Val-d’Or Foreurs at Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, March 29, 2016

VDO #26 LD Galipeau, Olivier (2016): He had a real strong first period in his zone, including many solid hits and attempts to set a tempo for his team. He was good at anticipating the play and stepping up for good hits in the neutral zone. He played tough in his own end and in front of his net. He played in every situation, including the top-D pairing, top PP unit and top PK unit. On the power play, he was the lone defenseman but his play selection was average at best. He is not a natural puck-mover and his decision-making was slow. He played most of the game on the right side on the PP and at even-strength.

VDO #12 RW Gauthier, Julien (2016): He didn’t register any points. He was able to create some chances for himself in different ways, off the rush with his speed and reach he had three to four good sequences. On the power play in front of the net he did his job well, as he is tough to move from there. When the Foreurs were looking for goals, he tried to do a bit too much with the puck, trying too much on his own. He showed good puck skills one on one and also an excellent shot with a quick release. Overall I was left wanting to see more compete from him. I didn’t think he worked hard enough.

VDO #20 RW Tremblay, Nathan (2016): Played more of a depth role, mostly on the 3rd line, but didn’t get to play on special teams. Good anticipation away from the puck; he read the play well and was quick to put pressure on puck-carriers. Good work along the boards; he was strong on his skates and protected the puck nicely. However, not many scoring chances came from him during the game.

VDO #51 LW Beauchemin, Francois (2016): The ’96-born forward had an excellent game for the Foreurs, including probably the hit of the game on Crête-Belzile in the 2nd period. He had many scoring chances in the the game, including a breakaway in the 2nd period. Solid on his skates with good smarts.

BLB #6 LD Crête-Belzile, Antoine (2017): Got hit really hard in the second period by Francois Beauchemin, but showed good courage by taking the hit and moving the puck out of his zone. He played a sound, effective game with not a lot of flash, but he was efficient in moving the puck out of his zone. He kept his game simple, didn’t take risks but made simple breakout plays. Defensively, he did well. On one particular sequence, he made good use of his stick when matched up one-on-one versus Julien Gauthier.

BLB #24 C Teasdale, Joel (2017): Playing center tonight, Teasdale had a tough night in the faceoff circle, going 9/25. He played his typical game along the boards, winning battles and in front of the net. He played in every situation, almost scoring in the first period off a two-on-one chance during a PK, but was robbed by the glove of Étienne Montpetit. Great work ethic.

BLB #89 C Picard, Miguel (2016): Scored the game-winning goal, diving by crashing the net and getting the puck past Montpetit. He did good job on the PK, always supporting his defensemen well and blocking passing lanes with his good stick. His skating is rough, and he will need to improve his acceleration.

BLB #22 RW Katerinakis, Alexander (2016): Katerinakis was involved a lot in the play in the first period, showing good quickness and creating offensive scoring chances with his speed. His play dropped off in the 2nd and 3rd periods.