Interesting numbers, weekend #7

The old saying, “The coaches are hired to be fired,” certainly does not apply in the case of André Tourigny, who will beat a record for the number of games behind the bench of the same team. On the other hand, which fan will have the chance to become the 50 million^th spectator in the history of regular season games in the QMJHL? It could be hosted in one of the games this weekend, because we are 60,221 fans away from this magic number … Stay tuned!

 

TEAMS AT FULL THROTTLE

• Halifax – The Mooseheads, undefeated in 13 games, begin tonight a sequence of four straight games on the road, which will all be played in Quebec. The outstanding performance of this team has attracted fans at the Halifax Metro Centre, an average of 8,059 per game; extrapolating a season of 34 home games, we can predict the number of 274,000 spectators in the country of Nathan MacKinnon in 2012-13; 30,000 away from the team’s record!
• Rouyn-Noranda – The Huskies enjoy their bus and trips, based on their performance on the road. André Tourigny’s “pack” has not lost this season during the regular time in 7 games on their opponents’ rinks. The Huskies, with 5 straight wins, will face the Drummondville Voltigeurs tonight.
• Baie-Comeau – The Drakkar has the wind in its sails, undefeated during regular time in its last 7 games. New coach Eric Veilleux advocates discipline; the club was only imposed 13 penalty minutes on average per game (2^nd place behind Quebec with 12 minutes).
• Val-d’Or – With a recent accumulation of 8 points out of a possible 10 (3-0-0-2 record), the Foreurs (16 points) will rub against the Tigres (17 points) in Victoriaville tonight. Anthony Mantha, their star forward, will be back in the alignment after being suspended for the last game.
• Quebec – The Remparts scored the first goal in a game 14 times out of 15, and won in 11 occasions when they gave themselves the advantage.

 

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES

• Anton Zlobin (VDO) – He obtained 2 points or more in 6 out of the last 9 games of the Foreurs. Tonight, he aims at an 11^th straight game with at least one point …
• Alex Saulnier (MON) – The #21 from the Wildcats earned himself 2 games with 4 points last week, against Gatineau and Sherbrooke. The leading scorer on his team, with 23 points, is only 4 games away from the 200 plateau in the QMJHL.
• Philippe Cadorette (BAC) – Won his last 4 starts since mid-October (2.20 | .913). Note that he has already faced two penalty shots this season, stopping the opponent both times (Philippe Maillet from the Tigres and Logan Shaw from the Remparts).
• Jack Flinn (SHE) – The giant goalkeeper of the Phoenix wowed in his last 4 games against daunting teams (BAC-MON-VDO-ROU). His team accumulated 3 points overall, while he appeared strong despite 3 games where more than 40 shots were fired against him. He was named the 1^st star of the game on 2 occasions …

 

RECORDS

• André Tourigny (ROU) – The head coach of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies will become, on Saturday, the first one to run 657 games with the same team of the QMJHL. He should match the record of Denis Francoeur (Shawinigan) on Friday, as his club plays in Drummondville. Interestingly, Tourigny, who is only 38 years old, started in the QMJHL behind the bench of the Cataracts as Francoeur’s assistant. A rather unusual exploit considering he is in his 11^th season in a row with Rouyn, another record of the QMJHL. His career record is above .500: 322 wins – 315 losses – 20 ties.

http://38.108.70.85/lang_fr/index.php?page=2147483648&status_type=2&id_register=2434

• Kevin Gagné (SNB) – His next game will allow him to match the Sea Dogs record of the highest number of games played by a defenseman. The current record holder, Yann Sauvé, had played 251 game from 2006-07 to 2009-10.

http://38.108.70.85/xsl/records/book/index2.php?rep=V&file_id=F38SRPARPPAPUDVIE&lang=fr

• Mooseheads (HAL) – They won every one of their first 7 games of the season on the road, and could match their own team record of 8 straight victories away on Saturday, November 3^rd in Drummondville. They will visit the Océanic the next day in Rimouski. In the same vein, as they beat their opponent in each of their last 13 duels, the Mooseheads are only than 2 wins away from their team record of 15 straight victories.

 

ACTIVE SEQUENCE

• Marc-Antoine Carrier (QUE) – The 20-year-old defenseman of the Remparts obtained at least 1 point during each of his last 6 games, with a production of 3 goals and 4 assists.
• Konrad Abeltshauser (HAL) – With the Mooseheads, the tall defenseman (6’05) will attempt to get at least 1 assist in a 6^th game in a row on Saturday.

 

PLATEAU

• Acadie-Bathurst – It will be the 1000^th game in the history of the team this weekend. In addition, this historic match will be played home on Sunday, November 4^th against Blainville-Boisbriand.
• Saint John – other anniversary! Sea Dogs will play the 500^th game of their history, next Sunday (vs Shawinigan).
• Benoit Groulx (GAT) – Head coach of the Olympics will be playing his 600^th game behind the bench this Friday, November 2^nd as they receive the Sherbrooke Phoenix. It is only the 14^th coach in League’s history to reach this mark since 1969.

 

A LITTLE HISTORY

• SHAWINIGAN (Bruins | Dynamos | Cataractes) – The only franchise in history still in the same city after joining the QMJHL in 1969, has just played the 3000^th regular season game of its 44^th season. This historic game was played on the road last Tuesday against Cape Breton, a 1-0 loss. However, it was not the only team, nor the 1^st in the League to achieve this exploit in 2012-13. Acadie-Bathurst, which started in Rosemont under the name of National, reached this milestone on Oct. 21^st against Halifax. Also, the Rimouski Océanic, a descendant of the Sherbrooke Castors, played its 3000^th game on October, 24^th during its visit to Val-d’Or. Finally, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, whose “ancestors” were in fact the Sorel Éperviers, celebrated their 3000^th game on Friday, October 26. In passing, let’s mention these four franchises never won their 3000^th game…