Best Game Bar None

• What a great game Wednesday night between Rimouski and Drummondville (3-2 Voltigeurs) to end off the round robin at the 2009 Memorial Cup. These two teams went at it in a wide open affair. Talk about entertainment! Wow. If you can say one thing about the 'Q', defense comes secondary which creates scoring chances on almost every shift. I loved it. It was the best game of the tournament on entertainment alone. No wonder the people of Quebec love the game. When it is played with little structure, or appears to look that way, it's a great game to watch.
• What I like most about the fans here in Rimouski is how they respond to the play. Every time Drummondville iced the puck, the fans would boo. Even after Drummondville scored to make it a 1-1 game, the fans didn't let the goal damper their spirits. They made as much noise when it was scoreless and Rimouski was putting on the pressure as they did when the game was tied.
• The crowd was into this game before the puck was even dropped. The reason? It may have had something to do with Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards being apart of the pre-game ceremonies. The two NHL'ers were gracious enough to return to the Colisee where their junior careers began.
• I thought Gord McGarva said it best when describing the puck hitting the end boards at the Colisee after missing the net. "It sounds like a shot gun going off when the puck hits the boards".
• I find it interesting that the music played in the Colisee does not have to be rock and roll to get the crowd into the game. If you can clap to the music, you've accomplished the goal. Most of the music played in the building is 'clap worthy' and few spectators fail to participate.
• I will admit the use of air horns in the building is a little annoying though. I can't imagine being a season ticket holder and having the dude sitting next to me blasting his brains out (and mine) with his air horn for 36 home games.
• Everyone is still talking about the shot blocking clinic put on by Rockets forward Cody Almond Tuesday night. One QMJHL GM suggested to me it's that type of shot blocking that will get a player like that drafted. When I told him Almond was selected by Minnesota, and was already signed, he said "I can see why".
• How did the Kelowna Rockets spend the day off. They stayed away from the rink and went on a local zip line. A zip line consists of a pulley suspended on a cable mounted on an incline. It is designed to enable a user propelled by gravity to traverse from the top to the bottom of the inclined cable, usually made of stainless steel, by holding on or attaching to the freely moving pulley.
• I would compare this years edition of the Kelowna Rockets much like of a thoroughbred race horse who at times doesn't like to run. It has the capability of winning races, but only on it's own terms. The jockey (the coaches) can use a riding whip to spur them on, but it's ultimately up to the horse to expend the energy necessary to reach the finish line with the opposition in its wake. The thoroughbred (Rockets) will have to run the race of it's life Sunday in order to finish the race in first place.
• Prior to the game I ran into Jeff Cristall, the chairman of the 2010 Memorial Cup in Brandon. Cristall was flanked by Brandon police services inspector Ian Grant and Wheat Kings director of marketing Rick Dillabaugh. All three are here to check out how the Memorial Cup tournament is running in Rimouski, and would look to only add to the event when it makes it's way West next season.
• Kyle St. Denis' mom and dad took in Tuesday night's game at the Colisee while celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. The couple's son did his best to treat his parents special on the day by being named the games second star.
• The 50/50 draw here in Rimouski is capped at 1 thousand dollars. No matter how many tickets are sold, the pot never changes. That's a far cry from the 19 thousand dollars that was up for grabs in the 50/50 back in the 2004 Memorial Cup final in Kelowna.
• The Oceanic mascot's name is 'Louky'. The guy wearing that suit is going to be about 50 pounds lighter once the Memorial Cup is through. I've seen energetic mascots, but this dude doesn't stop.