Ode to 94

As great as it is to see the Wildcats continue their winning ways, it gets tough if you want to write about it. There's only so many ways to say "the third line was efficient", "the goaltending made the saves when required" (which I'm happy to say has been the case as of late) or "Dimitrij Jaskin gave (insert opposing defenders name here) an atomic wedgie on that play". Frankly, it can get old in the best way possible.

Last night was much of the same. A 5-0 win in Bathurst for the Wildcats in which they pretty much dominated. You don't outshoot a team 57-21 by accident. Even tough Bathurst is far from a powerhouse squad, beating any team to that degree in their own barn is an accomplishment.

Jaskin put up his standard three points (and is again stalking in the not-so-faraway distance of the top of the scoring race, five points off the lead) and new-ish powerplay member Christophe Lalonde chipped in with a pair with the man advantage. Seeing that Lalonde is now up to 17 goals on the year - which is more than quadruple his output of last season - reminds me of how he was acquired by the Cats, and the reaction afterwards.

Lalonde was a 16 year old coming off his rookie season with the Lewiston MAINEiacs back in 2011 when the club was disbanded by the league. The fact that the team was bleeding red ink outweighed keeping together what would've been a very strong club last season. When Moncton stepped up at pick #10, most of the big guns/premium pieces such as Dillon Fournier, Etienne Brodeur, Samuel Carrier and Michel Chaput were long gone. When the Cats selected Lalonde, the initial reaction was pretty neutral. All that was known by most was that he was a former second round pick in the QMJHL entry draft, he had a solid playoffs with a Lewiston club that made a surprising run to the league semi-finals and apparently Danny Flynn had received calls and messages from former MAINEiacs brass congratulating him on such a shrewd pick. Hey, that sounds pretty good now doesn't it?

Last year it was obvious that Lalonde was capable of playing in the Q... but the question became where and when would he peak? He was, like almost every player that's passed through here since Flynn came back to town, a responsible two way guy. Good wheels, not terribly strong on his skates and couldn't put the puck in the ocean (which described alot of players on last year's Cats team that was so anemic offensively, four goals could be considered an explosive night). There were alot of questions among those "experts" in the stands questioning if the selection of Lalonde was short-sighted. "Did we lose out on a free impact player?" "Is Flynn losing his touch?" "Is this kid ever going to mature into an impact player?"

Those questions are being answered this year.

I feel alot of people who questioned Lalonde's worth probably forgot a key factor - he was 17 years old last year. It's often easy to overlook the fact that very few 17 year olds generate a significant impact at the major junior level. This is very much an 18 and 19 year old league. This year, Lalonde not only uses his speed but an increased level of strength to allow himself more time and space in all three zones. This leads to more confidence and better results. Lalonde also brings along the ever increasing reputation as a "shift disturber". The final result is a fine all purpose forward who can jump up to the top six if ever it was called for, can take a shift on the PK and powerplay units and can get in the head of the opposition. Those types of guys are incredibly valuable to any club. Not bad for a "free" player I'd say.

The Cats are back at it... right now, in fact. This time hosting the Titan, the game is still in the first. In fact Jaskin has just scored on the PP, making the Titan look like spectators in the process (in fairness, they should have to buy a ticket to be allowed to watch that sort of distribution). This sickly blogger is watching from the small screen with the golden tones of Gerry and Frank dancing through my medicated head... which makes it sound pretty good, actually. I highly recommend it.

In Truro, the Commandos try and take the positives out of their hard fought loss to the Summerside Western Capitals into tonight's game at the Colchester Legion Center. The last time Dieppe visited the Bearcats, this happened. Cross your fingers and take your chances, I suppose.