(Image: The Mooseheads' defence, spearheaded by Jim Sharrow, will need to keep its momentum to beat the Océanic's powerful offensive style and their all-star forward Sidney Crosby!)

HALIFAX (2nd overall in the 2004-05 standings – 96 points – Atlantic Div. CHAMPIONS)
. . . VS
RIMOUSKI
(1st overall in the 2004-05 standings – 98 points – Eastern Div. CHAMPIONS)


During the 2004-05 regular season...
- Rimouski held a record of 2-2-0-0 against Halifax.
- Rimouski held a record of 1-1-0-0 against Halifax at the Colisée de Rimouski.
- Halifax held a record of 1-1-0-0 against Rimouski at Halifax' Metro Center.
- GAME RESULTS:
2004/10/01 HALIFAX 4 @ RIMOUSKI 2
2004/11/09 HALIFAX 3 @ RIMOUSKI 5
2004/12/06 RIMOUSKI 2 @ HALIFAX 5
2005/01/15 RIMOUSKI 8 @ HALIFAX 4


In the 2005 playoffs...
- Rimouski was awarded a bye for the 2nd round as the Eastern Division Champions.
- Rimouski won its quarter-final series against Lewiston 4 games to 0.
- Rimouski won its semi-final series against Chicoutimi 4 games to 1.
- Halifax was awarded a bye for the 2nd round as the Atlantic Division Champions.
- Halifax won its quarter-final series against Gatineau 4 games to 1.
- Halifax won its semi-final series against Rouyn-Noranda 4 games to 0


THE RIMOUSKI OCÉANIC

 The Océanic will participate in the QMJHL President Cup finals for the 3rd time in their history (1998, 2000, and 2005). During the spring of 2000, spearheaded by star forward Brad Richards, Rimouski won the President Cup and later grabbed the Memorial Cup.

 After an amazing streak of 35 consecutive games without a loss, The Rimouski Océanic were finally defeated 5-0 on Wednesday, April 27, in Chicoutimi. In fact, the amazing steak from Doris Labonté's team spread the last 28 games of the regular season and the first 7 games of the playoffs. Their last defeat went all the way back to December 29: they lost 4-1 to the Québec Remparts.

 In the 2005 playoffs, the Bas-Saint-Laurent team still has yet to lose at home after five (5) games. Adding their 13-win streak at the end of the regular season, Rimouski now has an 18-win streak at the Colisée de Rimouski.

 In the 2005 playoffs, after being awarded a bye for the 2nd round as the Eastern Division Champions for the regular season, the Océanic swept the Lewinston MAINEiacs in 4 consecutive games during the quarter finals, to ultimately win their semi-final series against Chicoutimi in five games.

 During the 4th and final win against Chicoutimi, Sidney Crosby scored four goals, leading his team to a 5-1 victory. During the series against the Saguenéens, the electrifying No. 87 got himself 14 points in 5 games (7 goals and 7 assists). The Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native positioned himself as the leading scorer of the QMJHL in the playoffs with 22 points in 9 games.

 Crosby also played a 6-point game (1 goal and 5 assists) in a crushing 11-1 victory against the Saguenéens during the 2nd semi-final game. This 11-goal performance in one game was not a new playoff record for the Océanic since they scored 12 goals against the Halifax Mooseheads on March 24, 1998, in a 12-3 win.

 During the regular season, Rimouski's effective offensive style produced 333 goals in 70 games, an average of 4.76 goals per game. Among others, they played six games where they scored 9+ goals... Sidney Crosby, league scoring champion for the 2nd consecutive season with 168 points (66+102), along with Marc-Antoine Pouliot (116 points) and Dany Roussin (114), formed the best offensive trio of 2004-2005, ending respectively at the 1st, 2nd, and 3e scoring ranks this season in the QMJHL.

 In the regular season, both finalists were nose to nose. The Océanic won two games, just like the Mooseheads. Both won a game on the other team's home ice. The Rimouski team won the last confrontation of the season between the two teams, a convincing 8-4 victory on January 15.

 Halifax and Rimouski will be facing each other for the 5th time in the playoffs. Until now, the Océanic got the upper hand, winning 3 of the first 4 series (1998, 2000, 2001). Only in 2003 did the Mooseheads finally beat Rimouski for the first time. After a total of 22 playoff games between the two teams, Rimouski's performance is 15 wins and 7 losses versus Halifax.

 Twenty-year-old Rimouski defenseman Mario Jr Scalzo wrote his name on the President Cup in 2002 after taking part in a finals game for the Victoriaville Tigres against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. He is the only current Océanic player to have touched the President Cup; however, members of the Océanic hockey personnel Maurice Tanguay, Doris Labonté, and Donald Dufresne all had their initials engraved on the previous trophy in May 2000. Dufresne also won the Cup with the Longueuil Chevaliers in 1987, as a defenseman.



THE HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

 In their 11th season in the QMJHL, the Halifax Mooseheads will try to write their name on the President Cup for the very first time, as they are involved in their 2nd QMJHL final series.

 Following the example of their rivals for the 2005 finals, the Halifax Mooseheads offered quite a performance since New Years Eve 2005, as demonstrated by their exceptional 24-6-4-0 record in 34 games, giving them a .765 game-winning percentage during this 2nd half of the regular season.

 In nine playoff games until now, the Mooseheads only suffered one defeat. Their road record is perfect, with four wins and no losses...

 The team, owned by former NHLer Bobby Smith, is currently on a seven-game winning streak.

 After being awarded a bye for the 1st round series, they played the quarter finals against the Gatineau Olympiques, which they eliminated in five games. The team led by head coach Al MacAdam was even faster on the trigger against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, sweeping the semi-final series 4 games to 0.

 Against the Huskies, the Mooseheads took advantage of their opponents’ poor defensive work and scored 21 goals while only allowing six. Only during the April 26 meeting, their 3rd semi-final game, they scored a total of 3 shorthanded goals in a decisive 7-3 win.

 Talking of special teams, the Mooseheads will have to keep the momentum they enjoyed so far in the 2005 playoffs. Their power play already led to 12 goals in 56 chances (21.4%). Their defence is just as effective in shorthanded situations (87.7%); it will really be put to the test in the finals, the Océanic coming up with a great 27.3% performance with one or two more men on the ice...

 Winners of the Robert-Lebel trophy, awarded to the team with the best goals against average (172 goals in 70 games), the Halifax Mooseheads are just as hard to deal with in the playoffs, only allowing 19 goals in 9 games. However, the Océanic's performance in this field is just as astonishing, only allowing 18 goals in 9 playoff games.

 The goals against average of Moosehead Jérémy Duchesne is the best in the playoffs (1.85). Close behind is Cédric Desjardins (2.05), whom he will be facing in the finals.

 Nineteen-year-old American defenseman Jim Sharrow has become the defensive leader of the Nova Scotia team. He has 8 points in 9 games, scoring 2 of his 4 goals in the first semi-final game versus Rouyn-Noranda, a 6-0 Mooseheads win. He is the best of his team with a +7 rating, just in front of Alexandre Picard and Jeff MacAuley (+6).

 Mooseheads forward François-Pierre Guénette is looking for his 50th career playoff point in the QMJHL. He has taken part in 49 games so far for an average of one point per game. Moreover, he is the active leader in points among players of both 2005 finalists.

 In Halifax' team, six (6) players took part in the 2003 President Cup finals--François-Pierre Guénette, Petr Vrana, Marc-André Bernier, Frédérik Cabana, Jim Sharrow, and Alexandre Picard. That year, the Mooseheads, who led 3-2 in the series, ended up losing to the Hull Olympiques in the final game of a best of 7 series...

 Furthermore, professional rights to no less than 17 players from both teams are already secured by NHL teams--9 playing for the Mooseheads versus 8 wearing the blue and white Océanic uniform. Vancouver (Bernier and Guénette), Philadelphia (Cabana and Picard), and Tampa Bay (Hrdel and Tobin) are the teams that will keep an eye on two of their protégés during this ultimate best of 7 series...

 When the Océanic visited the Metro Center during the season, both games were sold out with 10,595 spectators both times.

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 The schedule of matches broadcasted on TV and radio will be made available in a few hours...

 In the first game of the final series that will be played on Thursday, May 5, in Rimouski, the QMJHL will set a new playoff attendance record. Since a sellout of 5062 spectators is expected for this game, the league will have a total of 303,866 people passing through the gates after 59 playoff games, while the previous record was set in the spring of 2003 (302,130 people in 69 games).

 Finally, the QMJHL confirmed the following referees for the 2005 final series: Francis Charron, Nicolas Dutil, Richard Forest, and Marc Muylaert will act as referees during this Rimouski-Halifax series, while Daniel Béchard, Stefan Capano, Serge Carpentier, Sylvain Cloutier, Sylvain Losier, and Jeff MacDonald will be the linesmen. One of the four aforementioned referees will go to the Memorial Cup tournament in London, Ontario, from May 21 to May 29.

Source:

QMJHL - Denis Demers & Mylène Vézina

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