It reminds me that it's not so bad, it's not so bad...

This is an alum-post that in hindsight I should probably have made last week when his tweets about it were flooding my timeline, but it's finally confirmed that Mr. Christopher DiDomenico, formerly of the Saint John Sea Dogs, Drummondville Voltigeurs, Rockford IceHogs and Toledo Walleye is going to be playing in the boot, otherwise known as the country of Italia this season, with the Asiago Hockey Club.

He clearly loved this pose. http://www.asiagohockey.it/ 's Roster section might create a similar challenge unless they come up with a new concept.

(Mostly I was just asking myself why there was a distinct lack of Instafoods of gelato, because I really wanted to re-post those and make myself and everyone reading this blog jealous.)

Dido leaves behind a point-per-game season in the ECHL and 13 points in 49 games with Rockford. He's spent his pro career being bounced around and sometimes benched, sometimes injured, sometimes a mysterious mix of both.

Of course, no injury was as memorable as the one that still makes me cringe (after having only heard it on the radio of all things):

Drummondville Voltigeurs star Chris DiDomenico suffered a broken thigh bone in his left leg in a harrowing crash into the boards during a playoff game and will be out of action indefinitely.

The 20-year-old forward was hurt five minutes into the Voltigeurs' 5-4 victory over the Cataractes in Shawinigan on Tuesday night in Game 3 of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final series.

A team spokesman said he was treated and had the leg put in a cast at a hospital in nearby Trois-Rivieres and was back home by Wednesday morning.

"DiDomenico is out for a long time," coach Guy Boucher said on the team's website. "It was a very painful injury." [1]

No kidding.

His role in the rest of the President's Cup final was far from diminished. Present at the side of the bench at each game in a wheelchair, the Voltigeurs' staff hung his jersey at their bench to inspire the rest of the team, a lot of whom were far from 100% healthy themselves.

Yannick Riendeau, who had four points for the Volts, said the team regrouped quickly after the injury and then "we pushed 100 times harder because we wanted to win for him." [1]

And then they did.

But without further ado, because I tend to linger a little too long in the memories of that year, here's to no more broken legs, a lot of gelato, and our favourite ex-#83 making us who are (half) Italian proud this season.

Final cuts!

The team has more or less shaped up with 2012-13 on the horizon (not really). The last players to leave training camp:

• Gabriel Forcier
• Kevin Darveau
• Charlie Connell
• Alex Baskakov
• Mathieu Amyot
• Philippe Lévesque
• Jean-Benoit Beaudry

Connell is a bit of a shocker, what with having played 48 games last season and all. This should leave:

GOALTENDERS
Domenic Graham
Louis-Philippe Guindon*

DEFENSEMEN
Charles-David Beaudoin
Francis Lambert-Lemay
Nikolas Brouillard
Andrew Tessier
Dexter Weber
Gabriel Vermette

FORWARDS
Jérôme Verrier
Ryan Labrie
Jérémie Malouin
Jordan Murray
Bryce Milson
Marc-Olivier Brouillard
Olivier Archambault
Olivier Caouette
Alexandre Grenier
Guillaume Gauthier
Joey Ratelle*
Jérémy Auger*
Matt Boudens
Lukas Balmelli

* player selected in the 2012 QMJHL Entry Draft. Not too shabby!

More #voltstrainingcamp things...

For lack of a better blog post title, onwards with the bullet points!

• First preseason outing: great! Fantastic, even. 5-1 win over the Sherbrooke Phoenix. M-O Brouillard picked up four points (two of each) and Mr. Fitness (that might stick, forgive me) regularly known as Bryce Milson recorded two goals and an assist. Alexandre Grenier scored the other goal.
• Second preseason outing: the opposite of fantastic. The Phoenix get their revenge, 4-1. The lone goal for Drummondville came from Jérôme Verrier.
• One of the assists from that lone goal: Raman/Roman Hrabarenka/Graborenko. Apparently he has since moved onto better projects. Formerly the defensive cornerstone of the team, and formerly a Tampa Bay training camp attendee, he received an offer from the New Jersey Devils that could allow him to graduate to the pro level sooner than expected. 
• Because of this, the Volts acquired Chicoutimi captain Gabriel Vermette, seeming to finalize both Drummondville and Chicoutimi's overager situations. (Return: a 2014 third rounder.) With the end of trade period tomorrow, Dominic Ricard decided it was better to act fast.
• Philippe Venne was traded for Ryan Labrie, a 19 year old (now former) #theshawi player that has played very little hockey for his age. Jury's out on this one (but at least there's also an eighth-round pick in this deal just in case). He did score twice in the first five games the Cataractes granted him, however. Venne's dad also played for #theshawi back in his day, so clearly no hard feelings there. To mark his "homecoming," the younger Venne even scored two goals and added an assist in his third straight game against the Phoenix, a game that #theshawi won handily by the score of 4-0.
• Another cut to announce: Chad Millett, an 18 year old free agent from Ontario. The rest of the cuts will be named tomorrow.
  
  

Around the league: The Saint John Sea Dogs have only existed for a handful of years yet already have a third jersey, and one that somewhat scares me:

It seems to have turned more shark than dog?

Alumni watch: This weekend, Gabriel Dumont, Frédéric St-Denis and Derick Brassard participated in a three-day Boot Camp benefiting the Quebec Cancer Foundation. No word on who actually won (the semifinals AND final were all held today), but the four squad lists composed completely of hopefully-not-soon-to-be-locked-out-NHLers, for anyone interested, are here.

Guy Boucher is intense.

It would appear that a certain former Voltigeurs' coach's passage did not go unnoticed yesterday.

However, Bryce Milson, in addition to being fitness champion, also wins the hashtag challenge:

Whatever the speech was (or its actual length, given the conflicting reports of the players above), it certainly amounted to something later on the ice, as team Black sought and claimed revenge on the Reds for their defeat the night before with a 7-5 win (categorized as "intense," much like that day's guest) in last night's intersquad game.

Goal scorers for the B's: Jérémie Malouin, Charles-David Beaudoin, Raman Hrabarenka, Jérôme Verrier, Bryce Milson, Matthew Boudens and Toliver Bergeron. The Reds got goals from Alexandre Grenier, Jean-Benoît Beaudry, Lucas Balmelli, Alex Baskakov and Francis Lambert-Lemay.

Cuts were just announced on the Volts' website:

• Alexandre Veronneau
• Alexandre Bilodeau (what do you mean they cut a gold medalist?!)
• Xavier Labonté
• Gabriel Labbé
• Jonathan Rizzo
• Joe Fleschler
• Sacha Harnois
• Kevin Bernillon
• Gabriel Dubois
• Olivier Roquebrune
• Dylan Montcalm
• Andrew McCann
• Toliver Bergeron

The last of the four invitees left is Dexter Weber (!). Meanwhile, Bergeron, acquired from the Armada, was considered to be one of the potential newbies to crack the lineup, but alas, it was not to be this season.  Veronneau, of course, was Graham's backup for some time last year. Louis-Philippe Guindon, Kevin Darveau, and Gabriel Forcier are the remaining three contenders for this position.

#voltstrainingcamp

News items of note (thank you, l'Express) that have happened before or as of the start of training camp:

• Nikolas Brouillard was invited to but cut from U-18 camp (Ivan Hlinka). It should be noted he had quite a bit of opposition on the blueline. In the one intersquad game witnessed by yours truly, I thought he performed rather well.
• Four free agents, notably Ontario-born 17 year old defenseman Dexter Weber (!), have been added to the list of 43 camp attendees. Weber, who has drawn comparisons to former Voltigeur Andrew Randazzo, joins Andrew McCann from the Pickering Panthers, a centre aged 19 who collected 30 points last season, 17 year old goaltender Joe Fleschler, a 6'4" New Jersey minor hockey product, and Olivier Roquebrune, an 18 year old right winger recently let go by the Saguenéens.
• One spot in the Volts' offensive crew has been freed as Lucas Venuto has been released from camp after failing his physical. Venuto recorded two goals and five assists in 44 games last season.
  "We had a very clear agreement with Venuto : his physical condition must be excellent upon his arrival to camp. Last year, he encountered difficulties respecting our standards in this matter. We outlined some clear objectives for him to attain during this summer, but as he was far from reaching them, we preferred to let him go." - Dominic Ricard. [1]
• On the opposite side of the fitness spectrum, 19 year old forward Bryce Milson won the title of "fitness champion" for passing his tests with flying colours.



Frédéric St-Denis getting his game face on. Watch out, he has had extensive Guy Boucher-face training. (Photo: obviously from Journal L'Express. View more pictures from the first primetime intersquad game by clicking over here)

• If you used to play for Drummondville and haven't received an invite to participate in this 31st edition of training camp somehow, colour me shocked. The opening of training camp saw former captain Marc-Olivier Vachon, now playing for the McGill Redmen, and Canadiens' prospect Gabriel Dumont take part, and the first batch of intersquad games featured another former wearer of the "C", André Bouvet-Morrissette, and Frédéric St-Denis behind the benches (St-Denis' Reds beat Stilts' Black team 8-2). Today, Guy Boucher is supposedly in town.
• Morning intersquad games are lined up to be three-on-three by turning the ice surface 90 degrees. Regular, properly-facing five-on-five games are slated for primetime. First cuts will take place tomorrow, and the first real pre-season matchup gets underway on Friday against the shiny brand new Sherbrooke Phoenix at 7:30 p.m. at the Centre Marcel Dionne.
• Don't expect a captain nomination anytime soon, or maybe even this season. According to Ricard, there's more of a dynamic group team leadership thing going on right now. (IMO, hopefully it stays that way. After three captains last year it became a little bit of a kerfuffle by the end.)

Back with more soon! (Sooner than three months from now, hopefully.)

Lots of catching up to do!

Have a Lukas Balmelli Q&A while you wait for me to re-vamp this thing. Translated from Journal L'Express' article that was published about a month ago.

For those that don't know (where have you been), the 6'2'', 185 lb centre was Drummondville's selection in the CHL Import Draft, picked 19th overall.

Q. You had signed a professional contract with HC Lugano (Swiss Elite League) for this upcoming season, but chose to make the move to North America. What was your reaction when you were selected by the Voltigeurs last month?

A.  I was very excited to be chosen by the Voltigeurs. I knew that André Ruel had kept an eye on me during the Under-18 World Championships in the Czech Republic. I always dreamed of playing in Canada. When André Ruel and Dominic Ricard decided to draft me, I was the happiest guy on the planet! I received their phone call while on vacation in Spain, which made my trip even more memorable. The first thing I did, along with my father, was get us two Voltigeurs’ jerseys. I think I look great in this sweater!

Q. You are described as a complete and efficient centre, capable of contributing as much offensively as defensively. What kind of player will Voltigeurs’ fans see?

A. It all depends on the situation! I describe myself first and foremost as a team player. I have good vision and excel in the faceoff circle. Physically, I am strong yet fast. I am always mindful of checking my opponents. You can often see me heading back to the defensive zone in order to better launch the attack. I have the habit of using the entire ice surface and love playing from the slot. In Lugano and on the national U-18 team, I was used on the power play as often as shorthanded.

Q. You were named captain of Lugano’s junior squad as well as assistant-captain on the Swiss U-18 team. What contributions can you bring to a team on the ice as well as off of it?

A. I am a serious guy, one who listens and always tries to help out his friends. I have a sense of commitment. I don’t hesitate to sacrifice myself for the benefit of my team. And I hate losing.

Q. What are your expectations and objectives for the upcoming season?

A. Swiss hockey is making great strides, and I look forward to showing this to Voltigeurs’ fans. I got the chance to read what Dominic Ricard said about me in an article in L’Express. I am impatient to get the chance to play with Olivier Archambault and Marc-Olivier Brouillard and to pass them the puck. Along with my teammates, I want to help the Voltigeurs have a good season.

Q. You will participate in the U-20 camp for Team Switzerland, from July 21^st-27^th, in Arosa. How do you evaluate your chances of being selected to represent your country in the World Junior Hockey Championships, this winter?

A. I am confident. In Arosa, we will train very hard under [head coach] Sean Simpson’s orders. We will play four games against Germany and Denmark. Afterwards, I will finalize my preparation for my trip to Drummondville.

Q. You will get to Drummondville on August 6^th, a week before training camp with the Voltigeurs, and we can see you in action at the Nordik Hockey School in Saint-Cyrille. How do you feel about coming to live the North-American experience?

A. I am really impatient. By arriving on August 6^th, I will have the time to become acclimatized, to meet my teammates, my coach Mario Duhamel and the team personnel. It will be a completely new experience for me that I’m sure will be very positive. I would like to thank the Voltigeurs for offering me this fantastic opportunity. I would also like to thank HC Lugano, where I spent five amazing years.

***

Balmelli has since been sidelined with a knee contusion, suffered at the U-20 camp in Arosa. He was unable to take part in the Nordik Hockey School in Saint-Cyrille but should be able to participate in training camp as scheduled.