B4

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

Last year

3rd: 16-8-4 for 36 points.

Beat UPEI 2-1 in AUS quarter-final; lost 3-1 to Saint Mary's in AUS semifinal.

Who's Gone

Defencemen: Billy Bezeau (4-14-18) decided to play in Europe. Christian Brideau (0-5-5) was reliable in his own end as a shutdown defender.

Forwards: Faceoff ace Nicolas Laplante (10-12-22 in 17 GP) and Remi Doucet (7-18-25) were proven pointgetters and had a presence as four-year veterans.

Who's Back

Goaltenders: Second-team All-Canadian and AUS first-team all-star Kevin Lachance (11-7-0, 3.13 GAA and .910 save pct. in 1,034 minutes) returns for his fifth season. Pierre-Alexandre Marion (5-5-0, 3.20 GAA and .895 save pct. in 675 minutes) is back as backup.

Defencemen: Stay-at-home blueliner Christian Brideau, who didn't play last season, returns for a fifth year. Mathieu Labrie (3-4-7), CIS/AUS all-rookie team blueliner and AUS second-team all-star Jean-Philippe Paquet (2-19-21), Jules Melanson (3-2-5 in 24 GP), Mathieu Richard (5-2-7).

Forwards: Mathieu Betournay returns for a fifth year after sitting out last season. He collected 79 points in 109 regular-season games in his first four seasons and could reunite with current captain Pierre-Andre Bureau, who was the team's leading pointgetter (14-19-33) and AUS second-team all-star. Also back are Ian Girard (10-20-30), AUS all-rookie team forward Dean Ouellet (7-23-30), Remi Gautreau (10-9-19), improving Francis Marchand (10-6-16), Charles Bergeron (2-10-12), underrated Guillaume Parenteau (7-4-11), Marc-Andre Cote (3-7-10), Alexandre Soucy (3-4-7 in 24 GP), Francis Rochon (1-1-2 in 6 GP), Pier-Alexandre Poulin (1-0-1 in 7 GP), Patrick Lockyer (0-1-1 in 12 GP).

Who's New

Head coach: Serge Bourgeois replaces Bob Mongrain as head coach after serving as assistant for the last three of Mongrain's four years at the helm.

Defencemen: Mathieu Bolduc, Christophe Rodrigue and Mathieu LeBlanc. The latter two are seventh and eighth on the depth chart. Bolduc, though, is a five-year QMJHL veteran. He had 9-23-32 and 111 PIM in 70 GP for Chicoutimi Sagueneens two years ago and 1-2-3 in 22 GP for Shawinigan Cataractes last season. "He was a defensive defenceman in the Q," Bourgeois said. "I'm not saying he can be a Bobby Orr, but I see some offensive potential in him." Rodrigue was with the Quebec junior A College Champlain Cougars for three seasons, where he had 4-19-23 in 46 GP two years ago, and had 2-8-10 in 18 GP for the Maritime junior A Dieppe Commandos last season. LeBlanc was in the MJAHL for parts of six seasons. He had 0-12-12 and 63 PIM in 35 GP for Dieppe last season.

Forwards: Bruno-Pierre Gosselin was with the MJAHL's Woodstock Slammers last season, where he had 25-28-53 in 44 GP. The six-foot-three, 200-pound winger had 97 points, including 44 goals, in 93 games over two seasons for La Ronge Ice Wolves in the Saskatchewan junior A hockey league. Two-way standout Jean-Phillip Chabot would have been an impact addition, but he opted for the ECHL. Chabot played four seasons in the QMJHL, highlighted by 52 goals in 89 regular season playoff games for Gatineau two years ago and 33-43-76 in 67 GP for the Olympiques last season.

Enemy Lines

"Chabot would have been as big an addition as any forward in the league." ... "Bolduc can play." ... "Moncton's best 'recruit' is Betournay." ... "I expect a big year out of Ouellet." ... "They're OK, but not the team they were a few years back. They're still a good team, but they're beatable." ... "Chabot was a huge loss." ... "Bolduc will be as good as any defenceman coming into our league."

In A Nutshell

Many of the players weren't warm and fuzzy towards head coach Bob Mongrain, so his departure could be addition by subtraction. But Mathieu Bolduc is regarded as UdeM's only impact recruit and that might not be good enough to remain in the top four, especially if les Aigles Bleus are only a .500 team (6-6-2) on the road again. Still a tough opponent, particularly at home. They won't be 16-8-4 again, but have enough team speed and depth from the blueline in to be in the playoff mix.