Julien, Parent hope to build off momentum heading into playoffs
After a brief two-week hiatus since the end of the regular season, the Sherbrooke Phoenix are set to take on the third-place Chicoutimi Saguenéens on Friday evening for the first round of the 2021 President Cup Playoffs.
“Mentally, it was tough, quite a bit, but now that we know that we’re going to start next week guys are back to work and we’ll be ready,” said Phoenix head coach Stephane Julien about the prolonged break before the post-season due to COVID-19 safety measures.
They just want to play, he continued, as the Phoenix spent the past two weeks practicing without any clue as to when the playoffs would take place. But Sherbrooke is still riding high right now. They enter the post-season having won four of their last five games.
They also played the Saguenéens three times to conclude the regular season, winning twice, 5-4 and 5-2, respectively. Although they lost one, they managed to shut down Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) stars Dawson Mercer and Hendrix Lapierre.
“The way we played them the last bubble in Sherbrooke with two wins in three games against them I think it was a statement that we can beat any team in the league,” said Julien.
The Phoenix played their final regular season game on March 25 — a 5-1 victory over the last place Baiecomeau Drakkar. Julien has accepted that his team might be going into the five-game series against the Saguenéens with a little bit of rust.
However, he believes every team is in the same boat. Chicoutimi played two more games than Sherbrooke this season, and their last game was played on April 2. The Saguenéens finished on a three-game winning streak, though, compiling 17 goals in that span.
The Phoenix suffered a COVID-19 outbreak early in the year. They finished 8-17-1-1, good for third to last in the QMJHL. And they shopped veteran players at the trade deadline, including captain Sam Poulin. But they are showing some life, getting better with every bubble.
“It’s not by accident that we did some good stuff the last few months because guys have put some work together on the ice, so we’ll see, I prefer to finish the season the right way,” Julien said.
He told The Record that it all started to click roughly two months ago in the Shawinigan bubble. The team was beginning to gel. The players arriving from the Maritimes, including sharpshooter Joshua Roy, were getting comfortable. And leadership stepped up.
Most notably, the play of stand-out goaltender Samuel Hlavaj took a major turn. He needed time to readjust to the QMJHL after spending some time away from the team during the world junior break, Julien explained.
“The last five or six games he has been outstanding. He plays a lot, he’s a leader on our team and if we expect to have a chance to beat Chicoutimi, he’s our key guy,” he said.
Xavier Parent is another player who turned it on late in the season. He was given the captaincy when Poulin was sent to Val-d’or. He took the leadership role and ran with it. He also put together his best season in the QMJHL, posting 27 points in 24 games.
“I’m expecting him to be a key player in the playoffs with Josh [Roy], those two guys they can turn games very quickly but he’s a typical gamer, he’ll show up every game, that’s what we need and that’s why he’s the captain of our team,” said Julien.
In an interview with The Record, Parent said this was an important year for him. He’s 20 years old and undrafted, making this season a crucial one for his professional career. He spent a lot of time in the gym. Parent knew that he needed to improve his game overall.
He joked about being captain for the first time since his pee-wee days. But the letter on his chest didn’t intimidate him. The Phoenix are a young team, so Parent adopted the older brother role, mentoring players three to four years younger than him, on and off the ice.
Parent feels confident heading into game one on Friday. The team is working hard every day, he said, adding that they have the talent and can outwork Chicoutimi. There is a weight on his shoulders entering the series, but he isn’t shying away from a challenge.
“I have to play my best games, I have to be better than Mercer and Lapierre every night, so I know I can do that, I know if I work hard every night, if I keep it simple, I can do that,” said Parent.