Sports stats



Second Round Series Preview

April 5, 2011 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Lewiston MAINEiacs News Release


The Lewiston MAINEiacs and Montreal Junior are less than 72 hours away from opening their best-of-seven series on Friday night at Verdun Auditorium. So, without further delay, it's time to see how the two clubs stack up on paper.

LEWISTON MAINEiacs

Record: 40-24-1-3

Points: 85

Goals For: 265

Goals Against: 223

Power Play: 50-for-287 (17.4%), 13th

Penalty Kill: 283-for-352 (80.4%), 6th

Playoff Record: 4-1

Goals For: 17

Goals Against: 11

Power Play: 5-for-22 (22.7%), 10th

Penalty Kill: 25-for-28 (89.3%), 3rd

MONTREAL JUNIOR

Record: 46-12-5-5

Points: 102

Goals For: 263

Goals Against: 185

Power Play: 64-for-278 (23.0%), 9th

Penalty Kill: 222-for-277 (80.1%), 7th

Playoff Record: 4-0

Goals For: 17

Goals Against: 5

Power Play: 5-for-17 (29.4%), 7th

Penalty Kill: 11-for-13 (84.6%), 5th

GOALTENDING

LEWISTON: Champion, Makarov

MONTREAL: Berube, Marcoux

The MAINEiacs and Junior will both be turning to veteran goaltenders with prior postseason experience. Lewiston's Nicholas Champion will be playing in his sixth career playoff series, while Montreal's Jean-Francois Berube will be playing in his third career playoff series as a starter. Both netminders are coming off of solid first round performances, as Champion stopped 132 of 142 shots in five games against Moncton, while Berube stopped 107 of 112 shots in four games against Halifax. Berube was the better of the two during the regular season, posting 32 wins, a 2.60 goals against average, a .902 save percentage, and three shutouts. Champion had 27 wins, a 2.83 goals against average, an .897 save percentage, and two shutouts. Berube attended training camp with the Los Angeles Kings this past fall, as he was drafted by Los Angeles in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Champion attended training camp with the Montreal Canadiens this past fall as an invitee.

DEFENSE

LEWISTON: Carrier, Dame-Malka, Evans-Renaud, Finn, D. Fournier, Parisien, Saab, Shannon

MONTREAL: Beauchemin, Landry, Meilleur, Micallef, Narbonne, Ouellet, Provost, Roussel

When it comes to offensive defensemen, Lewiston has the edge in the series, thanks to Olivier Dame-Malka and Sam Carrier, who combined for 27 goals and 105 points during the regular season. Montreal's top offensive defenseman during the regular season was Francis Meilleur, who recorded 45 assists and 53 points. Charles Landry was the top goal scorer on Montreal's blueline, as he lit the lamp eleven times. On the defensive side of things, the MAINEiacs' Sam Finn and Sam Carrier have the best numbers in the series, as the two combined for a plus-81 rating during the regular season. Francis Meilleur had the best plus-minus (+28) during the regular season for the Junior, and was followed closely by Xavier Ouellet (+27) and Charles Landry (+26). Both clubs have one NHL draft pick on the back end, as Carrier was selected by the Washington Capitals in the sixth round of the 2010 draft, while Montreal's Charles-Olivier Roussel was taken by the Nashville Predators in the second round of the 2009 draft. Charles Landry was undrafted, but signed a three-year entry level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the fall of 2010.

OFFENSE

LEWISTON: Beauvillier, Bissonnette, Brodeur, Chaput, Critchlow, S. Fournier, Hawes, Henley, Houde-Caron, Kabanov, Lalonde, Milson, Morin, Tanguy, Zafiris

MONTREAL: Anderson, Aquin, Aubry, Chouinard, Clarke, Fontaine, Gouchie, Hertzberg, Laflamme, Leblanc, Lefebvre, Lemieux, Parkes, Pouliot, Rose

Offensively, the MAINEiacs and Junior are relatively evenly matched, as the two sides finished the regular season just two goals apart. Lewiston finished the season third in the league, finding the twine 265 times, while Montreal finished fourth with 263 tallies. Both teams had one goal scorer that finished above and beyond everyone else on their roster, as Etienne Brodeur led the MAINEiacs with 53 goals, while Trevor Parkes picked up 33 goals for the Junior. Following those two players, both squads have lots of scoring depth. Two other Lewiston forwards (Chaput, S. Fournier) finished with 20-plus goals, while another eight forwards finished with at least ten goals. On the other side of the ice, Montreal had four forwards finish with more than 20 goals (Chouinard, Hertzberg, Leblanc, Rose), while another seven forwards finished with at least ten goals. Michael Chaput (Columbus) and Kirill Kabanov (New York I.) of the MAINEiacs and Louis-Marc Aubry (Detroit) and Louis Leblanc (Montreal) have all been drafted into the NHL, while Philippe Lefebvre (Montreal) was signed as a free agent.

SPECIAL TEAMS

One of the biggest keys to the MAINEiacs' success in 2010-11 has been the performance of their penalty kill, which was put to the test a league-leading 352 times during the regular season. Lewiston successfully killed off 283 of those penalties, finishing sixth in the QMJHL. That success continued during the first round of the playoffs, as the MAINEiacs killed off 25 of 28 Moncton power plays. After converting at a 17.4% rate on the man advantage during the regular season, Lewiston's power play improved during the first round of the playoffs, going 5-for-22 (22.7%). Montreal's power play and penalty kill both finished in the top half of the league during the regular season, and that success has continued into the playoffs. The Junior had a 23.0% success rate on the power play during the regular season, placing them in ninth, while the penalty kill had the seventh best success rate in the league at 80.1%. In the first round of the playoffs, Montreal went 5-for-17 on the power play and 11-for-13 on the penalty kill.

TOUGHNESS

Lewiston and Montreal both finished in the bottom half of the league when it came to fighting majors. The MAINEiacs dropped the gloves 56 times, putting them in tenth place, while the Junior got into 41 tussles, which put them in 13th place. At the trade period this winter, Montreal was looking to add toughness, leading them to the acquisition of forwards Raphael Pouliot and Alex Lemieux. After fighting eight times with Shawinigan, Pouliot dropped the mitts nine times with the Junior, including a February 8th bout against Ian Saab. Lemieux fought twice during the regular season with Montreal, after duking it out seven times with Halifax. Saab was the MAINEiacs' leading fighter during the regular season, using his pugilistic skills ten times.

COACHING

Pascal Vincent just concluded his 12th regular season as a bench boss in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, as well as his third as the head coach of the Montreal Junior, after spending nine seasons with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Vincent's teams have been a part of twenty postseason series, winning nine and dropping eleven. The Laval, QC native has seen his clubs reach the third round of the playoffs twice, while coaching two teams to 100-point finishes (including this season). On the other bench, second year coach Jean-Francois Houle became the second head coach in Lewiston history to lead his team to a playoff series win, after the MAINEiacs posted their second 40-win campaign in franchise history. Vincent is the only coach in the series without professional playing experience, as Houle played in 180 games in the AHL and ECHL, Lewiston's Darren Rumble played in 945 games in the NHL, AHL, and IHL, Montreal's Joel Bouchard played in 676 games in the NHL, AHL, and IHL, and Montreal's Dominique Ducharme played in 25 games in the AHL and ECHL.

EXPERIENCE

The Montreal Junior are one of the most experienced teams in the QMJHL, as their roster consists of two 20-year olds, 13 19-year olds, four 18-year olds, and four 17-year olds. Prior to their first round series win, nine players on Montreal's roster had experienced a playoff series victory in the past, including three players who played in the President's Cup Final in 2009. Philippe Lefebvre and Charles Landry won that championship with Drummondville, defeating Charles-Olivier Roussel, who was playing for Shawinigan. Lewiston's Antoine Houde-Caron also played in that series, joining Roussel with the Cataractes. Prior to their first round series win, five other players on the MAINEiacs' roster had experienced a playoff series win.

2011 QMJHL PLAYOFFS

1 Saint John Sea Dogs 0

11 Victoriaville Tigres 0

2 Montreal Junior 0

8 LEWISTON MAINEIACS 0

3 Quebec Remparts 0

7 Shawinigan Cataractes 0

4 Drummondville Voltigeurs 0

5 Gatineau Olympiques 0

MAINEiacs

ROAD WARRIOR

PLAYOFFS AT GIPPERS

The MAINEiacs have advanced to the second round the playoffs, and since the team will start the series on the road, you need a place to watch the game with fellow MAINEiacs fans. Gippers Sports Grill is that place - your "Home Away From Home" for MAINEiacs games on the road.

On Friday and Saturday, the MAINEiacs will play games one and two of their playoff series against the Montreal Junior, and you will be able to catch both games at Gippers. Friday's game begins at 7:05, and will be followed by a 3:05 face-off on Saturday.

Gippers Sports Grill, located at 120 Center Street in Auburn, will once again be showing all of the action in their private function room. As always, seating availability is on a first-come, first-served basis, so be sure to arrive early!

WE'LL SEE YOU AT GIPPERS!

2011-12 SEASON TICKET INFORMATION

2011-12 season tickets and flex package renewal forms for current full season and flex package holders will be available at the MAINEiacs' home playoff games on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. There will be a special "Alumni Loyalty" pricing option available for those who had season tickets or flex packages during the 2010-11 season.

Stay tuned for further details and information on 2011-12 season tickets and flex packages.

WINNER, WINNER!

The Lewiston MAINEiacs would like to congratulate Adrian Dumais of Greene, who won himself two tickets to the Boston Bruins game against the Ottawa Senators on April 9th at TD Garden. Special thanks to Champoux Insurance for donating the tickets.

The MAINEiacs would also like to congratulate Evan Raymond, Kaitlyn Reny, James Theberge, Cameron Theberge, John St. Clair, Pat Labbe, Alex Blanchette, and all of the fans that walked away with prizes during game five on Friday night!

WORK FOR THE MAINEiacs

The MAINEiacs will have a booth at the Androscoggin Chamber of Commerce Community Job Fair at Central Maine Community College on April 8th.

The MAINEiacs are looking for full-time and part-time sales staff, specifically for corporate partnerships, and tickets sales (full season, partial packages, groups). For more information, check out the job fair, or contact the MAINEiacs front office at (207)-333-3267.



Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from April 5, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Lewiston MAINEiacs Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central