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Boland, Picco and Oceanic get back in QMJHL final
That excitement ultimately led to pure joy for the St. John’s native and his Rimouski teammate from Marystown, big defenceman Andrew Picco, as the Océanic won the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship and the President’s Cup with a 2-1 decision over the Quebec Remparts. It was Rimouski’s first league title since 2005, and third championship in franchise history.
Not only did the Océanic win it in Game 7, the game went to double overtime before Michael Joly sealed the deal.
“When you’re young and your growing up and playing hockey — any sport, really — you pretend and dream of these moments,” Boland said. “So really, you live for these moments. As a hockey player, there is nowhere else you’d rather be.”
While it was seventh heaven for Boland and Picco, it was anything but for the four Newfoundlanders on the Remparts. Team captain Kurt Etchegary of St. John’s starred for Quebec, finishing tied for second in team scoring with 26 points (good for third overall in the Q-league playoffs). Marcus Cuomo of St. John’s appeared in seven games in the playoffs and rookie Jesse Sutton of Mount Pearl made two post-season starts. Defenceman Cody Donaghey of St. John’s missed the series with a knee injury, which will also sideline him for the Memorial Cup.
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Etchegary’s doing it all for Remparts
Both the Océanic and Remparts will play in Canada’s junior hockey championship, as Quebec City is playing host to the event which starts May 22.
Boland didn’t pick up any points in the seven-game final. He started out as the third-line centre, but showed enough to Serge Beausoleil that the Rimouski coach moved the Gonzaga high school graduate into second-line duty in Games 6 and 7.
“You probably couldn’t help but feel a little nervous with the game going into overtime, but Coach did a good job keeping us into the present,” said Boland, who registered three goals and four assists in 14 post-season games. “He basically said if you think about making mistakes, you’re going to make one.
“So we focused on simple, basic hockey.”
The win makes it all worth it for Boland, who gritted it out and went to the predominantly-French Rimouski, a city at which some English-speaking hockey players snub their nose.
It didn’t make it any easier in that his billet roommates were a Czech and, this year, a Russian.
“There were four languages going on in the house,” he said. “It was tough at first... people have no idea. It’s like living in a different country. The culture is different, everything.
“But you know what? I don’t regret anything. Nothing. It’s been an amazing experience. The town’s slogan is “Rimouski is hockey” and that’s pretty cool. We’re the team of the region here. They drive an hour, an hour-and-a-half to see our games.”
Boland had words of praise for Picco, who got fourth- and fifth-defenceman minutes in 18 playoffs starts (one goal and one assist).
“He played a real, good shutdown game,” Boland said. “And against a team like Quebec, that’s tough. But he was strong throughout. To have success in the playoffs, you need big, strong D-men like Andrew.”
Related story
Boland, Picco and Oceanic get back in QMJHL final
That excitement ultimately led to pure joy for the St. John’s native and his Rimouski teammate from Marystown, big defenceman Andrew Picco, as the Océanic won the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship and the President’s Cup with a 2-1 decision over the Quebec Remparts. It was Rimouski’s first league title since 2005, and third championship in franchise history.
Not only did the Océanic win it in Game 7, the game went to double overtime before Michael Joly sealed the deal.
“When you’re young and your growing up and playing hockey — any sport, really — you pretend and dream of these moments,” Boland said. “So really, you live for these moments. As a hockey player, there is nowhere else you’d rather be.”
While it was seventh heaven for Boland and Picco, it was anything but for the four Newfoundlanders on the Remparts. Team captain Kurt Etchegary of St. John’s starred for Quebec, finishing tied for second in team scoring with 26 points (good for third overall in the Q-league playoffs). Marcus Cuomo of St. John’s appeared in seven games in the playoffs and rookie Jesse Sutton of Mount Pearl made two post-season starts. Defenceman Cody Donaghey of St. John’s missed the series with a knee injury, which will also sideline him for the Memorial Cup.
Related story
Etchegary’s doing it all for Remparts
Both the Océanic and Remparts will play in Canada’s junior hockey championship, as Quebec City is playing host to the event which starts May 22.
Boland didn’t pick up any points in the seven-game final. He started out as the third-line centre, but showed enough to Serge Beausoleil that the Rimouski coach moved the Gonzaga high school graduate into second-line duty in Games 6 and 7.
“You probably couldn’t help but feel a little nervous with the game going into overtime, but Coach did a good job keeping us into the present,” said Boland, who registered three goals and four assists in 14 post-season games. “He basically said if you think about making mistakes, you’re going to make one.
“So we focused on simple, basic hockey.”
The win makes it all worth it for Boland, who gritted it out and went to the predominantly-French Rimouski, a city at which some English-speaking hockey players snub their nose.
It didn’t make it any easier in that his billet roommates were a Czech and, this year, a Russian.
“There were four languages going on in the house,” he said. “It was tough at first... people have no idea. It’s like living in a different country. The culture is different, everything.
“But you know what? I don’t regret anything. Nothing. It’s been an amazing experience. The town’s slogan is “Rimouski is hockey” and that’s pretty cool. We’re the team of the region here. They drive an hour, an hour-and-a-half to see our games.”
Boland had words of praise for Picco, who got fourth- and fifth-defenceman minutes in 18 playoffs starts (one goal and one assist).
“He played a real, good shutdown game,” Boland said. “And against a team like Quebec, that’s tough. But he was strong throughout. To have success in the playoffs, you need big, strong D-men like Andrew.”
