Sunday, January 15 – Vankleek Hill 5 Gatineau-Hull 2
Joshua Desjardins and Alexandre Saül each had two goals, and Alex Chenier added a single, as the Vankleek Hill Cougars (13-9-1-2) handled the Gatineau-Hull Volant (18-8-0-0) in a 5-2 road win on Sunday afternoon (January 15).
Frederick Duroucher-Bourdon was outstanding in net for the Cougars, stopping 44 of the 46 shots fired his way to earn the win. The Cougars fired 41 shots at the Volant net.
Vankleek Hill suffered a scare in the game, as the team’s captain Mikael Bissonnette had to leave the contest when he was slashed on the foot after the whistle had gone on an offside call. A major penalty was assessed on the play. Cougars Head Coach Franky Dopelhamer said on Monday morning that Bissonnette’s foot had improved overnight and he is not expected to miss any games.
Saturday, January 14 – Vankleek Hill 6 Metcalfe 0
The win on Sunday followed a 6-0 shutout home victory by the Cougars over the Metcalfe Jets at the Robert Hartley Sports Complex in Hawkesbury on Saturday, January 14.
Bissonnette was on fire on Saturday evening, scoring three goals, while rookie netminder Jeremie Tessier earned the shutout, stopping all 22 shots fired his way. Rowan Mcpherson, Alexandre Saül and Eric Skyba added single markers for Vankleek Hill. Joshua Desjardins had three assists in the game.
Moving up in the NCJHL standings
With the two victories, Vankleek Hill (13-9-1-2) moved past the St-Isidore Eagles (13-8-1-1) into fifth place in the NCJHL standings by a single point. St-Isidore, however, played only one game last weekend – a 5-3 win over the Morrisburg Lions – and has two games in hand on the Cougars.
Vankleek Hill has now won three games in a row, while playing well at both ends of the ice. Dopelhamer said the coaching staff has been very happy with the team’s recent play – and the fact the Cougars are finally getting some breaks.
“Yesterday we got some bounces,” Dopelhamer said the day after Vankleek Hill’s 5-2 win over Gatineau-Hull, noting two of the Cougars’ goals were somewhat fortunate. “It’s nice to be rewarded for our hard work.”
Four road games coming up
With two games on the road for each of the next two weekends, the Cougars will not be back home at The Bob until February 4, when they face the Almonte Inferno. Vankleek Hill travels to Metcalfe this Friday (January 20) for an 8 p.m. game at Larry Robinson Arena. On Sunday (January 22) Vankleek Hill is at the Cardinal Arena to play the South Grenville Rangers.
