Because it's mandatory I step in here

I have somewhat ridiculously long-term commitments to my favourites. One of my most long-standing is that with strawberries, eventually evolving into the combination of strawberries and chocolate. Try all they might, Chez Cora persists in the idea of getting me to order something else, but I'm a little--more like a LOT--difficult to shake.

Mark Recchi's been stuck with me since my hockey fandom started in 1998, despite sporting few jerseys since then that I would ever be seen dead wearing myself. Tomas Plekanec shares the same burden since his first (or second, if we're counting his draft day) public appearance in North America (Jamboree 2001).

He didn't even have a goatee then, to give you an idea. (Still the turtleneck though, so don't worry.)

Guy Boucher's a bit of a "new" one by my standards, running at four years now. I'll be the first one to admit that the ones that stick like the ones I've mentioned come with a little overprotectiveness and this is no less true even for the newbies. So here I go.

(credit, once again, to l'Express)

Every decision comes with two halves. No, it's not every day that a coach that's only been in the pro ranks for one year gets so much buzz and excitement, translating to offers from bona fide NHL teams. It's also not every day that said coach would decline the opportunity to move up.

But in all this rarity there's a little familiarity, from "weighing all the options" to "one step at a time." Individuals, and special ones such as Boucher, especially with his attention to detail and considerations of the whole picture, don't jump at just anything, no matter how good it looks. Remember, this is only June and the Bulldogs were just eliminated from the playoffs. Wrapping up that season is as new as most of the attention those accomplishments have brought him so far. The setting is very much the same as what it was last year, when the bubbly from the President's Cup hadn't even had time to go flat and in waltzed Julien BriseBois and the rest of the Hamilton crew.

I know what you're thinking: "That time he said yes. Did something go wrong?" Not necessarily. His demeanour approaching last year's offer and the one now have been the exact same--which is what the people who look at this latest turn of events with a puzzled eye may not necessarily understand. Personally, I was fully prepared to have to make another adjustment in him moving up again. But as much as his final word shocked many, I was thinking, "classic Boucher." If anyone knows how and why to say no, it's him.

As we will see July 1st, unrestricted free agents seldom say yes to the very first offer. Especially first-timers. Coachwise, it's hardly different. Boucher is very much a rookie himself--he would probably be the first to tell you--but he is certainly not unaware of the clamor and commotion surrounding him. All the vacancies, all the big city names popping up, all the upset fans in Montreal having barely made acquaintance to his name picking up a newspaper, seeing the quotes, hearing those of others and realizing how important it is to hang onto such a commodity. That's all well and good, and surely the Habs' and other organizations are not blind to this fact and not sitting quietly about it, but the final word is his and only his. Power like that isn't something to take lightly, and he is fully managing that situation. Columbus won't be the last, as we can already tell, heck, he might even just stay where he is. We've got a good while longer with this rollercoaster left to go.

Like you and I, Boucher is a family guy. In considering Hamilton, he also needed "a weekend." He said then, as he surely said recently, that if he saw anything that would hinder his family to adjust, he would stay put or look elsewhere. (Not that Columbus isn't kid and wife friendly, but moving to the States itself--I'd imagine--has to be somewhat of a significant deal after just having moved to Ontario the year before. Whether that's the case or not, that is a pretty focal part of his decision-making.) The more ambitious guys would find a way to make it work. But to Boucher, whose attitude is probably the most ambitious of all without even directly being so, finding the best surrounding conditions to undertake such a significant career move is as important a factor as the job conditions themselves.

Then there is timing. Boucher famously keeps his eye on the present, and firmly believes in each of his projects until he feels it's time for his involvement to end. Until he signs the dotted line, he stands by what he has going with the organization that retains him. Drummondville hadn't had a league championship to its name in its 27 years, but when the job with the Bulldogs wasn't set in stone yet, the mindset to get his players to repeat the 2008-09 performance was definitely one he had on his plate. So there is that speculation to consider as well. Perhaps he felt like his work with the Bulldogs wasn't done yet. Perhaps his plans extended farther than the third round of the Calder Cup. Perhaps he wanted to take those 30+ records and add to them. Perhaps he quite simply wasn't ready to move on just yet.

Perhaps, like me, he abides by some pretty strong commitment principles.

You and I can dispute all the perhapses until we turn purple in the face. But there certainly isn't and end to this story, nor will there be until all the spots in the NHL and AHL are accounted for. And even afterwards. So buckle up.

Habs Development Camp kicks off Tuesday

Habs' prospect Gabriel Dumont. Photo from Journal L'Express
Since hockey fever ran rampant in Montreal this season I'm pretty sure this is the Habs' way of spreading themselves out so that we don't have too much withdrawal. A "pre-development" development camp of sorts (in that it obviously won't include the players of this year's draft, lest Trevor Timmins have some mind-altering time-warping abilities we don't know about) starts this Tuesday, June 1st, and runs until Saturday, June 5th. I commissioned myself to this blog post because I happen to have seen a hell of a lot of 5 of the 22 players in the last few years, rookie seasons, President/Calder/Memorial Cup runs and all.

Drummondville-bragging aside, last year's first-rounder Louis Leblanc is sure to be a headline again, especially now that his chances of making his QMJHL debut this season are something that Chicoutimi Sagueneens head-coach and GM Richard Martel has a firm belief in. The rest of those attending camp, divided into forwards-dmen-netminders are as follows:

BISHOP, Hunter
CICHY, Michael
DUMONT, Gabriel
FORTIER, Olivier
HOUSE, Tanner
JOHNSON, Patrick
KRISTO, Danny
LEBLANC, Louis
LEFEBVRE, Philippe
MASSÉ, Dany
NATINNEN, Joonas
QUAILER, Steven

BENNETT, Mac
DESNOYERS, Marc-Antoine
HARVEY, Myles
KISHEL, Scott
NASH, Brendon
STEJSKAL, Joe

BÄUMLE, Thomas
BLANCHARD, J.-Christophe
GILL, Riley
SIMILA, Petteri


Tryout Marc-Antoine Desnoyers was the Voltigeurs' (and almost the league's) standout on defense this past year. The 20 year old wasn't gun-shy either, registering 54 points, plus the franchise's first-ever playoff hat trick against Rimouski. However, it was his +47 rating that made him most valuable.

Ex-Rimouski captain Olivier Fortier missed most of the year due to injury, but managed to show off his abilities in the few playoff games he played in with Hamilton. He registered his first professional goal in a 3-2 win against Abbotsford in the Western Conference semi-final, which turned out to be the game-winner.

Dany Massé's season was a lot like Fortier's, coming off injuries faced in the President and Memorial Cup runs of 2008-09. For a player that was often scratched and put on fourth-line duty, he managed to register a shot for every game he played and stay on the plus side defensively.

Free-agent signing Philippe Lefebvre, who may or may not be a Montreal Junior as of next season, proved why he should have been drafted. The Trois-Rivières native racked up close to 30 goals with Drummondville despite only being relied on as second-tier offense.

Last year's 5th-rounder Gabriel Dumont probably doesn't need to be elaborated on for my poor Twitter followers. But for those who don't share that misfortune, picture your typical energy guy.....on speed. He can be the smallest guy on the ice, but if the other team's fridge of a tough guy happens to be in one of his teammates' faces, guess where Dumont is headed. He'll play through anything and everything, as his broken hand this year and myriad of other injuries last year can tell you, and, as a bonus, he can lead the league in scoring (51 goals, 2009-10). This season, in addition to his somewhat surprising stats, he received the Guy Carbonneau Trophy for defensive forward of the year (which, by the way, Fortier had won two years prior).

So I went on a ramble on that last one. Sorry. Let's just be happy Sean Couturier is only draftable in 2011, otherwise we'll just be here all day.

QMJHL playoffs underway: in which czechtacular attempts (and probably fails) to withhold bragging about her own team(s).

I would definitely have bored you with this subject earlier, but the playoffs is the time of year that piques the most interest among followers so I've tried to give myself more hope. Plus, I like to think my game previews are rather efficient in giving you the whole What You Need to Know with side bonus details sprinkled in over top. I will attempt, but by no means promise, to be equally brief here.

The format used in the Q is new to even me, but each division forms seeds and plays within itself before merging onto a single scene and playing much like the conferences in the NHL do. In other words:

West Telus: Rouyn (1) vs. Val D'Or (4) (hey, that'll be pretty simple in terms of voyage!) and Montreal (2) vs. Gatineau (3)
Telus Centre: Drummondville (1) vs. Lewiston (4) (don't ask me, I didn't decide Maine could be considered 'centre'.) and Victoriaville (2) vs. Shawinigan (3)
East Telus: Quebec (1) vs. Bathurst (5) (this one's a weird one. Bathurst got more points than Baie-Comeau, who is actually in the East Telus division whereas Bathurst is in the Atlantic. But the Atlantic has six teams whereas every other division only has four, and the two worst teams in the whole league are cut from the playoffs. Still with me? I hope so.) and Rimouski (2) vs. Chicoutimi (3)
Atlantic Division: Saint John (1) vs. PEI (4) and Moncton (2) vs. Cape Breton (3).

And thennnnnnnnnnn (in my best Chinese takeout from Dude Where's my Car? accent) whoever emerges from the first round as the top seed overall plays the last seed overall and so on. The lowest-ranking "favourite" is Montreal and the highest is Saint John. Thus, barring upsets, those two would face each other in the second round (and I would be forced to bring my notes and books to the Verdun Auditorium in studying for finals because there's no way I'd miss that).

So who should we be looking out for?


The aformentioned Sea Dogs took over the league this year with their 22 game winstreak earlier in the year enabling them to sit atop that first seed throne. They form a stable hybrid of youth and veterans, and boast two champions from Drummondville's squad last year in sniper Mike Hoffman, drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the fifth round last draft as a 19 year old, and goaltender Marco Cousineau, playoff MVP of 2008-09 and Anaheim Ducks prospect. Workhorse defensemen Yann Sauvé and Simon Després provide an influx of offense in addition to their future-NHLer poise/defensive mad skillz (I know, I sounded almost credible until that point) and European forwards Stanislav Galiev and Tomas Jurco each finished with strong numbers in their rookie campaigns.

The Moncton Wildcats made a flurry of moves to bolster their roster and inform the rest of the league they're serious in their bid to re-live the days of the Keith Yandles and the Martins Karsumses and even the Josh Tordjmans. (Excuse my nostalgia, but it's the first President's Cup run I followed in its entirety.) Goaltender Nicola Riopel, despite only having played about a third of the season, has come up with some solid wins between the pipes for the Wildcats, and Nicolas Deschamps, acquired from Chicoutimi, finished tied for first in the league in points (there is some debate he can snatch away the "tied" part and claim the Jean Beliveau trophy from Sean Couturier but I'll bite my tongue about that for now).

The Victoriaville Tigres are the darkhorse of this top-4 it seems, but have also had a very strong campaign under bench boss Yanick Jean. They threatened Drummondville for tops in the West Telus Division for a time and also made several statements with their acquisitions over the Christmas break. They will look to surprise everybody with their efficiency in both kinds of special teams and capacity to upset the big guns on every squad.

(I've waited as long as I possibly could before claiming bragging rights, so keep that in mind.) From worst to first to second isn't too shabby for a Voltigeurs' squad that last year had Yannick Riendeau, Dany Massé, and the aformentioned Mike Hoffman doing all their scoring. 17-year old Sean Couturier (might) have the scoring title in just his second campaign. The Phoenix/Bathurst native is on his way to turning lots more heads en route to what looks like a top-3 position in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Chris DiDomenico is back from the broken leg he suffered during the last playoffs and has fared very nicely since his return. Habs' prospect Gabriel Dumont has the goal-scoring title in the Q with 51, and teammate/future teammate Philippe Lefebrve didn't fare too badly himself with 26 goals and 29 assists. Meanwhile, in nets, once crucified by Canadian hockey fans for bringing back silver (oh, the horror), Jake Allen now boasts the lowest goals-against average in the QMJHL and the CHL at 2.20 and has convinced his teammates and surely the rest of the league that he will be the go-to guy in the bid to bring Drummondville another title. I have a myriad of other Jake-isms for you, including his almost-record shutout streak of 188 minutes and 47 seconds, but I suspect you get the idea.

*photo cred: lhjmq.qc.ca, my Sea Dogs Newsletter that joyfully brightens up my inbox each Friday, and Journal L'Express Drummondville.

Picture worth (almost) a thousand words.

Let it be known to the rest of the population that wasn't at the Bell Centre last night: I love this man.

(No. Not Conboy, Russell, or Belle. I mean the man hovering over them, adamantly directing his players for the faceoff with 5.4 seconds left on the clock, having been disallowed a goal in a scramble that can only be described as frantically desperate.)


Before last night's contest against the Binghamton Senators, the Hamilton Bulldogs were the only team in the AHL that had yet to be defeated in regulation time. Guy Boucher is a very big part of the reason why.

You're going to look at me and say, "Well, obviously. He's the coach that led your little Drummondville team to their first President's Cup and all the way to the semi-finals of the Memorial Cup, of course you'd love him. He's a man that knows how to win." That's only the half of it. He's a man that knows how to lose, too.

Drummondville was not the centre of the QMJHL in 2007-08. They were more like the embarrassment. They weren't even at .500, they were at .200. In 70 contests, they only won 14. And sure, there was no Derick Brassard. Definitely no Guillaume Latendresse. Tomas Svoboda and Scott Howes were tearing up the Atlantic Division, and Tomas Zohorna went to play for Pardubice in the Czech Republic. The sole excuse that fans could fall back on was "it's a rebuilding year."

Ho, hum. Team full of youngsters or not, that excuse was never good enough for their coach. From a man that has battled adversity for much of his life, there could never be a "settlement" with the status quo, nor an acceptance of defeat just because of the uncontrollable factors. He let them know it, he let the media and the fans know it. He wanted more than anything to give the Voltigeurs' faithful the full product of what they came to see, and to do that, he knew his players needed to come out and play. There were practices at 5 a.m., there were bag skates, there was every disciplinary tactic you've ever heard of in the game of hockey. And sometimes, the night before would have only been a 2-1 loss, rather than an 8-2 shellshocker.

Why? Guy Boucher is a man who values work ethic. If you don't fight hard enough to get even close to that tying goal, your level of talent (or lack thereof) immediately becomes void. He wouldn't shy away from telling letting the media know what he felt was lacking, either. In a single press conference, he can be asked just one question, "What went wrong tonight?" and be able to leave everyone with soundbytes worth an entire newscast. But he's not a man that singles out a particular player. When he's ashamed of a loss, it's because he knows his team could do better.

It's that kind of mentality that the Canadiens need on their farm club, to not only promote the worth of their prospects, but to band them all together so that if one guy makes it to the Habs ahead of another, it won't be so much every-man-for-himself but more like "that's awesome for him. Now I know what I've got to do to join him."

Result? The Canadiens' call-ups have all been different this season. Weber. Belle. Carle. White. Pyatt. You try and tell me I'm making this up.

It was visible last night when the 'Dogs mustered 37 shots on goal, with all of it only leading to more frustration, except in the instance of P.K. Subban's marker. Everyone at the bench was on their feet hoping for their teammates to bury a loose puck, only to watch so many power play chances come up fruitless. There were several points during the game in which goals were thought to have been scored, and Boucher's classic bench-boss intensity--a trait he is known league-wide to be one of the masters of--was very prevalent even in the dying seconds.

Except that he knows how to use that intensity for better means. He had moved on from the non-goal and was working with his players to try and get a new one, despite the improbability of that happening.

Always working towards what can be done the next time, only lingering briefly on the mistakes. That's the kind of mentality that owns a President's Cup ring, and that won't be the last piece of hardware that comes to it.