He’s done it again.

For the second time in three months, Jonathan Paiement of the Lewiston Maineiacs was named QMJHL Defensive Player of the Month.

Paiement, a Montreal native, played in all 12 games in January, recording two goals and 15 assists. He was also a plus-11, and currently leads the league in scoring by a defenseman with 58 points.

Paiement joins Sidney Crosby as the only player to receive a player of the month award twice in the same category this season. Crosby has two offensive awards and two rookie awards.

Pascal Pelletier of Shawinigan was the Offensive Player of the Month for January, scoring 12 goals and adding seven assists for the Cataractes in 13 games.

Stanislav Lascek garnered the Rookie of the Month honors, scoring 10 goals and adding nine assists for Chicoutimi. Lascek just barely nipped Crosby, who also had 10 goals and nine assists.

League notes

• Cape Breton is stingy, and may have the records to prove it.

The Screaming Eagles are poised to break several defensive records in the QMJHL, including shutouts in one year (the mark is seven, they currently have five), goals allowed in a year (they currently have 127, the record is 182) and team goals against average (they currently post a 2.30, the record is 2.67).

With the return of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, the Eagles have their sights set not only on records, but on a Memorial Cup.

• While Cape Breton is moving toward defensive records, a recent Hockey News article said that offense, in fact, rules the league.

According to the magazine, the QMJHL averages 6.70 goals per game. The other leagues and their numbers: OHL (6.20), ECHL (6.03), NCAA (5.94), WHL (5.72), AHL (5.05) and NHL (4.98).

• Phillippe Dupuis of Gatineau was named Offensive Player of the Week. The forward had four goals and seven assists in three games, with a differential of plus-5. On defense, Josh Tordjman garnered Player of the Week honors with two wins in two games. In those Victoriaville victories, Tordjman had a 1.00 goals-against average and a .975 save percentage.

jpelletier@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link