Tonight is the First Game of the Rest of Your Season

Reading this will help with whatever comes your way from now until May... that, and rum.

All aboard the train to contention! First stop, the Moncton Coliseum, where the newly constituted Wildcats face their first test against the Gatineau Olympiques in a 7PM start. The never ending storyline on the Cats has been historically crappy home scheduling due to the multi-purpose Coliseum being contracted out for any number of sporting events, trade shows, teamsters meetings, etc. However, the stars have certainly aligned in favour of the arena's main tenant as tonight's tilt represents their only game in a 12 day span. Plus, they get to ease into things perhaps a bit more against a Gatineau team that has made a home for itself towards the bottom of the standings, partly due to circumstance.

The 'Piques come into tonight's game in 14th place, four games under .500 but still sporting a modest two game winning streak after a dominating victory in Cape Breton on Wednesday and a hard fought win over PEI last night. No matter where they are in the standings, you have to be leery of Gatineau. They still have one of the best coaches in entire CHL in Benoit Groulx and strong leadership on the ice with the likes of Thomas Hyka, Garbiel Bourret and in my estimation one of the most underrated players in the league, captain Taylor Burke. This Olympiques squad, slated to be one of the more contentious teams going into the season, has found itself spinning it's wheels at times. One of those reasons has potentially been rectified with the recent return of number one goaltender and Moncton native Robert Steeves, who had been lost since the first week of training camp with a knee injury.

What it all adds up to is for this "final look" Wildcats squad, now featuring newly acquired Phillip Danault and with World Junior returnee Dimitij Jaskin back in the lineup, this Gatineau squad may represent the best possible test coming out of the gate post-deadline day. How they fare against this team, who are better than their record indicates, should be a good measuring stick by which to gauge how they should look against most of the teams in the league, save the top 4 or so.

In Woodstock last night, the Slammers handed a 4-1 loss to the Dieppe Commandos. The top line of Graham, Dallaire and Blanchard accounted for the only Dieppe offence, while Woodstock certainly spread the wealth with eight players factoring into the scoring, including most recent additions Brennan Saulnier, Carlos Amestoy and former Mooseheads defenseman Steve Gillard.

Gillard, of course, became the "fourth overager" in Halifax last weekend after the Moose acquired forward Stephen McAulay from Saint John. I first had the chance to watch Gillard in his final season with the midget AAA St.John's Fog Devils. The team was the Newfoundland representative at the midget Atlantics tournament in Saint John that spring and out of all players on that St.John's roster, he impressed me the most. Even more than another 16 year old who is well known in junior hockey circles today - forward Zach O'Brien. Gillard was to the Fog Devils what Pierre Durepos was to the New Brunswick representative - and eventual tournament champion - Moncton Flyers during that tournament. An all purpose defenseman, steady in all three zones and incredibly poised and patient while eating up a ton of minutes on the back end. Although he was playing against players 14-16 years old that weekend, it was obvious even then that he would have no problem adapting to the older age group - and higher talent level - of major junior. Gillard did just that, quietly and effectively for three and a half seasons in Halifax.

He had been with that Mooseheads squad during some of their worst seasons and had only recently been rewarded for that patience before the club was forced to cut ties with him in what truly is the ugly side of the game. According to all accounts, Gillard took the setback in stride, wished his old teammates the best of luck and did what any understanding player would do - he immediately made tracks for his new home in Woodstock, without complaint. That type of professional attitude is something sorely missed at all levels of the game - and something that will no doubt be missed by the Mooseheads, both on and off the ice. If there's a player on an MHL team outside of Dieppe that I wish nothing but the best for from now until the end of the season, it's the former #44 of the Mooseheads. He gives the Slammers a dimension that other top flight teams sometimes find hard to possess amongst all their skill - a professional attitude and a calming influence in all situations.

As for the Commandos, they play host to the Metro Shipbuilders tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 at the AJL. Dieppe will be looking to get back into the win column while Metro will really, really, really be trying to do so. With only four victories to this point in the season, victories have unfortunately been few and far between for the Ships.

Over at the Levesque, les Aigles snapped a seven game losing streak with a big 4-3 win over Acadia last night. Pier-Anotine Dion's goal early in the third proved to be the difference as U de M improved to 8-8-3 on the season, tied for fifth place with UPEI. They'll be looking to make it two in a row tonight at 7PM as U de M hosts seventh place Dalhousie.

The Moncton Flyers continue to... well, fly... at the East Coast Ice Jam Tournament in Halifax, finishing 3-0 in round robin play after a 3-1 win over Cape Breton West yesterday and in the process, forgoing the wildcard round. This allows them to move directly to a quarter final matchup against Miramichi at 6:15 this evening.

So, pick your poison... find a rink and step inside. After this weekend we'll be all about that league that saves itself at the last minute because it loves it's fans so much (and because Donald Fehr had finally had the appropriate amount of face time as per CBA guidelines). Enjoy what we have around here while the choice is at it's easiest.