Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:17 am
Philippe Dupuis knows a thing or two about winning. He helped the Gatineau Olympiques capture two Presidents Cups as champion of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
He also knows a thing or two about losing. He suffered heartbreak with Gatineau in the 2003 and 2004 Memorial Cup finals.
Dupuis, 20, is now a fifth-year veteran in the QMJHL and the Moncton Wildcats acquired him from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in a trade last summer both for his proven offensive skills and the amount of big-game experience he brings to the table.
"On this team, we have different types of leaders," he said. "(Captain Christian) Gaudet leads a lot by example. (Assistant captain Josh) Hepditch leads by the way he talks in the dressing room. I think I'm a little bit of both in terms of leading by example and talking in the dressing room.
"I lost twice in the Memorial Cup final. I just want to make sure that this year I've got a good chance to finally win one. I think we've got a good team and a good chance to win the Memorial Cup. It's a big challenge for me to help lead this team all the way and I want the pressure."
Dupuis, a centre, was Moncton's leading scorer in a 4-1 series win over the Victoriaville Tigres in the opening round of the playoffs. The assistant captain wound up with seven goals and 17 points.
"Obviously, part of the reason Moncton traded for me is because I played in two Memorial Cups so I have to bring my experience to the team," he said. "I have to show the guys I'm there for the team and I'm going to step up in the hard times.
"There's a lot of guys who stepped up in the first round to help lead this team. That's the good thing about this team. We have lots of older players who can be leaders."
Moncton (No. 1) will face the Halifax Mooseheads (No. 5) in the second round of the playoffs. The Eastern Division semifinal will open with games on Saturday and Sunday at the Moncton Coliseum and take note both are 4 p.m. starts.
The series will resume with 7 p.m. games next Tuesday and Thursday in Halifax. If necessary, there will be games on April 14 at 7 p.m. in Moncton, April 16 at 2 p.m. in Halifax and April 18 at 7 p.m. in Moncton.
Moncton, 52-15-0-3, finished atop the 18-team league with 107 points and Halifax, 35-33-1-1, wound up 11th overall with 72 points. The Wildcats won all six games between these clubs in the regular season.
The Acadie-Bathurst Titan (No. 2) will meet the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (No. 3) in the other Eastern Division semifinal which begins tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre.
In the Western Division, it's the Quebec Remparts (No. 1) versus the Shawinigan Cataractes (No. 6) and the Chicoutimi Sagueneens (No. 2) against Gatineau (No. 4).
Gatineau advanced to the second round with a 3-2 home win over the Drummondville Voltigeurs last night in Game 7. Drummondville rallied from a 3-0 deficit to push the series to the limit.
Dupuis, a fourth-round pick in the 2003 National Hockey League draft, signed a contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets last summer. He was dealt a setback in pro training camp when he suffered a concussion that forced him to the sidelines for 25 days.
"For sure, I wanted to play in the American Hockey League this season," he said. "But when that didn't happen you need to have options. They asked me if I wanted to go in the East Coast Hockey League or go back to junior in Moncton.
"I knew that Moncton was hosting the Memorial Cup so I wanted to come here. I preferred to come here because of the coaching staff and I knew it's a good organization that treats the players like pros."
Dupuis was Moncton's top scorer this season with 108 points, including 32 goals, in 56 games. That placed him ninth in the scoring race.
In fact, he became only the fourth player to reach 100 points in a season with the Wildcats. The others were Sebastien Roger (114 points in 1997-98), Patrick Yetman (101 points in 2000-01) and Steve Bernier (101 points in 2002-03).
It's the first time that Dupuis hit the 100-point mark in his QMJHL career. If the native of Laval, Que. hadn't missed 14 games, it's virtually a certainty that he would've established a Wildcats record for most points in a season.
"I was proud to have 100 points, but now it's a new season in the playoffs and I want to bring everything I can to the team," said Dupuis, who was the eighth overall pick in the first round of the 2001 QMJHL draft.
Moncton head coach Ted Nolan points out that Dupuis didn't show any sign of negativity when Columbus re-assigned him to the Wildcats.
"Philippe took it upon himself to come back here with a great attitude," said Nolan. "He's played a lot of minutes in all key situations, he's learning how to lead and he continues to gain experience. He really took it upon himself that he wanted to get better this season.
"With the environment, the gym facility and the program that we have here, it was a perfect fit for him to improve his overall game. He's a really good, smart player. There's just certain things he needs to work on to get to the next level and he's worked on that this season."
Nolan emphasizes that it takes more than just goals and points for a player to make it in pro hockey.
"It's your responsibility away from the puck and how you compete," he said.
"Philippe's really led this team along with our other older players.He's a very serious kid, he wants to get better and he's worked on his game.
"I'm quite sure he's going to have a good pro career. I'm quite sure that Columbus is just as happy as we are with his development this season."
The 2006 Memorial Cup takes place from May 19-28 at the Moncton Coliseum. The four-team tournament features Moncton, a second QMJHL representative and the champions of the Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League.
The tournament begins in 44 days. Before that, the Wildcats hope to win three more playoff series in order to capture their first QMJHL championship.
"We've got a long way to go before the Memorial Cup," said Dupuis. "It's nice to get a week off between the first and second rounds. We need to be intelligent off the ice in terms of the way we eat and the way we rest in order to keep our strength and energy level high until the end of May."
Dupuis offered one more piece of advice from his past Memorial Cup experiences.
"One big thing is not to get intimidated by the other teams," he said. "When you play against teams from the OHL and WHL, you hear people saying `Oh, those guys from Ontario and the West are big and strong.'
"We need to respect them, but we don't need to be impressed by those guys to the point that we're looking up to them. They're the same age as us and it's the same game on the ice."
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