic enough on the chances we had,” explained Phoenix head coach Judes Vallee after his team’s tough 4-3 overtime loss which ended their season. “We just couldn’t put the puck in, especially tonight when we could’ve made it 3-1. I’m still really proud of my guys because the goal we set out was to battle until the very end and we did that.”

With the series tied 1-1 after the two games in Sherbrooke, the Phoenix then made the trek to Charlottetown for the next three games. Overpowered physically at times, Sherbrooke was unable to get anything really going on the power-play, scoring six goals over their 36 opportunities.

“That was really disappointing. I don’t even have words to describe just how much,” grumbled Carl Neill. “We just couldn’t capitalize. Their goalie was good but we didn’t do enough to beat this team.”

“It was quite the battle, but we didn’t play a good game tonight and it wasn’t enough,” said Daniel Audette who put up six points in six games in a losing effort for the Phoenix. “We had some highs and some lows in this series. We were in it until the very end and we proved that we could battle through adversity. It’s disappointing that things ended up the way they did tonight.”

The more experienced Islanders

The Islanders made a statement to start this series by winning the opening contest in resounding fashion with an 8-2 victory. The imposing size of Charlottetown’s forwards really took its toll on the Phoenix who were also trumped in the experience department. Something their GM saw first-hand.

“This season was part of a learning process for us and we didn’t reach the point we were hoping to,” admitted Patrick Charbonneau. “We did have 12-13 players who got their first taste of playoff hockey in this league. It’s often said that you must learn to lose before learning to win. We were hoping for a better fate, but we did face a strong team. I found we defended well against a good club. They had three solid lines with more experience than us and that made the difference in the end.”

The brilliant play of young goalie Daryl MacCallum really stood out in this series. Despite getting his first taste of QMJHL playoff action at only 18 years old to boot, the Charlottetown native was impressive. In relief of starter Mason MacDonald who injured his leg in the Game 3, MacCallum was lights out. With a 1.70 goals against average and a .952 save percentage, he certainly made a name for himself in this series. At the other end of the ice, Alex Bureau and rookie Evan Fitzpatrick both saw action in this series, but fell short.

“I was satisfied with their play in this series. When you look at those first three games, of course we would’ve want things to go differently. We weren’t opportunistic enough and they’re not the ones who score goals. They are two goalies with limited playoff experience, and I think it’s just a question of time for them and they gained some valuable experience,” summed up Vallee on his goalie tandem.

Without using injuries as an excuse, the Phoenix did reveal following the series that several of their players were playing through some tough injuries. That was the case for defencemen Carl Neill, Jeremy Roy and Aaron Hoyles who all played through pain. When you throw in Alexis Vanier’s shoulder injury and you get a sense of how banged up a blue line the Phoenix skated out onto the ice each night.

The Phoenix will in the coming days hold their season postmortem on their season and it is likely going be far more positive than negative. The coaching staff has already been collectively extended through the end of the 2017 season, meaning everyone can rest easily in preparation for the biggest season in the young franchise’s history. The once-young roster will be growing into maturity following a few years of hard work, which means than 12 months from now, a first-round playoff exit will not be an option.