Lewiston takes on Rouyn-Noranda in Game 7
By Justin Pelletier
Staff Writer

ROUYN-NORANDA, Quebec – The Lewiston Maineiacs are like weary pilgrims in dire need of a long respite. But after logging 3,300 miles in 11 days, the Maineiacs’ mission still isn’t complete.

By the end of Game 6 Sunday afternoon in Lewiston, it was obvious that the Maineiacs and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies were worn out from long road trips. And that was before the hockey teams made another 660-mile overnight bus ride to hook up for Game 7 of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs Tuesday night at 7:30.

“The team that will work the hardest (on Tuesday) will be the favorite in the game,” Maineiacs coach Mario Durocher said. “We have more than 10 guys that were with the team last year in Game 7 of our first round win against Montreal (now P.E.I.), and those players know what it takes. We start from the beginning of the year talking about how important it is to be in shape, and this is when it pays off.”

The fact that the Maineiacs have come this far to begin with has turned some heads. At the beginning of the season, with a new location and a team under construction after trying to make a run at the President’s Cup last year, conventional wisdom and polls of league coaches placed the Maineiacs near the bottom of the league.

“When we went to the Memorial Cup in Victoriaville in 2001, nobody thought we had a chance then, either,” Durocher said of his past experience as the head coach of the Tigres. “We went all the way through the playoffs that year with people telling us we were not good enough. The big thing this year was to get the guys focused after such a bad start and make the believe that they could win hockey games. If they work hard, they can win a lot of hockey games.”

But a lot of hockey games is one thing. Game 7 of a playoff series is another, especially in the opponents’ rink.

“Their crowd will be their seventh player (Tuesday),” Durocher said. “There is no doubt, too, that goaltending is also a big part of a Game 7.”

Durocher stopped there, however, and did not reveal his choice of a starting goaltender, saving that announcement for game day.

But the story for the Maineiacs so far this series has been their defense. With a 2-1-2 forechecking scheme, a slight departure from the standard 1-2-2 he used during the regular season, Durocher managed to surprise the Huskies, and Lewiston put more than 50 shots on goal in each of the first four games.

But that also found the Maineiacs in a 3-1 hole.

“I think going back to the 1-2-2 has helped us defensively,” Durocher said. “We are getting fewer shots, but by creating the turnovers in the neutral zone, we are getting better quality shots, and that is what will matter.”

NOTES: Gabriel Balasescu skated in a private session on Monday and will skate in the morning skate and in warm-ups with the team on Tuesday. Whether or not he plays is a game-time decision…Richard Stehlik, meanwhile, will play, despite sitting for most of the game on Sunday with a strained groin. Stehlik was sitting more as a precautionary measure, with the game under control…Alexandre Picard has seven goals and four assists for 11 points in six playoff games, putting him in first place overall in the league. Teammates Alex Bourret (nine points) and Karl Fournier (eight points) are also among the league leaders. Dominic Deblois and Petr Preucil of Rouyn-Noranda lead the Huskies with nine and eight points, respectively.

jpelletier@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link