Le Colisee de Rimouski... Where (Mostly) Bad, Bad Things Happen

Don't let the happy demeanor fool you... he's probably packing heat.

Welcome to Friday Night Hockey on Sportsnet, starring the Moncton Wildcats and the Rimouski Oceanic. Oh, and Rob Faulds, if he's allowed back in town after the 2009 Memorial Cup. While you're tuned in to watch these two highly skilled clubs duke it out, think about some of the other fun times the Wildcats have had in Rimouski. And by fun, I mean soul crushing, poke your eyes out with a wooden skewer type disaster fun.

Think back... way back. 15 long years ago, to be exact. That spring, the Cats were in the playoffs for the first time ever. They vanquished the higher ranked (and - on paper, at least - more talented) Chicoutimi Sagueneens in six games. Off to round two! And who awaited them in round two? The Rimouski Oceanic... as well as the Quebec Remparts... all intertwined in what can only be described as Satan's gift to playoff hockey, the round robin. No matter. The Wildcats defeated first place Quebec in game one (despite being badly outshot... and outplayed). Unfortunately, the ride would soon come to an end as the Cats would lose the next three games of the round robin and Quebec would "miraculously" come from behind in the final round robin game in eliminate the need for a tie-breaker game and send both the 'Nics and the Remps to the league semi-finals. Oh well... Rimouski was a tough opponent... but the Cats were on the upswing. They'll get them whenever they get the chance to face them in the playoffs again.

They got their chance the following year. With home ice, to boot. Here's what happened:

Not

Too

Damned

Much

Five days after it started, it was over. Two blown leads at home and two outright blowups on the road and Rimouski was advancing once again on the backs of the Moncton Wildcats.

However, the following year, the Cats would be even stronger! A powerhouse, in fact! Plenty of big names, tons of valuable playoff experience and this time with enough momentum to take down Bathurst in a four game first round sweep before coming from behind in Game 7 to vanquish the ultra-sketchy Quebec Remparts in the conference (remember conferences??) semi-finals. To the third round we went!

And who was there?

Oh yes... Rimouski.

Did the same thing happen as before?

Oh yes...

And was it the most gut-wrenching defeat yet?

Read this and decide for yourself. Pay particular attention to when the last two Rimouski goals were scored.

In this case, it wasn't just the loss (this was Game 2 of the series, by the way... and it put Moncton down 0-2 in that series)... it's what the loss represented. When Juraj Kolnik's shot deflected off the trapper of Simon Lajeunesse and into the bottom left corner of the net with less than a minute to go in the game, the Wildcat's dream season effectively ended. Until that steamy Sunday afternoon in May, 2006, this was the most demoralizing moment in franchise history. In some ways, this Rimouski loss was still the worst of the two, if only because the organization had not yet tasted any tangible success on which to hang it's hat on. As well, the Memorial Cup final loss didn't have nearly the same far reaching ramifications as this loss - both this one game and the series as a whole - did. They had built for five seasons for this chance (unlike the Wildcats, I actually include the Alpines). They knew after this chance it would be a while for the franchise to reach the top of the mountain again. And it all blew up. Two years of purgatory and four years with a playoff series victory ensued. And where was the final nail hammered in the coffin? Le Colisee, of course!

Revenge eventually does come to those who wait.

2004... still one of my all time favorite years as a sports fan. First off, I'm a Red Sox fan... so that part is pretty self-explanatory. Then there was Montreal's inspired series win against Boston in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Finally, the Moncton Wildcats - who seemed to muddle along like a fractured kind of lot with what some felt was a questionable head coach - were back on top again... sort of.

This wasn't the big, bad powerhouse team many had envisioned. Yes, they were big (one of the toughest teams in franchise history in fact, led by Thierry Douville and featuring Nathan Saunders, Cody Doucette and Luke Pelham and scores of other lads who could hold their own). And some nights, oh lord, were they bad. But when all was said and done, they just weren't the fearsome bunch that many had suffered for the better part of four years to cheer on. They were really good, yes. Just not great.

Sometimes really good can take you pretty darned far, though.

After sweeping Baie-Comeau and taking out an ultra tough PEI Rocket team, Round 3 of the Q playoffs beckoned. And who was there?

The entity that by that time was widely refered to as "Sidney Crosby and the Rimouski Oceanic"... like they were a friggin swing band, complete with bandleader or something!

Simply put, alot of people outside Moncton - and even a few within city limits - wanted to see Moncton lose that series (if only to see Crosby win). If history was any indicator, there was a good possibility those people could've gotten their wish. However, this was one year in which the Cats were solid favorites to beat Rimouski. To do so, they would have to accomplish something they had not done going into that series - win a playoff game at Le Colisee.

Game 1 took care of that. It was a pretty big moment. First, it was the fact that the team had gone ahead 1-0 in a league semi-final series for the first time. Then there was symbolism of that ever-elusive first playoff win in Rimouski. Finally, the conclusion of this game marked the one and only time in my life that I - from my apartment in Moncton - performed the Homer Simpson "floor spin"

Not for an hour... but for at least a minute or two.

Moncton would win two of the next three, setting up Game 5 in Rimouski. A trip to the finals would be on the line for Moncton. All they had to do was win in a building they now had a 1-7 career playoff record in. No biggie.

Any of the fans who were there for Game 5 will never forget it. A tension, pressure packed chess match style game ensued. 60 minutes of ulcer inducing glory. It was all worth it as Kevin Glode's shot off a rebound found it's way past Guillaume Lavallee in the latter stages of the third to give the Cats a 2-1 lead and - minutes later - their first berth in the QMJHL finals.

It's ironic how situations and history play out. Since that night - April 26, 2004 - the Cats have not won another playoff game in Rimouski. They went 0-2 in 2009. Their lifetime record in that building in the postseason stands at 2-10. Some regular season games have been pretty forgettable as well. A number of times, the Cats have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory there. It was a bloodbath of a game in Rimouski that spelled the end of the line for Christian Larue (okay, maybe it wasn't all bad).

Sometimes though, one win can atone for alot of losses. As tough as the sledding has been for the Wildcats in the city of Rimouski, because of one single solitary game, I will always have fond memories of the place. I - as well as a handful of others from this neck of the woods - saw something special there.

And the poutine is outstanding, too.