The good news for the Remparts is that Louis Crevier and William Rousseau are back at work Friday morning. the bad? Zachary Boldock and Davis Cooper have been added to the list of players affected by the flu outbreak within the squad.

So six players remained absent on Friday, two days before the second round kicks off against Rimouski Osjanic, as well as assistant coach Benoit Desrosier. Besides Bolduc and Cooper, Nathan Goucher, James Malatesta, Nicholas Savoy and Evan Nose are still missing.

Right now, the Rimbar family has no choice but to manage every situation, hour by hour. Will everyone be available for the Sunday night game at the Videotron Center? Before answering the question, Patrick Roy drew the sign of the cross.

“I hope so,” he added. I don’t know how long it will take. However, we have to stay focused. Like I told the guys, we can’t stop doing what we’ve been doing since the start of playoffs. I just want us to handle adversity well and in the moment, handle it as best we can. I would have liked to meet today, but with six fewer players and two right, without more it’s not perfect. I imagine time will sort things out. »

good flu

In the “True No More” category is Louis Krevier.

The latter was one of the first to catch the flu, through assistant coach Benoit Desrosiers.

“I woke up on Tuesday with sensitive skin. I didn’t know other guys had it so I thought it was a bad day. The next day I found out that few others had it and it was related to Ben who had it in Chicotime. I had typical flu symptoms. I was coughing, It was just annoying, but nothing serious.”

remind?

On Friday morning, Patrick Roy at least expected both Gaucher and Malatesta to return to practice today. With the situation changing rapidly, Roy preferred to focus on the players in his hands before considering a disaster scenario where he would have to make summons.

The Remparts currently have four backup players on their roster: striker Kasim Judit, defenders Samuel Lachance and Brendan Baez, and goalkeeper Matis Fernandez, who joined the squad on Friday.

Speaking of goalkeepers, Roy has yet to decide who William Russo or Fabio Iacopo will be on duty in the first game against the Océanic on Sunday night.

The Océanic must quickly fall from a cloud

The Rimouski Oceanic team was back in cloud nine again on Friday after a shock five-game win over the St. John C. Dogs, future Anniversary Cup host.

Serge Beausoleil’s men arrived in Rimouski mid-afternoon on Friday and will have to quickly return to the ground as they head to Quebec City on Saturday for the first game of the series on Sunday.

“I have no idea how we got off our clouds,” said coach Serge Beausoleil. It will be a mental challenge for our youth. It is not an easy thing that they have been able to do. We only had one offensive engine in the Xavier Cormier and it wasn’t even in the lineup. I am proud of them. Now, I don’t know how things will turn out. The guys have gone home and they will have 24 hours before we leave for Quebec. »

One thing is for sure, the victory over the Sea Dogs allows the Océanic to believe they have what it takes to take on the Remparts, who have done well against them this season (Quebec have won five of their eight matches).

“We are able to compete with them. We faced the team with the most goals scored in the season and I knew that would allow us to see the challenge we faced. Against the Remparts, it will be the same since they put in the second best attack of the season. They have a lot of speed and they are well organized. “Better defensively, they don’t shoot a lot and they are stingy in scoring against them.”

been seen

On top of that, Beausoleil can understand the situation in which the Remparts found themselves, as they also had to deal with a flu outbreak earlier this season.

“My assistant had COVID-19 and had mild cold symptoms. On the other hand, he had the flu afterwards and was on his back hard. It is a case on the case. On the other hand, it sure is about tapping into your energies.”

Océanic is also mortgaged. The team ended the series against the Sea Dogs without Cormier, Julien Béland, and Luke Coughlin.

“I would be surprised to see Cormier return soon. Béland is closer to getting back in the game and Coughlin will be absent in the long run,” Beausoleil specified.