We are approaching the third of the season in the QMJHL and for a second year in a row the Gatineau Olympics started the season on the wrong foot. Sunday afternoon, in front of their loyal supporters, the squad of rookie head coach Alexis Loiseau suffered a 10th defeat in a row (an 18th in 20 games this season).
Gatineau finds itself in 18th and last place in the general ranking and, with the two wins of the Charlottetown Islanders this weekend in Sydney, Cape Breton, the Olympics find themselves 6 points from 16th and last place which will give access to the playoffs.
Very often this season, the Gatinois have come close to winning matches, as was the case on Sunday against the Saguenéens, but the result is not often positive, which is starting to royally annoy the team’s management and players. . “Enough of the moral victories!” » Mentioned Loiseau during his post-match press briefing on Sunday.
The Olympics also started the season on a bad note a year ago with a record of 6-15-3 after 24 games. At mid-season, the Londres were in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1984, but head coach Benoît Desrosiers, before his promotion to the New York Islanders in late January, and GM Serge Beausoleil , who subsequently took over the reins of the team, had managed to right the ship so that the record streak of participation in the playoffs could continue.
Gatineau maintained a 16-6-8 record in the last 30 games of the schedule to finally finish in 14th place in the general rankings. According to CEO Serge Beausoleil, the 24-25 edition nevertheless relies on better elements than that of last year.
When talking with Loiseau and team captain Jérémie Minville, we have the impression of hearing the answers from Martin St-Louis after the Canadian’s numerous defeats this season. “We’re close… there’s not much missing… we’ve been playing better lately…” The fact is that there are only two victories in the Olympics since September 20 and only one in regulation time won by 4-0 in Quebec, on October 17.
Three times in the last four games, the Olympics have taken their rivals to overtime, but they seem incapable of finishing the job. On Sunday, they enjoyed seven straight power plays in the first 40 minutes of play, but only scored one goal.
Special teams are definitely an area where Gatineau can be better (14th in power play and 17th short of a player). The Olympics only take an average of 25 shots per game that hit the opposing net, which is not enough, while in front of the Olympic fortress the four goalkeepers used this season have a clearly insufficient combined efficiency rate of .833. This is the worst rate of all junior teams in the country.
While driving around the magnificent home of the Olympics at the end of the week, we could feel the discontent of the fans especially since in the event of exclusion from the playoffs the Outaouais team no longer has its first round pick, traded two years ago to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in return for forward Riley Kidney. This transaction occurred in the wake of an attempt to win the President’s Cup in 2023 by the former hockey administration.
Last season, veteran GM Serge Beausoleil promised in December that the team would not miss the playoffs in his first season at the helm. He kept his word! The cunning CEO had managed to plug major gaps with the acquisitions of Mathis Gauthier, Alexandre Gaudio and Justin Boisselle.
Will he manage to save the furniture this year by finding help somewhere or will the Olympics miss the spring meeting for the first time in 40 years?
To be continued over the coming weeks!
