QMJHL: Drummondville at St. Johns

Drummondville at St. John's (posted 10.13.06)

by Chris Parsley

The Drummondville Voltigeurs made their first trip ever to Newfoundland to take on the St. John's Fog Devils, now entering their second season in the QMJHL.

The Voltigeurs began the 2006-07 campaign without superstars Guillaume Latendresse, currently skating with the Montreal Canadiens, and Derick Brassard, who is out with a long-term shoulder injury. Drummondville coach Guy Boucher is holding things together despite the holes in his line-up, and came away with a shootout victory in the first game, before losing a tough 3-2 decision in game two of the two-game weekend set.

McKeen's was on hand for both contests and has reports on a couple of young Devils and Voltigeurs.

Jean-Simon Allard (2007), C, St. John's

Drafted fourth overall in the 2005 QMJHL entry draft ... skated mostly on the fourth line in his rookie season and had a typical campaign for a 16 year old with 4 goals and 13 assists ... began his sophomore Q season as the Fog Devils' second-line centre but most recently looked quite effective as a right winger ... Allard appears to have grown over the summer and looks to be a solid 200 pounds or more on his 6-2 frame ... has become more involved offensively and seems to be gaining confidence in his scoring ability, albeit slowly ... has a rocket of a slap shot and is very strong on his skates ... needs to increase his intensity and pay more attention to his defensive duties, even in the run-and-gun Quebec junior league.

Matt Fillier (2007), LW, St. John's

A coach's dream, Fillier exudes leadership at the tender age of 17 and has all but been designated a future captain by Fog Devils coach Real Paiement ... broke a bone in his hand during a fight in the season opener ... was slated to be out of action for up to a month, but returned less than two weeks after the injury occurred ... in his team's 3-2 win over Drummondville, was named the game's second star despite not registering a point ... often leads the team physically and is stellar in his attention to detail defensively ... after scoring 7 goals and 12 assists in his rookie season, Filler has earned a job as the team's second-line left winger and will see his offensive production improve greatly this year.

Luke Adam (2008), C, St. John's

Led Newfoundland's AAA Midget League in scoring last year ... scored 18 goals and 24 assists in 19 games with the St. John's AAA Midget Maple Leafs ... was the seventh overall pick in the 2006 Q entry draft ... the 6-1, 200 pound centre can also play on the left side and scored his first QMJHL goal while playing the wing against Drummondville ... has NHL bloodlines in his family with father Russ having played a handful of games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the early 1980s ... big, strong, with hands of silk, Adam's weakness at this stage is skating, with a lack of quickness in his first few strides.

Pier-Olivier Pelletier (Phx), G, Drummondville

Has struggled since being returned to his junior team from the Coyotes' camp ... won only two games in six appearances for the Voltigeurs and sports an ugly .878 save percentage early in the season ... did not allow any soft goals in his start against the Fog Devils but did appear to struggle with traffic in front of him on a couple of St. John's markers ... was beaten once after a poor rebound, but otherwise looked excellent with his rebound control ... fills out the net nicely with his size and looks like a typical goalie to come out of the QMJHL ... very strong down low but can be beaten up high if he drops down too early.