Last Wednesday morning, a gaggle of Maineiacs supporters loaded onto a bus for one of the longer day trips any of them had ever taken.
For the first time this season, billet families and fans were going on the road, en masse, with the Maineiacs. Their presence, despite a heartbreaking loss to the Remparts at the Pepsi Colisee, was well received.
Early in the game, as the Maineiacs built a 2-0 lead, sounds from chants, cheers and illegal noisemakers (shh, don’t tell) cascaded from the middle of the loge section of the former NHL arena. Shouts of “Go Maineiacs!” pierced the air as several Quebec fans looked on, puzzled by their presence.
As the game drew tighter, the chants and cheers changed to oohs and ahhs, and eventually to grumbles as Josh Hennessey single-handily thwarted the Maineiacs’ chances at a road win.
League roundup
Pascal Pelletier of the Shawinigan Cataractes is the offensive player of the week in the QMJHL. In five games, Pelletier scored six goals and had two assists for a total of eight points.
In an 8-5 win against Rouyn-Noranda on Dec. 27, Pelletier scored the winning goal, breaking the 5-5 tie in the third period. He also had an assist. The next day, in a 4-2 win against Val-d’Or, he had an assist on the goal which gave the Cataractes a 2-0 lead in the third period.
The Cataractes ended the month of December, 2003 with a seven-win and two-loss score sheet.
On Jan. 3, in a 4-3 win against the Oceanic in overtime in Rimouski, Pelletier had three goals, one of which came short-handed and another being the winning goal.
Other players nominated included Josh Hennessy, who scored three goals against the Maineiacs last week in Quebec for the Remparts, Stanislav Lascek of Chicoutimi and Pierre-Andre Bureau of P.E.I.
On defense, Loic Lacasse of Baie-Comeau garnered the league honor. In three games, Lacasse had two wins and a loss with a goals-against-average of 1.80 and a save percentage of .950.
Lacasse beat Quebec 2-1 and Rimouski 6-2, and had mop-up duty in the Dec. 27 game against Lewiston, stopping seven shots.
Lacasse beat out Martin Houle of Cape Breton, James Sanford of Moncton and Jason Churchill of Halifax.
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