Post by North Shore on Dec 12, 2007 15:45:50 GMT -4
Rocket keeps focus on hockey
Road trip into Quebec comes just before the Christmas break for Matthew Lachaine and his teammates
CHARLES REID
The Guardian
Stretch runs can either centre a team or dishevel it.
Matthew Lachaine, P.E.I. Rocket forward, thinks the countdown to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Christmas break is the former — a focal point for his 15-15-1 team.
“Five (wins) in a row at home is good for us to be more confident after and before Christmas. In the room all guys (agreed) we need a couple of wins before Christmas at home. Now I think everybody’s focused and we’re more ready,” said Lachaine.
Tonight, P.E.I. faces Baie-Comeau (8:30 p.m. AT) in the first of three road games in four nights to end the first half the regular season. Thursday it’s at Chicoutimi (8:30 AT) and Saturday at Quebec (8 p.m. AT).
P.E.I. left for Baie-Comeau on Tuesday morning.
The Rocket is playing better, rebounding from a five-game losing streak after head coach Guy Chouinard took over for the fired Yanick Jean in late October.
It’s won five straight at the Civic Centre, including seven of its last 10 games, and with 31 points has moved out the Eastern Division cellar.
But it’s 5-9-1 on the road and not far removed from a dispirited 6-2 loss to the Drakkar late last month at the CCC.
Since then, team defence has tightened as forwards are hustling back to help the d-crew. Hot goaltending from Marc-Antoine Gélinas has also spurred the run.
But Lachaine, 19, and in his third QMJHL season, is aware the annual pre-Christmas swing through Quebec can be derailed with thoughts of family and time off swirling in a player’s head.
“Everybody thinks about Christmas, but I think our focus is for hockey right now. After the Quebec game we can say ‘now, it’s Christmas break, now we can go drink beer’ and stuff like that,” he said with a smile. “Four days left and we need to think about hockey.”
With Q training camps starting in August, some players haven’t seen family for months. E-mail and Internet webcams mean players aren’t completely isolated, but it’s still not easy.
Rocket rookie Jeremiah Coon-Come doesn’t have that problem. He joined the club in October from Quebec midget AAA so he’s not been a long time away.
He’s getting a early gift — three buses, 150 family members and friends from his hometown of Mistissini in northwestern Quebec are making the trip to watch him play in Chicoutimi in northeastern Quebec on Thursday.
And he’s ready, if not nervous.
“Yeah, a little bit,” said Coon-Come.
For Lachaine, the Christmas gathering comes after.
Grandfathers, grandmothers, girlfriends and uncles join his father, Constant, his mother, Suzanne, and his brother, Dominic, for a three-hour drive east of his hometown of Val-d’Or to a chalet in the woods near Windigo Lake.
“We go there for (snowmobiling) . . . play hockey on the lake. Like everyone, I think, just regroup like a family.”
P.E.I.’s next home game is Friday, Dec. 28, versus St. John’s. Game time is 7 p.m.
Game notes
Rocket forward Martin Latal didn’t make the trip. He left Monday for the Czech Republic to prepare for the world junior championship in Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Pardubice and Liberec, Czech Republic . . . After the current road trip, Rocket assistant Corrado Micalef will be gone until early January, too, assisting Danny Dupont on Team Quebec at the under-17 world hockey challenge Dec. 29-Jan. 4 in London, Ont.
Road trip into Quebec comes just before the Christmas break for Matthew Lachaine and his teammates
CHARLES REID
The Guardian
Stretch runs can either centre a team or dishevel it.
Matthew Lachaine, P.E.I. Rocket forward, thinks the countdown to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Christmas break is the former — a focal point for his 15-15-1 team.
“Five (wins) in a row at home is good for us to be more confident after and before Christmas. In the room all guys (agreed) we need a couple of wins before Christmas at home. Now I think everybody’s focused and we’re more ready,” said Lachaine.
Tonight, P.E.I. faces Baie-Comeau (8:30 p.m. AT) in the first of three road games in four nights to end the first half the regular season. Thursday it’s at Chicoutimi (8:30 AT) and Saturday at Quebec (8 p.m. AT).
P.E.I. left for Baie-Comeau on Tuesday morning.
The Rocket is playing better, rebounding from a five-game losing streak after head coach Guy Chouinard took over for the fired Yanick Jean in late October.
It’s won five straight at the Civic Centre, including seven of its last 10 games, and with 31 points has moved out the Eastern Division cellar.
But it’s 5-9-1 on the road and not far removed from a dispirited 6-2 loss to the Drakkar late last month at the CCC.
Since then, team defence has tightened as forwards are hustling back to help the d-crew. Hot goaltending from Marc-Antoine Gélinas has also spurred the run.
But Lachaine, 19, and in his third QMJHL season, is aware the annual pre-Christmas swing through Quebec can be derailed with thoughts of family and time off swirling in a player’s head.
“Everybody thinks about Christmas, but I think our focus is for hockey right now. After the Quebec game we can say ‘now, it’s Christmas break, now we can go drink beer’ and stuff like that,” he said with a smile. “Four days left and we need to think about hockey.”
With Q training camps starting in August, some players haven’t seen family for months. E-mail and Internet webcams mean players aren’t completely isolated, but it’s still not easy.
Rocket rookie Jeremiah Coon-Come doesn’t have that problem. He joined the club in October from Quebec midget AAA so he’s not been a long time away.
He’s getting a early gift — three buses, 150 family members and friends from his hometown of Mistissini in northwestern Quebec are making the trip to watch him play in Chicoutimi in northeastern Quebec on Thursday.
And he’s ready, if not nervous.
“Yeah, a little bit,” said Coon-Come.
For Lachaine, the Christmas gathering comes after.
Grandfathers, grandmothers, girlfriends and uncles join his father, Constant, his mother, Suzanne, and his brother, Dominic, for a three-hour drive east of his hometown of Val-d’Or to a chalet in the woods near Windigo Lake.
“We go there for (snowmobiling) . . . play hockey on the lake. Like everyone, I think, just regroup like a family.”
P.E.I.’s next home game is Friday, Dec. 28, versus St. John’s. Game time is 7 p.m.
Game notes
Rocket forward Martin Latal didn’t make the trip. He left Monday for the Czech Republic to prepare for the world junior championship in Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Pardubice and Liberec, Czech Republic . . . After the current road trip, Rocket assistant Corrado Micalef will be gone until early January, too, assisting Danny Dupont on Team Quebec at the under-17 world hockey challenge Dec. 29-Jan. 4 in London, Ont.
