CASTORS TO FACE RANGERS IN NCJHL FINALS

The Gatineau-Hull Volant did manage to force a game seven, but the Clarence Castors finally got their fourth win of the series to earn a trip to the NCJHL finals, where they will face-off against the South Grenville Rangers.

After winning the first three games of the series, the Clarence Castors lost three consecutive games against the Volant, but they finally managed to take game seven to earn a trip to the NCJHL finals. Games five and six went down to the wire, with both games being taken by the Volant in overtime. However, the Castors got back to their old habits in game seven, playing a perfect game defensively to shutout the visiting team and win 3-0. Jacob Servant, Philippe Plante and Cayden Martin scored the goals for the home team, while Jaddus Savoie, Alex Ross, Alderic Denis and Xavier Brunet notched assists in the victory.

Castors’ Head Coach Tim Kosch admits he was on edge after the back-to-back losses in overtime: “It’s been a pretty intense couple of days, for sure. It felt like we had a breakdown over the last three games, so we really had to work hard to remind ourselves that we are still the best team in the league, and that everything is still in our favour.”

But the Castors’ head coach is proud of what his team accomplished in the face of adversity: “Gatineau are a really good team. They remind me of our team, in a sense, because they play really well defensively and they put a lot of pressure on the opposing team. It’s a good thing that the semi-finals were so intense, because that is great preparation for the finals.”

Looking ahead, Kosch feels pretty good about his team’s chances in the matchup against the Rangers: “They are a good team. They play really well as a unit and they have a lot of depth. They also have a big defender who takes up a lot of space on the ice, so a part of our game plan will be looking for ways to limit his impact on the game. But like I keep telling the guys, they’re going to need to adjust to the way we do things, not the other way around. I still think we’re the best team in the league, and we’re pretty confident about our chances in the finals.”

The NCJHL finals will kick off on Saturday in South Grenville. The first game in Clarence will be held on March 27 at 4 p.m.

—photo Charles Durocher Le Volant de Gatineau-Hull a forcé la tenue d’un septième match, mais les Castors de Clarence ont finalement remporté leur quatrième victoire de la série pour éliminer leurs adversaires et se mériter une place en finales de la NCJHL, où ils affronteront les Rangers de South Grenville.