While Martin St-Louis’ Montreal Canadiens are learning to win in the NHL, Pascal Vincent’s Laval Rocket seems to have mastered the art of winning with a record of 47-19-3-2 (99 points). Thanks to a 5-1 win over the Belleville Senators, the Habs' AHL affiliate clinched first place in the league yesterday and won the MacGregor Kilpatrick Trophy.
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It’s the first time since the 1991-92 campaign that the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate wins the title. Back then, the Canadiens’ hopefuls wore the Fredericton Canadiens’ colours. Needless to say, it’s been a while. The Hamilton Bulldogs also won in 2002-03, but they were the Habs and the Edmonton Oilers shared an affiliate.
The Mini Habs won the trophy convincingly at Place Bell, and five different players scored in the game, while a single shot got behind Cayden Primeau. The netminder has been in fantastic form since being sent down to the Rocket after the Christmas break, and he’ll enter the playoffs full of confidence.
Alex Barre-Boulet leads the Rocket in scoring this season with 63 points in 64 games and made Kent Hughes look good for signing him as a free agent to a one-year contract last Summer. Laurent Dauphin, Jared Davidson, Sean Farrell, and Owen Beck complete the top five in scoring.
Beck is the only rookie of the group and has 42 points to his name. Joshua Roy is just outside the top five with 35 points in 47 games, but he has spent the last little while with the big club in the NHL, even though he hasn’t played.
Florian Xhekaj may not be among the scoring leaders, with 33 points in 68 games, but 22 were goals. Furthermore, the gritty center leads the team with 175 penalty minutes.
Logan Mailloux leads all defensemen with 33 points in 63 games, a drop in production compared to last season, but he has played nine fewer games. The regular season ends on Saturday, April 19. The Rocket will receive a bye for the best-of-five series as the top team and take on the Cleveland Monsters and Toronto Marlies match-up winner in the second round.
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