QMJHL: No Delisle-ing Olympiques’ Touch-ette

The Gatineau Olympiques and the St. John's Fog Devils recently split a two-game set at Mile One Center. The Olympiques sit in second place in the Telus Division and currently ranked tenth in the CHL Mosaik MasterCard Top 10 Rankings. McKeen's was on hand and files this report on five of Gatineau's seven 2008 draft-eligible players that were in action against the Fog Devils.

Steven Delisle (2008), D, Gatineau

The 6-foot-5, 209-pound rearguard hails from Levis, QC .. selected in the second round, 30th overall, in the 2006 QMJHL draft by Gatineau .. played in all situations - regular shift, powerplay and penalty killing .. logged a ton of icetime and effective minutes for the Olympiques .. was paired with Hubert Labrie in both games on the first defense unit .. definitely has good size and strength .. not overly fast, but solid, steady and smooth on his skates .. demonstrated good balance skating both forward and backward .. made solid outlet passes and moved the puck well .. demonstrated ability to shoot the puck on a number of occasions .. was aggressive, strong 1-on-1 coverage along the boards and in front of the net .. demonstrated ability to read the play and make quick decisions with and without the puck .. displayed willingness to step-up at the blueline and close the gap between himself and the attacking player .. most of his offense came with the man advantage, otherwise definitely a stay-at-home, type rearguard .. finished the two-game set with no points, a plus-one rating and five shots on goal.

Hugo Laporte (2008), D, Gatineau

Selected in the fourth round, 67th overall, in the 2007 Q-draft by Gatineau .. the 6-foot, 170-pound blueliner hails from Quebec, QC .. played in all situations - regular shift, PP and PK .. paired on the third defense unit in both games with former Fog Devil Sebastien Bernier in Game 1 and Lucas Lang in Game 2 .. skates well, smooth skating backwards .. demonstrated comfort level with the puck under pressure .. made smart decisions with the puck .. strong outlet passes .. definitely looked to pass the puck first, shoot second .. does not possess an overly hard shot .. was not overly physical, but was effective with rubouts and take-outs .. played a safe series, not many risks, solid overall defensively .. 1-on-1 coverage was solid and help defense was strong .. likes to play off the man a little more than Delisle, more of a contain game than contact .. finished the two-games with one assist and three shots on goal.

Alexandre Touchette (2008), C, Gatineau

The 5-foot-9, 166-pound pivot is from Acton Vale, QC .. selected in the second round, 27th overall, in the 2006 QMJHL draft by Gatineau .. centered the third line in both contests with Julien Machabee and Takuma Kawai as his wingers in Game 1 and Pierre-Olivier Payment and Kawai as his wingers in Game 2 .. played in all situations - regular shift, powerplay and penalty killing .. solid skater overall .. quick first step/stride, quick to reach top speed, displayed lots of jump and energy .. moved the puck well and used his wingers effectively .. rarely looked to shoot the puck, but managed to find open ice and space .. strong on the forecheck and backcheck - aware of his defensive responsibilities .. forced the opposition in all three zones - offensive, defensive and neutral .. plays with an edge, definitely works hard and competes for his ice .. was overmatched in the faceoff circle in the series .. needs to work on his overall strength and has to learn to shoot the puck more when given the opportunity .. finished the two-game set with no points, a minus-two rating, one shot on goal and took 30 faceoffs, winning ten.

Pierre-Olivier Payment (2008), LW, Gatineau

Selected in the fifth round, 74th overall, in the 2007 Q-draft by Gatineau .. the 6-foot, 189-pound left-winger is from St-Jean, QC .. skated on the second line in Game 1 with center Claude Giroux (Phi) and RW Vincent Lavigueur .. skated on the third line in Game 2 with center Alexandre Touchette and RW Takuma Kawai .. played a regular shift and had penalty killing duty in Game 1, but just took a regular shift in Game 2, with no time on special teams .. skating needs work, an up-and-down-the-wing skater, not much agility, almost a robotic style .. failed to display much in the way of offense .. did not have the puck on his stick very long .. never looked to pass the puck, looked to gain the redline and dump the puck in .. stopped skating without the puck and was slow to react to the play .. cycled the puck well and was strong along the boards .. finished the series with no points and a minus-four rating.

Travis Stacey (2008), LW, Gatineau

The 6-foot-2, 213-pound left-winger hails from Chateauguay, QC .. selected in the first round, 13th overall, in the 2006 QMJHL draft by Gatineau .. this former first round Q-pick skated on the fourth line in both games with center Samuel Hebert and RW Nicholas Valliere-Mayer in Game 1 and center Hubert and RW Julien Machabee in Game 2 .. limited icetime overall, but was spotted on the powerplay on a few occasions .. definitely used as a role player in the series .. a weak skater, slow, definitely not his strong point .. demonstrated ability to pass the puck with accuracy .. was unable to produce anything in the way of offensive chances, although he did cycle the puck well and was able to get to the front of the net with relative ease due to his size .. despite not being the most gifted skater, he made sure that he took care of his defensive responsibilities .. strong with the puck, excellent puck protection skills and strong work along the boards .. was involved physically in the series, dropped his gloves with the Fog Devils resident tough guy Matt Boland in a spirited tilt .. demonstrated that he has the ability to think the game, but his lack of skating is holding him back right now, as well as being used in a limited role .. one would expect that if Stacey improves his skating, receives more icetime, and experience at the Q-level that his numbers overall will increase .. finished the series with no points, an even rating and seven PIM's.