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Remparts lose their cool and chance to knock QMJHL rivals out of Memorial Cup

Remparts lose their cool and chance to knock QMJHL rivals out of Memorial Cup

QUEBEC CITY — It was part deflection, part criticism and more than a few sour grapes for Philippe Boucher.

The Quebec Remparts general manager and head coach lashed out at officials after his team’s 4-0 loss to the Rimouski Oceanic on Wednesday night in the final game of the round robin at the Memorial Cup. The Rimouski victory forced a tournament tiebreaker, which means both teams will go at it again on Thursday evening to decide who will face the Kelowna Rockets in the semifinal. The OHL’s Oshawa Generals have already advanced to Sunday’s final.

Boucher was incensed with the referees from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League – Olivier Gouin and Jonathan Alarie – who handed out six power plays to the Oceanic on which they scored twice.

There’s a bit of back story to Boucher’s critique. Both Gouin and Alarie worked Game 7 of the QMJHL final between Quebec and Rimouski. That game was in double overtime when Quebec defenceman Matt Murphy was assessed a tripping penalty which put Rimouski on the power play. The Oceanic scored with the advantage to win the game and the QMJHL championship.

As a result, Boucher said he asked Richard Trottier, the QMJHL’s director of officiating, to remove one of the referees – believed to be Gouin – from the Memorial Cup rotation.

“I was clear with Richard Trottier before the tournament that there was a referee we didn't want to see here,” Boucher told reporters in French. “He called the first two penalties tonight, the last four (penalties) against Oshawa, (and) the penalty in Game 7 in Rimouski. There are personal things with him. We asked if it was possible that he's not there, and he was there. I know it's the NHL that makes the decisions on referees (at the tournament), but the NHL should be made aware of certain things that happened during the season.

“I find that disheartening. It's a lack of judgment and our league has to advise the people who make the decisions.”

It’s not the first time a QMJHL coach has lashed out at the officiating at the Memorial Cup. In 2012, then-Saint John Sea Dogs coach Gerard Gallant was fined $500 for complaining about the QMJHL officials at the tournament.

Regardless of Boucher’s outburst, it doesn’t change the fact that the Remparts played poorly enough to earn their fate. A number of the penalties they took were warranted and ill-advised, leading to a 42-27 shot advantage for the Oceanic.

“I think we got frustrated a little bit during the game because we hit two posts (early) and we were flat,” said defenceman Raphael Maheux. “We took stupid penalties that killed the momentum.”

Remparts star goaltender Zach Fucale was chased out of the net in the second period after giving up four goals on 25 shots.

“There’s no excuse to play like that,” said forward Marc-Olivier Roy. “We have to look in the mirror – every guy in the room – and bring our A-game tomorrow (Thursday) to win that game.”

Even more pressing than Quebec’s lack of discipline was the status of top forwards Anthony Duclair and Jerome Verrier. Both were injured in the third period and assessed by doctors after the game. Their status for Thursday was not immediately known.

The tiebreaker will mark the 19th time Rimouski and Quebec have faced each other this year going back to when they met in the pre-season.

“They’ll never get rid of us,” said Oceanic forward Frederik Gauthier, with a laugh. “It’s always good games against them and (Thursday night) is going to be even bigger. It’s the most important game of the year.”

The Oceanic entered the game winless at the tournament and the victory against the Remparts kept their season alive. It’ll finally be the last meeting for these two teams that have developed a healthy hate and mutual respect for one another.

“They want to beat us and we want to beat them,” said Gauthier. “It’s always been like this and it always will be. We want to beat them again tomorrow and end their season.

“It’s either them or us – the choice is pretty easy.”

French translation provided by Bill Beacon of the Canadian Press