And the gloves come off.

Weekend wrap-up: Atlantic visits appear to be better than Atlantic roadtrips.

GOALS	1	2	3	Total
SAINT JOHN	0	2	0	2
DRUMMONDVILLE	0	2	4	6

This is the first win against Saint John since January 15th, 2011. Also, the first regulation win against them since September 25th, 2010. In either case, the Montreal Junior still existed the last time Drummondville beat Saint John, which should give away enough.

Drummondville: On this scoring sheet we have Archambault, Caouette, Gauthier (2), and M-O Brouillard (2).
Saint John: Goals scored by Huberdeau and Tesink.

GOALS	1	2	3	Total
ACADIE-BATHURST	0	2	2	4
DRUMMONDVILLE	4	1	0	5

This game was originally 5-0, but we'll ignore that because:

POWER PLAY
ACADIE-BATHURST	3 / 6
DRUMMONDVILLE	5 / 7

Look at the shiny new power play!

Drummondville: The only goal the Brouillards had no part in was Vermette's game-winning blast from the point. Otherwise they both scored, and Archambault and Verrier had the others.
Bathurst: Lalancette (2), he-who-doesn't-take-penalties (O'Brien), and Stevens.

Graham was in net for both games (!) and made a combined 42 saves out of 48. In the Saint John game, Drummondville outshot their opponents 44-17 and also topped Bathurst in that category, 44-31. Whoever this team is (minus the part about not maintaining a 5-goal lead), I like them.

Fighty time: Check out yesterday's spirited tilt between Alec Jon Banville of Bathurst and the Volts' 16-year old rookie Joey Ratelle:



Ding ding!

Concern for Geoffrion: As you have no doubt heard by now, Blake Geoffrion was the main story of Friday night's game between the Hamilton Bulldogs and Syracuse Crunch.

The NHL club issued a statement Saturday saying the 24-year-old underwent surgery for a depressed skull fracture and is expected to make a full recovery. Geoffrion, playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs in a game held at the Bell Centre, was caught with his head down as he drove along the boards by Syracuse Crunch defenceman Jean-Philippe Côté in the first period. Geoffrion was bleeding and holding his hands to his face when he skated off the ice to go to the dressing room. - TheSpec.com

At last check, he has been moved out of intensive care. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs' Facebook page is still offering fans the chance to send their well-wishes to Blake as he recovers from his injury. Get well soon, Blake!

In what concerns the scoresheet of that game and former Voltigeurs, Ondrej Palat was named second star, picking up two assists in the 4-1 win and posted a strong performance even aside from that. For his part, Gabriel Dumont got a helper on the lone goal by Hamilton.

This week: The CMD plays host to the Gatineau Olympiques on Thursday. Then the Volts make a visit to Boisbriand on Friday. Back home for Chicoutimi on Sunday. Get 'er done!

Alumni?: Quiet weekend, aside from the Hamiltonian/Syracusian aspect of things. Scott(y) Howes got the game-winner in a come-from-behind Allen Americans' win Saturday while Charles Landry scored his first of the season for the Florida Everblades in a losing cause, 7-6 against Gwinnett.

Ex-Volts face off tonight!

Syracuse Crunch (6-1-1-1, 2nd in the Eastern Conference, 1st in East Division) @ Hamilton Bulldogs (4-3-1-1, 10th in the Western Conference, 4th in North Division), 7:30 p.m., Bell Centre, Montreal.

Why you might care: If you are a loyal reader of this blog, you should perhaps not be asking this question. Former Drummondville Voltigeurs Frédéric St-Denis and Gabriel Dumont represent the "home" team Bulldogs in the arena their higher-level counterparts should have occupied for over a month and a half now and Ondrej Palat plays for Syracuse, who was Norfolk last year, and don't worry even I still can't even wrap my head around that part.

Other notables: Mark Barberio decided to lead the league's defensemen offensively last year. Wildcats' fan or not (and I have been both, in 2006 and 2010 respectively) that's interesting to know. Jean-Philippe Côté, for all you retro 00's Habs' fans, is on this team now, and makes his return to the Bell Centre tonight. Ditto for former Bulldogs J.T. Wyman and Eric Neilson. Philip-Michaël Devos and Danick Gauthier are also members of the Crunch.

Stats & stuff: Blake "Bambam" Geoffrion leads the Bulldogs with four goals, two assists this season. Brendan Gallagher, to the surprise of basically no one, leads the rookies with three goals, three assists. Dumont has two goals and one assist while St-Denis has the reverse. The latter also leads the team with a +5 (speaking of non-shockers).

Cory Conacher is 5th in league scoring with six goals and as many assists in 9 games. Palat is Mr. Assist on the team with 9, adding one goal, which is third on the Crunch and over a point per game. Barberio has fallen to 14th in league defensemen with at least 3 NHLers standing in his way. Damn that lockout!

Streaking: Syracuse is unbeaten in their last 3, including the last game over the Bulldogs, 3-0. Hamilton recently split a home-and-home with Rochester, and both games were decided by a goal. Geoffrion and Gallagher were the main stars of the 4-3 (W) scoresheet.

Updates from this game to come soon, or if you're unfortunate enough to follow me on Twitter, sooner rather than later.

Brouillard makes Canada-Russia squad!

The Q announced its roster for the upcoming matchup between Team QMJHL and Team Russia in the 2012 SUBWAY® Super Series. Look carefully and you might find a familiar name (or you already know who it is, since my title spoiled you);

GOALTENDERS
Brassard, Francois (QUE)
Fucale, Zachary (HAL)
Marcoux, Étienne (BLB)

DEFENSEMEN
Murphy, Matt (VDO)
Racine, Jonathan (MON)
Fournier, Dillon (ROU)
Culkin, Ryan (QUE)
Brouillard, Nikolas (DRU)
Ouellet, Xavier (BLB)
Melindy, James (MON)
Oligny, Jimmy (PEI)

FORWARDS
Mantha, Anthony (VDO)
Dea, Jean-Sébastien (ROU)
Hudon, Charles (CHI)
Huberdeau, Jonathan (SNB)
Henley, Samuel (VDO)
Paquette, Cédric (BLB)
Tesink, Ryan (SNB)
Danault, Phillip (VIC)
MacKinnon, Nathan (HAL)
Beauvillier, Francis (RIM)
Drouin, Jonathan (HAL)
Carrier, William (CAP)
Clapperton, Christopher (BLB)
Andrews, Brent (HAL)

Yes, the younger of the two Brouillards has managed to crack the list. Note that it is significantly far from November 5th, so this has the possibility of changing a ton between now and then. If you're superstitious like me, send vibes or even a crane to lift Brouillard from place to place so that he doesn't step on any cracks in the sidewalk.

As for Drummondville: Another Abitibi weekend ahead. Rouyn is stupidly good lately, going 8-2-0-1 and even ahead of Quebec. Note how many guys they have on the roster up there. There probably should be more. Val-d'Or is slightly less well-off, 4-6-0-0, but no less dangerous. They have three guys up there and not for nothing (other than to show off their future draftees).

Shameless promotion: If you are from or are visiting the Montreal area this weekend, come watch Gabriel Dumont and Frédéric St-Denis with the rest of the Bulldogs as they take on the Marlies, this Saturday, at McLean's Pub (1210 Peel) as part of the first All Habs Hockey Party of the season. Or stay home, whatever.