The Montreal Canadiens ECHL affiliate, the Trois-Rivieres Lions, made several roster changes as they completed the first half of the season.
The Trois-Rivieres Lions completed a busy week with three matches and plenty of news off the ice as they wrapped up the first half of the season.
Wednesday: Trois-Rivieres Lions 5 - Maine Mariners 8
The Mariners got on the board 49 seconds into the contest, but two goals from Cedric Montminy and one from Jared Power gave the Lions a two-goal lead through 20 minutes.
Maine chased Joe Vrbetic out of the contest with three goals in under four minutes in the second period and take the lead. The goalie change didn't improve the situation as Zachary Bouthilier allowed three goals in the third period and the Mariners added an empty netter. Xavier Filion and Markus Komuls also scored for the visitors during the six-goal third period of this contest.
Friday: Atlanta Gladiators 5 - Trois-Rivieres Lions 4
For a second consecutive time, the Lions were forced to chase the game quickly as the Gladiators scored during the first minute. The teams took turns getting on the board and Trois-Rivieres ran out of time as the Nashville Predators affiliate recorded their fifth goal with 40 seconds remaining in the third period. Justin Ducharme, Montminy, Nolan Yaremko and Miguel Tourigny scored for the home team.
“We haven’t had any luck lately. [Rylan Parenteau] would like to get some goals back. That said, if we play this way, we will find a way to win. I'm a positive guy. It's easy to look at the negative. If we continue to play like this, we will get through this," noted coach and general manager Ron Choules.
(Quotes courtesy Le Nouvelliste)
Saturday: Atlanta Gladiators 2 - Trois-Rivieres Lions 5
After a scoreless first period, Trois-Rivieres took a 3-1 lead in the second period with goals by Alex-Olivier Voyer, Justin Ducharme and Jakov Novak. In third period, Yaremko added a power play goal before Atlanta cut the deficit to one with a power play goal of their own. Ducharme sealed the victory into an empty net for his second of the night.
Montembeault Visits Colisee Videotron
Sam Montembeault was at Colisee Videotron on Friday for a meet and greet with the fans in the attendance. The goalie took pictures and signed autographs for one hour prior to the start of the match and during the first intermission. He also participated in the ceremonial opening faceoff.
Montembeault's participation is a key step in the relationship between the Canadiens and their ECHL affiliate. The 27-year-old was the first active Canadiens player to participate in an event organized by Trois-Rivieres since its inception in 2021-22 season. Up to this date, only retired players have been present for activities with the Lions.
Roster News
Novak and Voyer did the 140 kilometers round trip between Place Bell and Colisee Videotron. Both missed Wednesday's game in Maine before being returned to Trois-Rivieres on time for Friday's contest. Yaremko was back with the Lions after his most recent stint with the Laval Rocket since December 1st.
On Tuesday, Xavier Filion signed a contract with the team. The 21-year-old forward had played three games with the Wheeling Nailers (Pittsburgh Penguins) earlier this season.
On Thursday, Choules acquired goalie Rylan Parenteau from the Toledo Walleye for future considerations. The 27-year-old played 25 ECHL games over the last two seasons with the Newfoundland Growlers (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Fort Wayne Komets (Edmonton Oilers).
With Parenteau's acquistion, Trois-Rivieres have a three-goalie tandem, similar to their NHL and AHL affiliates. Since being pulled during Wednesday's contest, Vrbetic was not dressed for the two games at Colisee Videotron over the weekend.
The Rocket made a trade on Thursday with impact to the Lions when they traded defenceman Noah Laaouan to the Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres) for Chris Jandric. Jandric had split the season between the AHL and ECHL, while Laaouan had not been recalled by Laval this season.
Forwards Jared Power and Maxim Trepanier were released by the club. Trepanier will continue his career in Europe.
Injury Updates
The organization provided the following injury updates:
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Up Next
The Lions continue their five-game homestand by hosting the Adirondack Thunder on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, it's the ECHL jersey reveral day that will result in Trois-Rivieres wearing their blue jerseys at Colisee Videoton and the white jerseys on the road.
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