Latest news with #Laval
CTV News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Laval Rocket down 0-2 in Eastern Association final after loss to Charlotte Checkers
Laval Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent watches play during third period AHL hockey action in Laval, Que., on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press) Trevor Carrick had a goal and two assists, leading the Charlotte Checkers to an easy 5-2 victory over the Laval Rocket on Thursday night at Place Bell. For the second game in a row, the Montreal Canadiens' farm team was unable to battle what a much more experienced and structured team had to offer. The Checkers scored one power-play goal, one shorthanded goal and three even-strength goals, and they physically dominated the Laval team without any real consequences. The best example came when Marek Alscher knocked Laurent Dauphin out with a late check about six feet from the Rocket bench. Dauphin did not return to the game. The Checkers did their job by taking a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Association final. They will return home for at least the next two games -- three if they suffer a setback. John Leonard, Michael Benning, Will Lockwood, and Riley Bezeau found the back of the net for the visitors. Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 22 shots. Noel Hoefenmayer and David Reinbacher replied for the Rocket, who seem to be learning the hard way the basics of the game in the American Hockey League's final four. Cayden Primeau allowed four goals on 18 shots and was replaced by Jacob Fowler in the second period. The 20-year-old goaltender allowed one goal on 12 shots. Talk is cheap Hostilities began well before the opening face-off. During warm-ups, several players from both teams exchanged heated words in the middle of the rink, and a few minor stick checks were exchanged. When the game got underway, the Rocket didn't miss a chance to throw checks, each time raising the decibel level in the arena. However, indiscipline crept into the conversation, and the Checkers didn't need much more to seize the momentum. The Laval team killed off the first two minutes of a four-minute penalty to Joshua Roy for high sticking, but Primeau couldn't see anything when Carrick's point shot changed direction off Dauphin's stick. Both teams exchanged golden scoring opportunities early in the second period. Kahkonen stood tall against Jared Davidson, while Primeau shut the door on MacKenzie Entwistle. The Rocket had a chance to tie the game on the power play, but as was the case the night before, the five-on-five attack did more harm than good. Logan Mailloux attempted a deke at the point of entry, but ended up turning the puck over, sending Leonard on a breakaway. Leonard made a deke to beat Primeau and score his second shorthanded goal in 24 hours. That's when it felt like the Checkers had lost all respect for their opponents. Benning dealt a heavy blow to Laval by playing around in the enemy zone before beating Primeau. Just 44 seconds later, Lockwood fired a shot from the right circle and found the back of the net, sending the Rocket goalie out of the game. The North Carolina squad also continued to impose themselves physically, notably with a check on Alscher. Tempers flared and several skirmishes broke out before the end of the second period. The Rocket had a glimmer of hope in the final period when Hoefenmayer fired a shot from the point that slipped past Kahkonen, but Bezeau completed the humiliation by beating Fowler on the blocker side with less than seven minutes remaining. Reinbacher sparked the final celebrations with 59.3 seconds left on the clock. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 30, 2025.
Ottawa Citizen
2 days ago
- Sport
- Ottawa Citizen
Rocket fall to 0-2 after another lopsided loss to Checkers
Article content It wasn't by accident that the Laval Rocket finished first overall in the American Hockey League this season. This is a relatively young team that faced numerous obstacles over a 72-game schedule. Article content Article content But the hole the Rocket has now dug itself might be too difficult to climb out of. Article content For the second consecutive night and game Laval was overmatched, outclassed and dominated by Charlotte. The Checkers breezed to a 5-2 victory Thursday at Place Bell before 9,943 spectators, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final. Article content Article content The sky indeed appears to be falling on Chicken Little, although Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent has no alternative but to remain optimistic. Article content Article content 'We're going to face it just the way we did the whole year — a day at a time,' Vincent said. 'We can't go in the playoffs thinking we have to win four games. We've got to win one. We've got win a period, then the next one and then the next one. That's how we're going to face it. That's what we've done the whole year. Article content 'This is a great opportunity for us, to show what we're made of, to see how we're going to react, how we're going to play in their building. Going there 0-2, it's not great. It's not what we wanted, but there's an opportunity there and we'll see how we're going to manage that.' Article content The series now shifts to Charlotte for the next three games — provided the Rocket can make it that far — starting Sunday afternoon (4 p.m., RDS2, BPM Sports 91.9). The odds certainly don't appear in Laval's favour, the team faced with winning four of the next five and at least two at Bojangles Coliseum if it hopes to play another home game this season. Article content Article content Through two games, Laval has been outscored 10-3. Its power play has gone 1-for-12 while allowing two short-handed goals. Goaltender Cayden Primeau has struggled in both games and was replaced by Jacob Fowler 15 minutes into the second period after allowing four goals on 18 shots. That included two in a span of 44 seconds. Article content The Rocket's defence, missing the injured Tyler Wotherspoon and William Trudeau, is in disarray. Article content Logan Mailloux, a former first-round draft choice, attempted to beat two Charlotte players in the second period while Laval was on the power play. That resulted in a John Leonard breakaway and his second short-handed goal of the series. Article content Mailloux, a minus-2 on this night, appeared to be benched in the third period, although Vincent claimed he was injured. Mailloux jumped on the ice with 4:13 remaining, during a television timeout, and was subsequently sent to the dressing room. Vincent said Mailloux was ejected by the officials, having been assessed a misconduct, although no such record appeared on the scoresheet.
Montreal Gazette
2 days ago
- Sport
- Montreal Gazette
Rocket fall to 0-2 after another lopsided loss to Checkers
Laval Rocket By It wasn't by accident that the Laval Rocket finished first overall in the American Hockey League this season. This is a relatively young team that faced numerous obstacles over a 72-game schedule. But the hole the Rocket has now dug itself might be too difficult to climb out of. For the second consecutive night and game Laval was overmatched, outclassed and dominated by Charlotte. The Checkers breezed to a 5-2 victory Thursday at Place Bell before 9,943 spectators, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final. The sky indeed appears to be falling on Chicken Little, although Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent has no alternative but to remain optimistic. 'We're going to face it just the way we did the whole year — a day at a time,' Vincent said. 'We can't go in the playoffs thinking we have to win four games. We've got to win one. We've got win a period, then the next one and then the next one. That's how we're going to face it. That's what we've done the whole year. 'This is a great opportunity for us, to show what we're made of, to see how we're going to react, how we're going to play in their building. Going there 0-2, it's not great. It's not what we wanted, but there's an opportunity there and we'll see how we're going to manage that.' The series now shifts to Charlotte for the next three games — provided the Rocket can make it that far — starting Sunday afternoon (4 p.m., RDS2, BPM Sports 91.9). The odds certainly don't appear in Laval's favour, the team faced with winning four of the next five and at least two at Bojangles Coliseum if it hopes to play another home game this season. Through two games, Laval has been outscored 10-3. Its power play has gone 1-for-12 while allowing two short-handed goals. Goaltender Cayden Primeau has struggled in both games and was replaced by Jacob Fowler 15 minutes into the second period after allowing four goals on 18 shots. That included two in a span of 44 seconds. The Rocket's defence, missing the injured Tyler Wotherspoon and William Trudeau, is in disarray. Logan Mailloux, a former first-round draft choice, attempted to beat two Charlotte players in the second period while Laval was on the power play. That resulted in a John Leonard breakaway and his second short-handed goal of the series. Mailloux, a minus-2 on this night, appeared to be benched in the third period, although Vincent claimed he was injured. Mailloux jumped on the ice with 4:13 remaining, during a television timeout, and was subsequently sent to the dressing room. Vincent said Mailloux was ejected by the officials, having been assessed a misconduct, although no such record appeared on the scoresheet. During the pregame warm-up, players from both teams mingled at centre ice, with Mailloux and MacKenzie Entwistle, 6-foot-3 and 193 pounds, the apparent ringleaders. Laval, the league's most-penalized team this season, took 68 of the 116 penalty minutes assessed. Eight misconducts were meted out — five to the Rocket, including two alone to Florian Xhekaj. Referees Morgan MacPhee and Graedy Hamilton arguably lost control of the game — something that has occurred more than once when MacPhee's involved. Numerous apparent calls went unpenalized, including Marek Alscher's vicious check on Laurent Dauphin in front of the bench. Vincent and his players, predictably, were loath to comment on the officiating. 'It's pretty frustrating what we're doing to ourselves,' captain Lucas Condotta said. 'We're not playing our best and have to regroup here and get back on track. We just didn't have it tonight. They're a good team but we're just not playing our game. The games have been emotional. We have to do a better job of keeping our emotions in check. 'It hasn't been our best. We've given them our worst two games probably of the playoffs. It's a seven-game series. It's not a best-of-five. We've got some time to regroup here. We've got to be ready to go.' Defenceman Trevor Carrick paced Charlotte with a goal and two assists. Michael Benning, Will Lockwood and Riley Bezeau also scored. The Checkers are now on a six-game winning streak. Both of Laval's goals came from defencemen — David Reinbacher and Noel Hoefenmayer. Reinbacher, another former Canadiens first-round draft choice, committed a turnover on Charlotte's fifth goal. Oliver Kapanen is the only Rocket forward with a goal in the series. 'It's on us,' Hoefenmayer said. 'At the end of the day we control our destiny when it comes to that. We have to be more disciplined and stay out of the box. In the playoffs ... it's one game at a time. They came into our building and got two games but now we have the chance to go into theirs and do the same. 'We all believe. We know how good of a team we are.'
CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Laval police: 40 per cent of cases of armed violence cases involved minors
A police vehicle is shown outside a house in Laval, Que., Tuesday, October 18, 2022. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)
Montreal Gazette
3 days ago
- Sport
- Montreal Gazette
Rocket no match for Checkers in Game 1
Laval Rocket By They say a team's never in trouble until it loses at home. While there's still plenty of life remaining in the Laval Rocket, it has dug itself a potentially significant hole following its resounding 5-1 loss to the Charlotte Checkers Wednesday night at Place Bell in the opening game of the American Hockey League's Eastern Conference final before 9,230 spectators. While the Rocket won't be facing elimination when the teams meet again Thursday night at the same venue (7 p.m., RDS), Laval can hardly afford to trail by two games knowing the next three will be played on the road when the series shifts to Charlotte on Sunday afternoon. 'You can't go down 2-0 going back to their rink for three,' forward Owen Beck said in the quiet Rocket dressing room. 'It's an odd format in that sense. We need to give ourselves some life, some momentum going into their barn for three straight games. 'If we're not on our game, our season can turn around pretty quickly,' added Beck, who won a Memorial Cup with Saginaw last season and was the tournament's most valuable player. 'At this stage of the year every team's top quality, top-notch. We built so much over this year ... with the regular season that we had. We've been generating momentum and trying to have our game at our best at this point of the year. There's so much that has gone into it, you don't want to throw it away with a few poor efforts.' Sandis Vilmanis, Justin Sourdif, Oliver Okuliar, John Leonard and Jesse Puljujarvi, into an empty net, scored for the visitors — who reached this round by sweeping the two-time defending Calder Cup-champion Hershey Bears in a best-of-five series. While Charlotte was playing for the first time in a week, it hardly appeared rusty, scoring early goals in each period. The Checkers are on a five-game winning streak. And while the Rocket should have been on an emotional high after dispatching Rochester in the fifth and deciding game last Sunday on home ice, the team appeared out of sync frequently. Oliver Kapanen scored Laval's only goal, nearly six minutes into the second period, narrowing the deficit to 3-1. While the Rocket enjoyed a 31-20 shots advantage, it couldn't solve goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen frequently enough. The 6-foot-2, 214 pounder played four full seasons in the NHL, between 2020-24, with Minnesota and San Jose, and has started each of the Checkers' nine playoff games, winning seven while recording one shutout. Laval goalie Cayden Primeau, conversely, struggled after shutting out the Americans last Sunday. He was beaten twice on the first three shots he faced, then surrendered a second-period score on Charlotte's opening shot. That scenario was duplicated in the third period, Leonard scoring while the Checkers were short-handed. Not only did Leonard score 36 regular-season goals, that was Charlotte's fourth short-handed playoff tally. The team has scored only twice with the man advantage in the post-season. Laval went 0-for-6 on the power play. The Rocket did have some opportunities. In the eighth minute of the second period, Rafael Harvey-Pinard was alone in front but couldn't bury his shot. Then in the third, Sean Farrell set up Joshua Roy, who failed to execute. Roy had another opportunity on the power play two minutes later, while Brandon Gignac was denied on a short-handed breakaway. While the Rocket went 24-9-3 at home this season, finishing first overall in the AHL, it has struggled in the playoffs, going 3-3. 'It's focus. It's being prepared mentally to execute and knowing what's coming at you,' Laval head coach Pascal Vincent said. 'It can happen and does happen once in a while. We have to find a way to take that away from the other teams.' These teams were meeting for the first time this season. Laval hasn't played Charlotte since the 2018-19 campaign. And the Checkers aren't like any AHL team the Rocket has faced. Eleven of 20 players have suited up for at least one NHL games, including six that have more than 50 games' experience. Charlotte, the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, doesn't relinquish many scoring chances and, at least through one game, experience clearly has trumped youth. 'Their hockey sense as a team is really good,' Vincent said. 'They anticipate really well some plays. You think (a Laval player) is open. Then at the last minute he's not because they close quick. They box out and block a lot of shots, and they play a fast transition game. It's playoff hockey and there's a reason why they're in the top four as well. That's a good hockey team. 'We had some looks ... but it wasn't consistent. We had good moments and not-so-good moments. Our style of play is really aggressive, on top of people, no time to breathe. When we do it we're fine. We give ourselves a chance to win. Are we gonna win? I don't know, but we give ourselves a chance.'
