Advertisement

Senators pick Francois Brassard sets QMJHL scoreless standard: 212 minutes, 10 seconds

François Brassard has gone from underestimated in his formative years to unmatched in QMJHL history.

Midway through the third period on Friday, the Ottawa Senators sixth-round choice who plays for the Quebec Remparts established a league mark for consecutive scoreless minutes. The skein reached 212:10, stretching over four games, before it was finally broken by the Victoriaville Tigres' Philippe Hudon. In any event, the goalie who was left off Team QMJHL for the Subway Super Series has a place in the QMJHL record book.

The only downside was that the officials apparently forgot to take the puck out of play once Brassard surpassed the old mark of 207:04.

The 6-foot-2 'tender, who had a 28-save night in Quebec's 4-1 win over Victoriaville, had some close calls on his march. Late in the second period, with the score at 2-0, Hudon had a dead-to-rights chance. Brassard scrambled and was turned sideways to Hudon, but came up with a save that left many of the 9,754 at Colisée Pepsi gasping.

It is a great story to share with any young goalie having difficulty finding her/his place in the game.

In 2010, Brassard went unclaimed in his first year of eligibility for the Quebec league's midget draft. (Sixteen-year-olds were only eligible for the first five rounds at that time, but when legend becomes fact, one prints the legend.) His hometown AAA midget team in Gatineau, Que., cut him. So Brassard left home, caught on with the Lac St-Louis Lions and helped the Montreal-area team make the Canadian midget championship.

That led to being drafted by someone who knows from quality goaltending, then-Remparts coach, GM and part-owner Patrick Roy. Brassard shone sufficiently well as a 17-year-old to convince the Senators to spend a sixth-rounder on him in June 2012 even though they had already taken a CHL goaltender, the Calgary Hitmen's Chris Driedger, earlier that day.

Now 19, Brassard was invited to Hockey Canada's summer goaltending development camp, but did not get a chance to compete in the Subway Super Series this week vs. Team Russia. One can only imagine him feeling like he's proven a point, as he did on a smaller scale just by breaking into major junior.

The streak began Nov. 10, when Brassard turned in about 35 scoreless minutes to help the Remparts cadge a charity point in a shootout loss to Cape Breton. It extended through 27- and 29-save shutouts against league-leading Blainville-Boisbriand and last-place Shawinigan.

Mathieu Chouinard, set the prior mark of 207:04 in 1997-98 with Shawinigan. Chouinard was drafted No. 15 overall by the Senators following that season, went back into the draft two years later and got drafted by Ottawa again at No. 45.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.