With a win on the books and a new franchise record set, there were plenty of reasons for Laval Rocket fans to finish the home stand feeling good.
With a win on the books and a new franchise record set, there were plenty of reasons for Laval Rocket fans to finish the home stand feeling good.
It was a week of highs and lows for the Laval Rocket. A week that saw their losing streak extend to a whopping nine games, but saw them then earn three points on the week and come up with a big victory on Saturday afternoon against one of the league's top teams.
Plenty of attention was focused on Arber Xhekaj's arrival in Laval mid-week, and the defenseman had a noticeably quiet start to his AHL career. By the end of the week, however, some of his personality started to surface and he began to look a bit more comfortable in his new environment.
Add to that the emotions in the building when former Laval captain Alex Belzile returned to Place Bell on Friday and Saturday, now as part of the Hartford Wolf Pack's team. Belzile was honored before the series started, and managed to score a goal on the weekend.
But the highlight was Saturday afternoon, the team's annual Teddy Bear Toss game, when Riley Kidney lit the lamp in the opening minutes of play to send 12,402 teddy bears sailing down to the ice surface. It marked a new record in teddy bear donations for the franchise, and took a good amount of time to clean up!
The Rocket then went on to score four more goals and snap their losing streak before it hit the double-digit mark. You watched an excerpt of my latest episode of Rocket Hockey Report at the top of this article, so if you want to hear the details in the REST of my Laval Rocket weekly report and analysis, simply click the following link to watch this week's episode on YouTube: Riley Kidney Makes Fur Fly, Xhekaj Debut, Belzile Returns
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