Canadiens: In Other News… 0-5, First Win, 21-22 Debut for Rocket, Lions

Pezzetta, Khisamutdinov, shine as Rocket, Lions, Get 2021-22 Season Underway

After a scaled back season spent in a weakened all-Canadian North division, the Laval Rocket are back to full attendance with their 2021-22 season underway, ditto the newly founded Trois Rivieres Lions, who made their ECHL debut in a two-game series against the Newfoundland Growlers. After clinching the North Division Title in 2020-21, the Rocket are off to a solid 3-2 start this season, helped along by an impressive 4-0 win over the Providence Bruins on Saturday. After years of mediocrity and lack of interest from the Canadiens front office towards improving their AHL fortunes, the Rocket came out guns a blazing in the off-season, inking an astounding 15 players to AHL contracts, including former NHL regulars in Gabriel Bourque and Kevin Poulin.

Along with Michael McNiven continuing to seize his starting opportunity, making 29 saves in the shutout on Saturday, five players are off to PPG starts, with pre-season standout Michael Pezzetta near equaling his 20-game output of last season over the first five games, with 1-3-4 totals and a +6 rating. Laurent Dauphin has continued to prove his worth as one of the Rocket’s top offensive options, and enforcer Brandon Baddock has showed some skill early with like Pezzetta, 1-3-4 totals and a +3 rating.

As for Trois-Rivieres, the atmosphere in the Colisee Videotron was nothing short of electric on opening night, with Trois-Rivieres native Alexis D’aoust registering the first goal in Franchise history. With an unassuming, if hard-nosed lineup consisting mainly of long-time ECHL veterans and overseas options, the Lions fought valiantly, yet ultimately came up short in 6-3 and 3-1 decisions against a talented and stacked Growlers squad.

With a number of established talents such as top scorer Olivier Archambault and journeyman defenseman Mathieu Brodeur, the Lions should be able to put up a solid fight over the course of their inaugural season, with a bit of flare here and there. Former Canadiens seventh round pick Arsen Khisamutdinov made an early case for goal of the year on Friday, notching the only one for the Lions that night. Going into their next game on Tuesday, look for the Lions, and the Rocket, to build on promising starts and give Canadiens fans the solid minor-league hockey they had long been lacking in, over the past however many seasons.