Squig
05-19-2009, 06:14 AM
THE GAME
The Rockets pulled out a gutty win tonight against a very quick and determined Drummondville group. I didnt think we played particularly well until the third period. I dont think we hit anywhere near enuf at all in this game. Drummondville impresses me with their speed and continuous pressure. They never quit on a puck and forecheck very hard. I think these are the two teams we will see in the final but Riki could surprise us all with a home crowd victory on Wed.
Jamie Benn is a monster so far in this Memorial Cup. His 8 points is double anyone else on any team. His backhand breakaway goal was huge for us to get going. And interesting to note that the goalie for Drummonville made the save but Jamie stuck with it and crammed it in.
Some interesting tidbits about hockey here in Riki. At one point in the game last night we pulled one out of the Silvertips bag of tricks and sat behind the net while everyone changed. The other team was setting up a trap and were all past the red line waiting. We just sat behind the net and waited till one of their forecheckers came and got him. The hometown crowd was not the least bit impressed with that move. They also will boo you if you ice the puck to get out of trouble. I guess they think its a poor play or sumthin - i dunno.
THE CITY
This is the fifth memorial cup that i have been to and i have to say having it in a small town is the best. I really enjoyed Kitchener last year but the entire city of Rimouski is into this tournament. Everyone knows who you are when you walk around town. We heard many rumours that people have the french stereotype of if you dont speak french they wont talk to you. Its not true at all - every person i have talked to has gone out of their way to accomodate their out of town guests. Even tho it is a struggle to communicate when ordering food etc they try their best.
We went out to a club a couple of nights ago and had a few jeers from some of the locals yelling Go Nics Go!!. But we also had a bunch of people come over and just talk hockey. The owner even dropped by to say hi and welcome us to his club and city.
So far the food has been excellent. I had a steak at a place the other night and it was very good. Surprisingly enuf the restaurant was called " Chez St Louis".
We dropped by the VIP tent last night before the game and were treated to free sodas and some awesome seafood stirfry. Mmmmmmm yummmy!! We gotta go find a lobster joint soon tho - the wife is getting antsy.
We are off to a fan social this morning for some breaky and stuff. It is a local restaurant call "Le Cage aux Sport". I imagine there will be close to a hundred of us there to talk hockey and chow down. This is all organized by fans of Riki not the Memorial cup commitee. Pretty impressive.
Oh ya - we made up a new word in french last night. Very good in french is Tres Bien. Not anymore - we have officially changed it to "Tres Benn"
Go Rockets Go
The Rockets pulled out a gutty win tonight against a very quick and determined Drummondville group. I didnt think we played particularly well until the third period. I dont think we hit anywhere near enuf at all in this game. Drummondville impresses me with their speed and continuous pressure. They never quit on a puck and forecheck very hard. I think these are the two teams we will see in the final but Riki could surprise us all with a home crowd victory on Wed.
Jamie Benn is a monster so far in this Memorial Cup. His 8 points is double anyone else on any team. His backhand breakaway goal was huge for us to get going. And interesting to note that the goalie for Drummonville made the save but Jamie stuck with it and crammed it in.
Some interesting tidbits about hockey here in Riki. At one point in the game last night we pulled one out of the Silvertips bag of tricks and sat behind the net while everyone changed. The other team was setting up a trap and were all past the red line waiting. We just sat behind the net and waited till one of their forecheckers came and got him. The hometown crowd was not the least bit impressed with that move. They also will boo you if you ice the puck to get out of trouble. I guess they think its a poor play or sumthin - i dunno.
THE CITY
This is the fifth memorial cup that i have been to and i have to say having it in a small town is the best. I really enjoyed Kitchener last year but the entire city of Rimouski is into this tournament. Everyone knows who you are when you walk around town. We heard many rumours that people have the french stereotype of if you dont speak french they wont talk to you. Its not true at all - every person i have talked to has gone out of their way to accomodate their out of town guests. Even tho it is a struggle to communicate when ordering food etc they try their best.
We went out to a club a couple of nights ago and had a few jeers from some of the locals yelling Go Nics Go!!. But we also had a bunch of people come over and just talk hockey. The owner even dropped by to say hi and welcome us to his club and city.
So far the food has been excellent. I had a steak at a place the other night and it was very good. Surprisingly enuf the restaurant was called " Chez St Louis".
We dropped by the VIP tent last night before the game and were treated to free sodas and some awesome seafood stirfry. Mmmmmmm yummmy!! We gotta go find a lobster joint soon tho - the wife is getting antsy.
We are off to a fan social this morning for some breaky and stuff. It is a local restaurant call "Le Cage aux Sport". I imagine there will be close to a hundred of us there to talk hockey and chow down. This is all organized by fans of Riki not the Memorial cup commitee. Pretty impressive.
Oh ya - we made up a new word in french last night. Very good in french is Tres Bien. Not anymore - we have officially changed it to "Tres Benn"
Go Rockets Go