Robust match in favor of the Armada
Jean-Raphaël Roy gave a few good shoulder shots in addition to delivering a furious fight on Saturday at the Palais des sports.
Share September 26, 2020 7:43 pm Update at 8:57 pm Share Robust match to the advantage of the Armada
Jérôme Gaudreau La Tribune The Phoenix played its last preparatory part of a series of five, Saturday afternoon at the Palais des sports, and could not keep its perfect record. Visiting Sherbrooke, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada left the Eastern Townships with a gain of 5 to 0 following a men's game.
With the changes to the schedule due to the pandemic, each team will play games this season against their division rivals only. This means that the Armada will face the Phoenix 12 times.
This time, it was a second game in a row between the two teams. The first having been won by Sherbrooke to the count of 5 to 2 in Boisbriand last week. And already, a certain animosity settles between the two formations.
“It's a match like the Armada,” notes Phoenix coach Stéphane Julien. They played a good game and Olivier Adam was incredible with his 40 saves. This is what made the difference today. (…) But I can't wait to see when there will be acute nausea between the two teams. The games between clubs of the same division, it is the sacrifice to make to hold a season. We see rivalries forming in the playoffs, but after 12 games the guys will have learned to hate each other even more. “
Victorious in his last four outings at the 2020 camp, the Phoenix first saw Blake Richardson give the lead quickly shortly before Patrick Guay and Zachary Roy set the tone for the game by throwing the gloves away following a legal check of the small Phoenix striker.
A violent brawl initiated by the Armada player which was immediately followed by a second battle, this time between Phoenix rookie Jean-Raphaël Roy and Nicholas Blagden, who had launched the invitation earlier in the meeting at the following a rudeness made by Roy.
“There's a lot of talk about the rules around fights these days and I won't tell my players not to fight anyway. And I will never tell them to throw the gloves on everyone. It's part of the game. Whether it's a good player like Guay, or a rookie like Roy or in an exhibition game. I can't ask my stars to lower their intensity, but I would be very surprised to see Pat fight consistently this season. Maybe he wanted to create a spark in his game. “
“We will see rivalries develop and we will know each of our opponents by heart this season, which may make the games more intense,” confirms veteran defender Xavier Bernard.
For his part, Jean-Raphaël Roy admits that the intensity was climbing minute by minute on Saturday afternoon.
“We saw that the guys were brewing a little more today. It all started with the battle at Pat. This fight has ignited the powder. Subsequently, I accepted an invitation. It was a first fight for me and I'm happy with the result! I am disappointed to have seen our team lose, but the next one will count for real! Said the Phoenix rookie.
The Armada explodes in the 3rd period
The Armada doubled their lead in the third period through Tommy Bouchard. This third twenty was also the business of Bruce Richardson's men, who added two more goals thanks to Benjamin Corbeil and Zachary Roy.
Luke Henman completed in an empty cage. Jasmin Simon ended his working day with 25 saves on 29 shots.
“Our play on the power play and the work of Olivier Adam made the difference,” believes Stéphane Julien. Without saying that we are happy to have lost, this defeat allows us to rework certain things. We have had very good training since the start of the camp, but maybe we had an overdose of confidence. We thought our game was already good. This defeat will serve as a wake-up call. “
“We understood tonight that we should not play softly despite a series of successes. It's a good 5-0 loss and we'll be even more ready for Friday's opener against the Armada. We all can't wait for the season to start. Our team has been waiting for this for eight months, ”recalls Xavier Bernard.
The two teams will meet for the inaugural game of the 2020-2021 season in Sherbrooke. The Phoenix will then take the opportunity to present its Jean-Rougeau Trophy and hoist the banner awarded to the champions of the last regular season to the heights of the Palais des sports.
