Midget AAA hockey Lions off to hot start

BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI

The Chronicle

Ask anyone in the know concerning minor or professional team sports, and he or she will readily admit six weeks do not make a season.

Still, when a team like the Quebec Midget AAA Hockey League Lac St. Louis Lions jumps off to a 10-1-1 mark, good enough to put it in first place in the CCM division, local and regional observers start to take notice. That’s because it’s been quite a while since the Dollard des Ormeaux-based squad has gotten off to such a good start. It captured three out of possible four points against two quality squads last weekend, winning 4-3 over the Rousseau Sports of Laval-Bourassa in a shootout Friday night at the Dollard Civic Centre before suffering its first loss of the season, 1-0 in overtime Sunday afternoon on the road against the Laurentides Vikings.

While nobody in the Lions organization is unrealistic enough to realize there won’t be bumps along the long road that lies ahead, you have to know the brain trust only hopes the team continues along its winning ways. For even though every team in the league makes the playoffs, home advantage can be a huge card to play. Case in point: last spring, when the Lions were forced to play a crucial game seven of their divisional semifinal against the Amos Forestiers on the road. Fatigued by the long series and three seven-hour bus rides, they lost the game and suffered elimination.

“Ask any of our returning players if they would have preferred going to Amos for that game seven or playing at home,� said Lions head coach Danny Dupont. “That’s why doing well during the regular season is important.�

Dupont said there has been no mystery to the Lions success so far, describing his troops as a bunch of guys that work together as a team, one whose work ethic has been fantastic, and has had a professional attitude.

It’s a team that has also been led by a balanced scoring attack. Louis Leblanc, Benjamin Power and Jordan Lennen have been consistent contributors, as have Mathew Whitaker and Joey Campanelli. Meanwhile, the goaltending of Matthew Dopud has been nothing less than stellar. The second-year-player was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Month for September, posting a perfect 5-0 record that included a .88 goals-against-average with a save percentage of 97.6 per cent in six games, including one shutout. He continued that fine play on Sunday against the Vikings.

“The kid (Dopud) has played his heart out so far,� said Dupont. “He’s matured a lot since last year, and nothing seems to faze him anymore.�

For Dupod, a feisty and emotional goalie who has shown a propensity to stick up for his teammates on the ice while at the same time exhibiting a somewhat unorthodox style, the award comes as solace for the fact he was one of the last cuts this past summer by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Saint John Sea Dogs.

“It was hard coming back,� he said. “But I didn’t let it get to me. Stuff happens in life. I tried to stay positive and told myself to just try and play hockey as hard as I could. As far as my style goes, some people like it, some hate it, but I feel comfortable with it.�

What Dopud also feels comfortable about is the attitude on this year’s Lions, compared to the one that prevailed last year.

“We had talent last year, but the chemistry on this team is fantastic,� he said. “We all play for each other, and I have to believe that will carry us far."