Lions off to strong start

These are good days for not only the entire Quebec Midget AAA Hockey League Lac St. Louis Lions organization, but for head coach Danny Dupont in particular.

The former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League defenceman and son of Andre ‘Moose’ Dupont, who patrolled the blue-line for the Philadelphia Flyers during the mid 1970s - including its two Stanley Cup seasons - might have had reason to worry heading into the regular season. With only one returning veteran from last year’s squad in Philippe Saviuk, and a slew of players having made the jump from bantam AA, things could have turned ugly very quickly for Dupont and his coaching staff after the team broke camp in early September.

They didn’t though. Instead, partly in tribute to the solid coaching received at the bantam AA and midget espoir levels, but also due to the fact they seemingly adapted well to the system Dupont tried to teach them during training camp, the players responded well. They came out of the gate like gangbusters, capturing their first five games, including last Friday night’s match at the Dollard Civic Centre, a 5-2 victory over Collège Esther Blondin. Connor Gagnon, who played for the espoir Lac St. Louis Tigers last season, led the way with two goals while Joseph Manno and Saviuk each had a goal and an assist. Brody Armstrong chipped in with one goal. The Lions suffered their first defeat of the season on Sunday though, dropping a 3-1 decision on the road to the Gatineau Intrépide. Heading into this Friday’s 7:30 p.m. encounter against St-Eustache at the Civic Centre, the clubs sits in second place in the CCM Division with a respectable 5-1 record.

“The guys have responded well to what we’ve brought,” said Dupont, now into his third full season and fourth overall as head coach. “We adjusted the way we had to play, going from a run and gun style to more of a defensive style and as a result, we’re having success. You have to be a little more patient with young players though. You have to give them a chance to learn the league.”

Particularly the Lions defence corps. Four of them, including Marc Biega, Dillon Donnelly, Carl D’Amour-Belizario and Benjamin Masella played bantam AA last season. Biega, whose three older brothers, Alex, Michael and Danny all wore Lions sweaters in previous years, is only 14 years old, while Donnelly just turned 15.

“We’re young on defence,” Dupont said. “But there’s talent there. Up front, we’ll be going with an offence by committee. We don’t have Louis Leblanc back, or Mathieu Gingras either. We’ll have to be responsible defensively, and not give up too much up front if we want to have a chance. Smart play will be the key.”

In keeping with a tradition typical of all Dupont-coached teams, the Lions will not appoint a captain or assistant captain this year. Instead, each player will be counted upon to lead, including goaltenders Patrick Earle, Carl Hozjan and Brendan O’Reilly.

@BV:The Lions celebrate a goal last Friday night in Dollard. The team is off to a 5-1 start. Chronicle, Jacques Pharand