Quebec Major playoffs "The series is only going to get tougher"
Titan coach doesn't expect warm welcome in St. John's
The head coach of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan isn't counting out the St. John's Fog Devils.
The Titan grabbed a 2-0 lead on home ice in the best-of-seven opening round Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff series between the teams last weekend, but Ron Choules admits the series is far from over.
"We haven't won anything yet," he said. "We are up two (games) but I don't think that is any indication of the series. St. John's has worked very hard, and we have tried to match their intensity, and I don't think they are going to give up that's for sure."
Acadie-Bathurst scored six goals in the second period last Friday to win the opening game of the series 8-5 in front of 2,323 fans at the K. C. Irving Regional Series. On Saturday, they edged the Fog Devils 5-4 in front of 2,381 fans. The series shifts to the Newfoundland capital for games three, four and five (if necessary) tonight, Wednesday and Friday. The Fog Devils announced earlier this year that they are moving to Montreal for next season, so this week's games could be the last for the team at Mile One Stadium.
"They will have the hometown crowd in St. John's," said Choules. "Going forward, the series is only going to get tougher."
Spencer Jezegou played the hero last Saturday when he scored the game winner for the Titan with a shorthanded goal with just 70 seconds left in regulation time after Ryan Graham tied the game for Acadie-Bathurst with his third goal of the post season 6:18 into the final frame. Jezegou beat a pair of Fog Devils defenders before sliding a shot between the pads of St. John's goaltender Timo Pielmeier.
"I just poked the puck past the first guy," said Jezegou. "I wasn't really sure I was going to be able to beat the defenceman in a foot race so I poked it by him, too, and went to the outside. I just knew I had to get a shot off because I didn't want to turn the puck over so they could come back on a rush."
Jezegou has a history of coming up big for the Titan when the chips are down. In last year's playoffs, he scored two overtime winners against the Prince Edward Island Rocket, including the series winning goal in the seventh and deciding game of the opening round affair.
"I don't know what it is exactly, I guess I'm just in the right place at the right time," he laughed. "The puck just keeps following me around which is good."
Jezegou admits things haven't come easy for the Titan in this series, and he knows St. John's will be tough to beat on home ice.
"They came out strong against us (Saturday) just like they did last game (on Friday)," he pointed out. "We were a little slow (at the start of game two) but we managed to come out of that without getting scored on and we got the first power play goal. We had momentum and then they had momentum. It seemed like we kind of let them back in the game a couple of times. For us to be successful in this series we've got to cut that out."
If necessary, games six and seven of the series will be played at the Irving Centre on March 31 and April 1.
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