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PHOTO & SLIDESHOW GALLERIES
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| Last updated at 8:43 AM on 10/02/08 |
Fog Devils fall into Drakkar's trap 
QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE Close, but possibly costly loss for St. John's
BRENDAN MCCARTHY
The Telegram
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| T.J. Brennan(left of the St. John's Fog Devils chases down a puck with Pierre-Luc Lessard of the Baie Comeau Drakkar at Mile One stadium Saturday during QMJHL action.— Photo by Keith Gosse/The Telegram |
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Their making waves, but treading water. The St. John's Fog Devils, who have made a recent habit of giving the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's top teams all they can handle, did so again in the last couple of days at Mile One Centre, earning a split with the league-leading Baie-Comeau Drakkar in a pair of one-goal games - a 4-3 overtime victory Friday followed by a 2-1 loss Saturday.
Their weekend performance against the Drakkar contributed to the Fog Devils' growing reputation of being a club that's much better than its win-loss record.
Since Christmas, St. John's has gone 11-7-1, including 6-4 in games against the Saint John Sea Dogs, Halifax Mooseheads and Baie Comeau, arguably three of the league's top four clubs.
Still, for all they may have accomplished, the Foggies have had the darndest time advancing for playoff position in the East Division.
"It seems that every time we win, the teams ahead of us get points and when they lose, so do we," said St. John's head coach/general manager Real Paiement as he checked the league website for scores after the Saturday's game.
"P.E.I. beat Lewiston (4-3), which helps us, but we didn't help ourselves tonight. That's the way it seems to be lately."
The loss to Baie Comeau, combined with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan's 10-6 win over the Halifax Mooseheads in a Saturday shootout, leaves St. John's in sixth place in the East.
The Fog Devils are two points behind the suddenly-hot Titan and eight in arrears of the Lewiston Maineiacs, who hold fourth place and - if the regular season ended today - the last available home-ice advantage berth for the first round of the playoffs. St. John's is six points in front of the P.E.I. Rocket, their opponents this coming weekend at Mile One.
Good start
After beating the Drakkar (38-14-6) on Phil Mangan's overtime goal Friday night, the Fog Devils (26-26-5) got off to a good start Saturday, opening the scoring 13 minutes into the contest on a power-play goal by T. J. Brennan as St. John's held a two-man advantage.
But while the opening period Saturday was indicative of the up-tempo play of Friday's contest - one of the most entertaining QMJHL games ever played at Mile One - the pace changed considerably over the remainder of the contest.
"They (the Drakkar) started playing a 1-2-2 trap and we bought into it... we went along with it, instead of doing what we had to do," said Paiement.
Baie Comeau's offence is largely based on taking advantage of opposition mistakes and that certainly was the case with both Drakkar goals Saturday.
The visitors' first marker came 5:23 into the second when Gabriel Bourque got behind the Fog Devils' defence, took a beautiful stretch pass from defenceman J.P. Paquet and beat St. John's goaltender Timo Pielmeier.
Giveaway
The game-winning goal came midway through the third when Pielmeier's attempt to play the puck behind the goal-line went off the net and onto the stick of the Drakkar's Alexandre Boivon.
Before you could say 'oops,' the puck came back out in front through a jumble of players right to Baie Comeau's Samuel Morneau, who scored into an empty cage.
The injustice of it all is that Pielmeier was the Fog Devils' best player Saturday, having made a number of spectacular saves,particularly in the second period, when he denied NHL draft picks Matt Marquardt and Benjamin Breault of what looked to be sure-fire goals from the slot.
And Pielmeier says what happened on the Morneau goal won't change his inclination when it comes to playing the puck, seen as one of his strengths.
"I'm here to learn and that (puckhandling) is part of it," said Pielmeier. "Of course, I don't want that goal to happen, especially when we lost the game, but I think I must also remember that I made some saves that kept us in the game, too.
"I didn't have a great game (Friday) and we won. I was better tonight I think and we lost."
Last chance
After the go-ahead goal, the Fog Devils didn't generate much in the way of scoring chances, the best perhaps coming in the last minute, with Pielmeier on the bench for an extra attacker.
The puck got fed through the Drakkar crease, but Mangan, caught up in a goal-mouth scramble, wasn't able to get his stick on it for a tap-in chance.
Whatever chagrin the veteran centre might have felt about a missed opportunity on that play, only added to agitation about a missed opportunity in the game as a whole.
"I have to say I'm pretty pissed off right now. This should of been a statement game for us, but that's not how we've played," said Mangan, who makes it clear that the Fog Devils may be a team with a run-of-the-mill record, but shouldn't be one that accepts run-of-the mill performances.
"This was a chance to make a statement with two wins over the league's top teams, and the way we played most of tonight, you have to say we let it slip by."
bmcc@thetelegram.com
NOTES
Saturday's game was delayed for a considerable time when, just over 13 minutes into the second period, referee Nicolas Dutil was hit in the face by a shot that deflected off Fog Devils' rookie forward Chris Thorne. While Dutil went for medical treatment, the decision was made to send the teams to the dressing room. The remaining time in the middle frame was effectively added to the third period, with a short break after the 40-minute mark. Dutil, who required about a dozen stitches to close a gash to his cheek, worked the remainder of the contest, although was said to be undergoing further tests post-game to determine if he may have fractured his jaw ... Fog Devils' forward Matt Boland took a nasty tumble into the boards during the second period when - in spectacular fashion - he missed a check on Baie Comeau's Maxime Ouimet. Boland had to be helped from the ice, but was back on the bench at the start of the extended third period. He says he suffered a charleyhorse ... It was a wild game in Halifax Saturday as the Mooseheads and Titan combined for 16 goals, seven of them coming in an 8:16 span in the first period. Halifax made four goalie changes, switching off between starter Pier-Olivier Pelletier and St.John's native Mark Yetman. Meanwhile, Acadie-Bathurst won it's fifth game in five starts this month, each time with Labrador City native Nicolas Champion between the pipes ... And still with Newfoundland goalies: Ryan Mior of St. John's set a QMJHL record with his 14th career shutout Saturday as the Gatineau Olympiques blanked the Quebec Remparts 3-0 ... Attendance for the weekend games at Mile One kept the the Fog Devils right around their 3,375 season average - 3,457 Friday, followed by 3,240 Saturday...
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10/02/08
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Dennis Rice from St. Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador writes: Their making waves?
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| Posted 12/02/2008 at 4:52 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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