Cataractes shocked, bow out early

SHAWINIGAN, QC – The Cataractes finished fifth overall this season despite being predicted by most experts to be a middle-of-the-pack team. On Tuesday night, they provided the most exciting action at the Centre Gervais Auto in Shawinigan since the 2012 Memorial Cup, but fell short in the end leading to many long faces in the dressing room after the game.

The Halifax Mooseheads caused a bit of a surprise by eliminating the Cataractes in seven games. The 4,031 noisy fans in attendance marked one their biggest crowds in recent seasons on the edge of their seats all the way through overtime.

In the end, the Mooseheads’ Nikolaj Ehlers sealed the Cataractes’ fate. The Danish sniper also set up Philippe Gadoury’s goal that forced the extra frame late in the third.

“There are no words that comfort our players right now. They were extremely committed all season and through this series. This is a defeat that is tough to swallow,” said Shawinigan head coach Martin Bernard.

His counterpart Dominic Ducharme was quick to salute his team’s worthy opponents who battled through a highly emotional series.

“We just played the best playoff series I’ve ever been involved with in my career. Neither team deserved to lose this series, but that’s hockey,” explained Ducharme, especially citing the great play of Marvin Cüpper who was exceptional once again.

The German netminder made 45 saves in a losing cause for Shawinigan.

“I can’t even describe how I feel right now. We had our chances to win this series. I don’t know what’s ahead for me in the coming months, but it’s the end of a great adventure for me in the QMJHL. I really appreciate all the opportunity afforded to me by the Cataractes three years ago. I’m proud of what I accomplished,” said the emotional 20-year-old goalie.

Leaving his mark

Without winning a championship, Cüpper still managed to make Cataractes’ history. Despite facing his share of rubber over the past three seasons, he gave his team a chance to win night in and night out.

“Shawinigan will remember Marvin for a long time. He’s an absolute warrior and a true professional. He’s left behind an incredible legacy for this young team,” lauded Bernard.

Over his five seasons in the QMJHL, Christophe Lalonde saw his share of goalies, but Cüpper was by far the best he’s ever been around.

“It sounds funny to say, but I’m almost happy I was traded this year just because I got the chance to practice with him. He’s amazing. We don’t hear enough about him. I think he really deserves a chance to play for a professional team, » said Lalonde.

 

End of the road for Lalonde and Caouette

Lalonde also made sure to single out the exceptional group of young players he got to play with since arriving in Shawinigan at the trade deadline.

“I wanted to keep playing for those guys. We had such a tremendous group. It was very hard for me to take this jersey off after the game. I really enjoyed being a part of this team.”

The same goes for Olivier Caouette, who also played his final QMJHL game last night.

The Cataractes will hold their season postmortem press conference in the coming days.

 

Rank	QMJHL	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA
5	Shawinigan, Cataractes	68	39	26	1	2	81	0.596	259	214

 

Player stats

#	Name	Pos	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
91	Anthony Beauvillier	C	67	42	52	94	16	72
49	Christophe Lalonde (total)	RW	50	35	38	73	14	43
11	Dennis Yan	LW	59	33	31	64	23	71
37	Alexis D’Aoust	RW	63	24	33	57	9	26
12	Gabriel Slight	RW	62	28	23	51	0	96
24	Dylan Labbé	D	63	15	36	51	10	43
22	Giovanni Fiore	RW	65	23	21	44	5	46
94	Samuel Girard	D	64	5	38	43	15	8
28	Brandon Gignac	C	63	9	31	40	9	18
71	Olivier Caouette	LW	63	12	18	30	10	129
63	Alex Pawelczyk	LW	68	16	11	27	0	40
8	James Phelan	C	67	10	14	24	5	61
77	Nicholas Welsh	D	66	2	14	16	22	38
20	Mathieu Olivier (total)	LW	63	6	7	13	-6	75
93	Pascal Aquin	LW	56	3	9	12	6	30
61	Kris Hodge	C	39	0	10	10	-3	33
3	Gabriel Sylvestre	D	56	1	6	7	13	69
4	Zachary Taylor	D	19	1	4	5	10	6
74	Alexandre Coulombe	D	52	1	4	5	-7	32
39	Marvin Cüpper	G	59	0	5	5	0	2
44	Félix-Antoine Bergeron	LW	4	0	3	3	0	4
81	Bruno-Carl Denis	D	28	0	2	2	-1	10
35	Antoine Samuel	G	11	0	0	0	0	0
97	Charles Taillon	C	21	0	0	0	-4	19
98	Emmanuel Aucoin	C	25	0	0	0	-3	13

 

#	Name	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	SO	GAA	SAV%
39	Marvin Cüpper	59	36	20	0	2	4	2.8	0.912
35	Antoine Samuel	11	3	5	1	0	0	4.33	0.862