‘It’s going to be a physical series’
Cape Breton Eagles ready for challenge that awaits in top-ranked Baie-Comeau Drakkar
SYDNEY — The Cape Breton Eagles and Baie-Comeau Drakkar are two teams not overly familiar with each other when it comes to Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League playoffs.
Cape Breton and Baie-Comeau have only met once in the playoffs and that meeting came 22 years ago when the Eagles knocked off the Drakkar in five games to advance to the second round of the league playoffs.
Since the last playoff meeting in 2002, a lot has changed with both organizations, but one thing that hasn’t is their desire to win a league championship.
The Eagles and Drakkar have yet to claim league titles in their 27-year history, but the teams will look to take the next step in accomplishing that goal this week.
Cape Breton (39-26-1-2) and Baie-Comeau (53-12-2-1) will meet in the league semifinal with the best-of-seven series beginning tonight and Friday with Games 1 and 2 in Baie-Comeau, Que.
“It’s going to be a good matchup where two teams are playing well over the last two months and are now going to face each other,” said Eagles head coach Louis Robitaille.
“They’re a team that was been ranked No. 1 since day one and they finished first overall in the league… we’re going to need to bring our ‘A’ game every night.”
The Eagles will play in only their third semifinal series since 2002 and will make their first appearance in the third round in 17 years dating back to 2007 when they lost to the Val-d’Or Foreurs in seven games.
Meanwhile, the Drakkar have played in four semifinal series since 2000 and advanced to the league final twice in 2013 and 2014, only to lose to Halifax and Vald’Or in respective years.
“We’re really happy with how things went finishing first overall, but it was more the players’ work ethic for me,” said Drakkar head coach Jean-François Grégoire.
“We play fast, and we play strong physically and we’re not shy to use our shoulder – everybody wants to prove something every game.”
RIDING THE CONFIDENCE TRAIN
On their way to making the semifinals, Cape Breton eliminated the Rimouski Océanic in five games in the opening round and the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in four games in the second round.
Robitaille said the club is confident in its ability to compete with the top-ranked Drakkar, who finished first overall in the league.
“We’ve worked hard to get here but we’re a long way away,” he said. “We’re halfway done. You need 16 wins to win the trophy and we want to win our last game, so for us, it’s good what’s happened in the first two rounds, but we cannot get comfortable and get in a comfort zone.
“We have a job to do now and we move on from the
nd first two rounds and now we’re attacking this round with a lot of confidence – we’re confident in us.”
As for the Drakkar, the club swept both their first two series with the Charlottetown Islanders and Acadie-Bathurst Titan in four games, despite the Titan taking BaieComeau to overtime in both Games 3 and 4 in Bathurst, N.B.
Grégoire said momentum swings are something his team has managed well in the playoffs to date.
“We won both series in four games, but a lot of momentum went both ways and we had to go through those momentum shifts even with Charlottetown and Bathurst,” he said, noting confidence is at an all-time high with the club.
“Bathurst played hard against us and grinded us and gave us everything they had, so we had to work hard in the playoffs too.”
SIMILAR STYLE
Cape Breton and Baie-Comeau have a similar style of game when it comes to being physical.
The Eagles line of Antoine Roy, Lucas Romeo and Charles-Antoine Lavallée has been a force to be reckoned with during the first two rounds of the playoffs.
However, like the Eagles, the Drakkar also like to throw the body. Despite the similar style, Robitaille said no changes will be made to his team's play.
“We’re not going to change our style of game and they won’t change their style of game, so it’s going to be a physical series and we’re ready for that,” he said.
“This is the type of game that we like to play. We’re going to be comfortable with that. Every time you advance in the playoffs the teams are deeper and bigger and stronger and we’re going to need to be ready.”
Grégoire acknowledged Cape Breton’s style of play.
“We have to manage their physicality and have the same compete level because right now the Eagles’ compete level is through the roof and the confidence is through the roof too,” said Grégoire. “We have to equal that.”
Since the playoffs began, Robitaille said one of the many things he likes about the team is the club’s growth.
“I think our game is evolving and as a group, in the playoffs, we’re learning how to win in tight games – just look at Game 2 it was a 1-0 game and we were comfortable playing in it,” he said, noting the team’s penalty kill in the second round was good and anticipates that continuing in the third round.
“I like the fact that guys now know how to win
because before that firstround series win we didn’t have a lot of experience in that. Now the guys winning the first two rounds, I think they're more comfortable playing in the playoffs.”
Offensively in the playoffs, both teams haven’t had trouble finding the back of the net. Cape Breton has scored 42 goals in nine games while Baie-Comeau has netted 37 goals in eight games.
Cam Squires and Jacob Newcombe lead the way for the Eagles offensively. Squires has seven goals and 17 points while Newcombe has eight goals and 16 points.
“The line — Squires, Newcombe and Cam MacDonald — has been really good since the beginning of the playoffs and I like their commitment on both sides of the puck,” said Robitaille.
“Cam MacDonald has been on the big stage, he won a Memorial Cup and he went to the final four last year. He’s going to lead by example and he can share his experience — in the end, we want him to focus on his job. It’s a big series and they have a lot of good centremen.”
For the Drakkar, Justin Gill has five goals and 15 points
while NHL draft-eligible forward Justin Poirier has 10 goals and 14 points in the postseason.
Despite the offensive talent, Grégoire said the key to success begins in the defensive zone.
“We have some guys who
can score goals but it’s team defence for us first even though you’re an offensiveminded player,” he said. “We want everybody to make sure that we defend well with tracking and being tight everywhere on the ice — we can score goals, but I don’t want anybody to think only offensively.”
READY TO PLAY
When puck drops on the series tonight, it will be more than a week since both Cape Breton and Baie-Comeau concluded their respective second-round series.
The Eagles, who will begin the series on the road for the first time in the 2024 playoffs, flew to Baie-Comeau on Wednesday morning and Robitaille said the team is ready to get the series started.
“It’s not about the individual but about the team and it’s all about team success,” he said. “Everybody has accepted their role and we’re going to need everyone — nobody is invisible in the dressing room.”
Although Baie-Comeau has home-ice advantage, Grégoire doesn’t think that will play a factor in the series.
“Hockey is different now,” said Grégoire. “The old vintage was more with the emotion and being physical and having fights, but hockey has changed, so on home ice or on the road the game is about the same — I’m not sure it’s a big factor right now at this time.”
In the other semifinal series, the second-place Drummondville Voltigeurs will play the fourth-place Victoriaville Tigres. The best-of-seven series begins on Friday at 8 p.m. Atlantic time in Drummondville, Que.