For the 10th Synerglace Ligue Magnus club report, let’s take a look at the Brûleurs de Loups from Grenoble. The Grenoble team had a strange season in the championship, finishing third in the regular season and being eliminated in the semi-finals!
Photo credit: Fabien Baldino
The first match of the season at Cergy-Pontoise reflects the year of the Brûleurs de Loups de Grenoble. Dominant in the first act by leading 3-0, the Grenoblois finally lost 4-3. Their season was in this same register with a rather complicated start. After the 18th day, Jyrki Aho was dismissed from his duties at a time when the Isère club was already 10 points behind the leading duo Rouen-Angers, and when he was coming out of a failed Continental Cup semi-final at the home, with three losses in as many matches and only one goal scored. The team then recovered well with notably 10 successes in a row after the Coupe de France title, best series in Synerglace Ligue Magnus over 2023-2024, and finished third. After a controlled quarter-final by winning 4-0 against the Amiens Gothiques, Jakub Stepanek’s teammates then found themselves in difficulty during the semi-finals with a 4-1 defeat against Bordeaux, continuing them in the regular season. A disappointment for Grenoble which had participated in all the finals since 2017-2018.
Although it has lost a few spectators compared to last season, the attendance at Polesud remains excellent. With an average of 4,024 people during the regular season, the occupancy rate is 95.6%. On 17 occasions, the Isère ice rink was sold out, including nine times… in the last nine meetings, including the play-offs. In several areas, the Wolfburners rank second. Second attack in the League with 184 goals scored, it also has the second conversion rate in terms of shots with 11.42% of shots which end in the back of the net. In addition to the best series in the championship in terms of overall victories (10), Grenoble has the second highest number of consecutive victories at home with 8, as well as away with five victories in a row. Finally, in powerplay, the team also showed itself at ease. She finished in first place with 49 goals out of 147 power plays.
Including the second attack of the Magnus Synerglace League, many offensive players stood out. The Alpins had the two best scorers in their ranks. Arriving from Denmark and leaving for Ljubljana next season, Alexandre Lavoie finished in first place with 57 points, which earned him the Charles Ramsay title of best scorer. He also ranks at the top in assists with 42 assists. His teammate Nicolas Deschamps is just behind with 53 points. He completes the podium of the best assistants with 36 assists. For three seasons, the Canadian has shown his importance with 213 points, also including the final stages. In each specific ranking, we find an additional Grenoblois in the Top 10. Damien Fleury finds himself in fifth place in goals with 21 goals. For his 8th season in the Alps, Kyle Hardy is once again one of the best assistants in the championship, especially as a defender. In 2023-2024, he is tied for seventh (28 assists).
Executive with the Brûleurs de Loups and resident of the French team, Adel Koudri gives us an update on this season. Several changes are already to be noted for the coming year, with the recruitment of a new coach Per Hanberg or the recruitment of Matija Pintaric in goal.
Adel Koudri : « We won the Coupe de France, a second in two years. For us, it’s important to win this cup. It was a difficult course, it comes down to one match. We are proud to have won it for a second year in a row. We had Rouen in the quarters as well, so we are very happy. This competition was positive.
In the regular season, we finished third. It was a slightly more complicated phase. Then, we won Amiens in four games, that’s a good point. But then, we are a little surprised by Bordeaux. We don’t host the first game of the playoffs against them. It was a little different from what we’re used to playing. I don’t know if it had an impact on my mind. It was a great Bordeaux team, which defended correctly. At that time, we had quite a few injured. We also had some during the season, which weakened us a little. We got through the Continental Cup, which we will rectify for next year. Throughout the season, we remember the positive and the negative to pull ourselves together, move forward and build for the next deadlines. We have bigger expectations for next year.
The Grenoble season in figures:
- Ranking position: 3rd
- Top scorer: Alexandre Lavoie (57 points)
- Top scorer: Damien Fleury (21 goals)
- Best assistant: Alexandre Lavoie (42 assists)
- Number of goals scored: 184
- Number of goals conceded: 113
- Numerical superiority (ratio): 33.33%
- Numerical inferiority (ratio): 76.98%
- Longest winning streak: 10
- Longest losing streak: 3
The results of the 12 Synerglace Ligue Magnus clubs
