The Rimouski Oceanic spoiled all of the party plans and left a ruckus Wildcat sellout crowd quiet on Saturday night. They can continue to shock the QMJHL and CHL if they were to pull out another victory in Game 6 this afternoon on home ice.
Everyone thought the Oceanic were running on empty when this series started and perhaps, they were, but all that didn’t matter even when they found themselves down 3-0 in the series.
Running on empty or running on hope, the Oceanic have shown what they’re made of over the course of this series and the entire season for that matter. Oceanic Head Coach Joel Perrault perhaps said it best after Game 5 when asked about how battled tested the Oceanic are and how important hope is for his hockey club.
“You can’t be afraid of what’s coming, that’s the beauty of the playoffs.”
“We have been tested a lot in these playoffs,” stressed Perrault.
“Are we going to get this done in seven, honesty I don’t know, I wish I knew, but that wouldn’t make it as fun if we knew, so that’s why you keep pushing, if you know something you don’t have the same grind and grit, all we know right now is that we are playing Game 6 in front of our fans.”
Stephane Leroux of RDS fame clearly asked the most poignant question during Game 5’s postgame presser to Wildcats Head Coach Gardiner MacDougall.
“Has “Lady Mo” left the Wildcats, what’s going on?”
“That was a perfect scenario for her to be around tonight,” said MacDougall.
After losing two in a row for the first time since September, MacDougall and his hockey club now face the potential of losing three straight to the resilient Oceanic. It would appear all the momentum is with the Oceanic right now, but MacDougall downplayed that aspect.
“Momentum can happen during the game, but from game to game you start fresh.”
The Wildcats need a fresh start in Game 6 and perhaps they might need a fresh approach as well. There are a lot of question marks surrounding the Cats right now after dropping the last two. Will MacDougall stick with the normal goalie rotation or will he go back to Rousseau? Will he go back to the same line combinations or put them in a blender to try to light a spark in hope of getting “Lady Mo” on their side? Third and finally will MacDougall spot his 3rd and 4th lines more throughout the game to alleviate some pressure off on his top trio that haven’t looked like themselves as of late?
The “Gardiner MacDougall Effect” has been well documented and it has been in full effect all season long. Ask anyone around the game that knows MacDougall well and they will tell some sort of story about his routines and or superstitions. Call it what you want, Gardiner MacDougall has his own unique nuances and they’re less than subtle, but when it comes to the game of hockey and coaching, they work, they get results and in the business of hockey that’s wins and a lot of them. Nevertheless, will MacDougall change his approach today? Will he make more adjustments to the game plan and approach in efforts to close things out and win a championship or will he elect to stay status quo? One can only speculate on those aspects and obviously that’s what makes the playoffs and this series in particular so intriguing. Entering the 3rd period on Saturday night’s game MacDougall did juggle his lines which seemed to get things kick started.
Running on empty or running on hope. At times, especially during the last two games, some players on the Wildcats have looked gassed. Clearly, both teams will empty their tanks yet again when the puck drops in a rare afternoon playoff tilt. Emptying the tank is what it takes to win a championship, but what about the Rimouski Oceanic’s hope?
“We are going to take care of our own team and their coach does a good job taking care of his, so we have to build more hope in our team and believe, but that’s why it’s a best of seven, which is a great hockey tradition, but we will find ways to get better,” said MacDougall after Game 5.
Finding a way to win, that’s what it all comes down to today.
Momentum, hunger, hope and believability are all powerful and can really propel teams a long way. There might not be momentum between playoff games, but about doubt? When a team is up in the series and trying to close things out, but struggling to get that last victory, that’s perhaps where an element of doubt creeps into the mindset. What do we have to do differently? Why aren’t things working right now? This is where championship teams rise to the occasion and trust themselves but also the collective. This is where you trust the guy beside you, this is where you trust the system, trust the coaching staff, but more importantly trust each other.
There comes a time where you just have to go out there and play and be better than your opponent and execute. We are going to see which team is capable of that in Game 6!
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