Saguenéens Vs Rocket

[Score]

Last home game till the 28th.....

Sags are obviously playing well on the road.

6 straight road wins.

Hopefully the Rocket come out fast and jump on the scoreboard early.

Play hard every shift and wear this team down.

Rocket win today.

[topcon81]

goals coming from the unexpected...way to go Locke and Paynter ....

[bois]

what a bullet shot by Paynter .... missing out on the fight for the old Gordie Howe hattrick

[mboyan]

The fourth line should be ashamed of themselves......scoring goals......overshadowing the first and second lines.....and taking two of the three star spots!! No wonder they saw little ice after that. ;D

Seriously, how great is it to see that line produce a few points.....Paynter with the missile....good on ya!!

Gelinas had another strong game....he sees the puck so well with traffic in front. And kudos to the D.....I thought the D deserved as much credit as Gelinas. A solid effort IMO, on the back end.

The Rocket, while certainly not at their full potential, have been playing well lately, and with the exception of a couple of games, could just as easily be 9-1 in their last 10, instead of 7-3.

[Score]

Thought that todays game was very enjoyable.

Some nice offensive chances by this Rocket team......3 posts too I think?

The D played well as mentioned, and Gelinas is as calm as a cucumber in their!

A nice win to give them there 5th consecutive win at home.

Thought that Latal still struggled a bit..........could be interesting to see what happens with him at the deadline.

Lachaine with another solid game.

Rocket playing their best hockey so far IMO....but still not playing to what they are capable of.

[rocketman]

Way to go Rocket. Nice win!!! ;D

[sec21critic]

admin said:

Thought that todays game was very enjoyable.

Some nice offensive chances by this Rocket team......3 posts too I think?

The D played well as mentioned, and Gelinas is as calm as a cucumber in their!

A nice win to give them there 5th consecutive win at home.

Thought that Latal still struggled a bit..........could be interesting to see what happens with him at the deadline.

Lachaine with another solid game.

Rocket playing their best hockey so far IMO....but still not playing to what they are capable of.

A few thoughts...

It was a good game for the Rocket in that they converted well on their chances (Paynter's shot was outstanding... as well as shocking)... however, had they been playing a more offensively gifted team, I can't help but wonder how much closer the score would've been. Both teams played at a high tempo today... and it seemed like just when the Rocket had the momentum swinging in their favor, they would basically hand the puck to the Sags.

Still, the overall effort by the Rocket and the ability to keep those mistake from winding up in the net was pretty good.

Very impressed with Gelinas... this is the first I've seen of him and I didn't expect him to be as poised and technically efficient as he was. Easy pick for first star.

I'm still tryign to figure out how Latal made the WJC team. In all the games I've seen him in at the Coliseum, he's been mostly invisiable... except for one game in which he was head and shoulders above almost every player ont he ice. He seems to have the ability... but is very inconsistant. I didn't even realize he was in the lineup until he took his first penalty. He'd be the type of player that would frustrate me if I had to watch him all the time.

Why do people complain about Chad Locke on here? He had a great game today!

If Chouinard can turn things completely around in time, this Rocket team would definately be one that I would hate to face in the playoffs. Despite a few mental lapses (and a couple odd calls against them), they played a pretty good game. They allowed quite a few shots, but alot of those shots were from outside. They also showed that they can pull off a quick transition play (I forget how many odd man rushes I saw PEI get in this game)... with one more decent defenseman, they could easily be a second round playoff team if the goaltending would hold up.

Overall, a good quick pace to the game. Pretty entertaining... now start losing again.

BTW, I was there... long story.

[countryboy]

Lachaine was more than solid. He was making things happen every shift he was on the ice. By picking up his physical play, he's seen a significant increase in his effectiveness. Guy is really getting the best out of Lachaine. He reminded me of PA Bureau today the way he hustled, hit and used his speed to create chances.

I'm starting to think he'll end up being a decent-good 20 next year... maybe for us, maybe for someone else.

cb

admin said:

Thought that todays game was very enjoyable.

Some nice offensive chances by this Rocket team......3 posts too I think?

The D played well as mentioned, and Gelinas is as calm as a cucumber in their!

A nice win to give them there 5th consecutive win at home.

Thought that Latal still struggled a bit..........could be interesting to see what happens with him at the deadline.

Lachaine with another solid game.

Rocket playing their best hockey so far IMO....but still not playing to what they are capable of.

[ClapperGirl]

Did anyone else realize that for a good two minutes or so we had six men on the ice?

Great game by the way! Gel's amazing, and obv laff is going at trade.
Matthiew came SO close to a few great goals. Greg's was beautiful and that empty netter by Lassard was nice haha. Dead on.

Their second goal tho was a little like "wtf argh" but we still beat t hem by 2. Kicked butt this game!

[Score]

manaboo said:

Did anyone else realize that for a good two minutes or so we had six men on the ice?

a bit of an exaggeration.

we did have too many on for sure, but I'm guessing for around 10 sec...not 2 minutes.

but yes, still waay to long.

[Score]

Rocket stays red-hot
P.E.I. wins its fifth straight home game
CHARLES REID
The Guardian

Sometimes flying under the radar isn’t a bad thing.

Very quietly the P.E.I. Rocket has won eight of its last 10 games including five straight at the Civic Centre — the latest a 4-2 victory over the Chicoutimi Saguenéens on Sunday.

“I think we’ve had good strong practices the last week or so. And (doing the) little things like sticking to the game plan like (head) coach (Guy) Chouinard said,”

Rocket forward Chad Locke said on the reason for P.E.I.’s better play. “There are a few minor things we need to work on to improve. A team is never complete.”

An energetic but scoreless opening period belonged to the goalies.
P.E.I.’s Marc-Antoine Gélinas stopped seven shots in his sixth straight start while his counterpart Francois Lévesque of Chicoutimi faced 12 shots.

But in the second period, Locke and fourth-line mates rookie Jeremiah Coon-Come and Albany’s Greg Paynter provided the punch for the Rocket, tallying two goals and five points.

A rare first goal of the game (P.E.I.’s done it just 11 times in 31 games) by Locke opened the scoring at 5:07. Paynter and Coon-Come assisted.

Chicoutimi’s Francis Paré answered at 7:36 with his 25th goal of the year, but Paynter put the Rocket up 2-1 nine seconds later with a slap shot from between the faceoff circles that beat Lévesque up high.

Locke got the helper. His earlier goal was his first since late November, but fourth point in six games. Coon-Come’s assist was his first point in nine games.

“I thought me, Greg and Jeremiah played well. We went out and finished our checks. Our role is to go out and give the team some energy, so I think we went out and did that and we capitalized on our bounces,” said Locke, who earned the game’s second star.

Geoff Walker and Pierre-Luc Lessard (empty net) added P.E.I.’s third period goals. Chicoutimi’s Olivier Ouellet tacked on a late power play goal to end the scoring.

Also a little off the radar screen was Sags head coach Richard Martel quest for his 500th QMJHL win.

He’s at 498 victories and staring down Chouinard, the man he’s chasing, who leads all coaches with 524.

The road’s proved kind to Chicoutimi as it landed in Charlottetown seeking its seventh straight road win, but, said Martel, the travel (three games in four nights) caught up with his Sags.

“It was the last game on the trip. My players worked hard, but we missed chances to score and P.E.I. were opportunists,” said Martel.
Martel, in his fifth season with Chicoutimi and 15th overall, said he was shocked former Rocket bench boss Yanick Jean was fired and replaced by Chouinard in late October when the team had started to improve after a 4-7-1 start.

“I was very surprised because Yanick (had) a three-game winning streak. The owner (Serge Savard Jr.) took a decision,” said Martel of Jean, a former Chicoutimi player and assistant.
And he offered this advic­e
.
“For a head coach the first firing is (good) for the experience.
“It’s very important because the next job’s not going to be the same,” said Martel, who’s coached in Val-d’Or, Baie-Comeau and St.-Hyacinthe (now Rouyn-Noranda).

The Rocket improve to 15-15-1. Chicoutimi drops to 17-15-1-1. Gélinas goes to 9-4 while Lévesque falls to 7-6.

[mboyan]

Very quietly the P.E.I. Rocket has won eight of its last 10 games including five straight at the Civic Centre — the latest a 4-2 victory over the Chicoutimi Saguenéens on Sunday.

While the article itself is decent, a little research never hurts......they are actually 7-3 in their last 10....but who's counting?

Reid must have been hard up for questions.......Yanick who?? ;D

[North Shore]

It was great to see the team put together another win. The fourth line brought their "A" game. Sure showed they are ready to play and contribute.

Gallant continues to impress me. He is a solid hockey player. The fact that he can drop the mitts when needed overshadowed his ability to actually contribute. He's very solid, does not take stupid penalties, and is showing he has an offensive side as well, almost potted the game opener but got the post yesterday.

Transition game is coming together. More passes on the tape to start the break out. Still need more work on this, as a lot of passes into the skates just outside our blue line. But Overall the transition is light years ahead of what it was in October.

The D have to keep a closer eye on Latal when we win the face off clean in our zone. Twice yesterday he busted out fast and the D took the puck around the net and had the long pass but did not see Marty. He was gone if they did.

All lines did a much better job finishing their checks. Mo even threw a couple good hits.

The big down side with yesterdays game was it is the last home game for a three weeks. The team is coming together. It should make for an interesting swing through Quebec this week, and even more intersting trade period. Hard to know who will be lining up here after the break.

[inky]

sure hope they keep Bradley as a 20, he certainly is better than what we thought we'd be getting, IMO

[wallee]

what can you say, way to go rocket.

although they have not been fantastic with their play they HAVE worked hard! and that mean more than anything.

give the guys credit! great job the last two weeks. they have earned their wins from their desire to achieve, my hat goes out to all of them.

a shame we will be having a break. but you have to think its going to only get better in January...

fans !!! start showing up at the rink!!