Preview: October 28 vs. Baie Comeau Drakkar
October 28, 2022 – Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) – Charlottetown Islanders News Release
Things couldn’t have gotten kicked off on better footing for the Charlottetown Islanders on their first Quebec road trip of the season.
Charlottetown (5-5-1-0) flexed offensive muscles in Chicoutimi last night, handing the Sagueneens a statement 5-0 victory. They’ll look to keep the goal-scoring going with a visit to Baie-Comeau for a Friday night matchup against the Drakkar.
The Islanders iced an almost fully healthy lineup with Jeremie Biakabutuka, Will Allen, and Jacob Squires all returning from injury and immediately making an impact. Squires picked up a goal and an assist while Biakabutuka added a goal of his own. Squires, Giovanni Morneau, Alexis Michaud, and Peter Repčík each picked recorded multi-point games in the performance while Lucas Romeo added his fifth goal of the season.
Michaud, to his credit, continued a strong start to his rookie season in the QMJHL season. Now with seven points in nine games, he sits fourth among all players drafted in the 2022 QMJHL Entry Draft in that category. He’s found success playing on a line with Michael Horth and Jakub Brabenec in the early stages of his junior career.
On the second half of a back-to-back, expect Jack Flanagan to get his second start of the season. He looked strong in defeat against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies last weekend in his QMJHL regular season debut, almost two months after his last pre-season start. He’ll be looking for his first victory of his career.
Meanwhile, Baie-Comeau (5-7-0-1) are surprising teams around the QMJHL with a strong start to their season. They will be looking to get back in the win column after dropping a 4-3 decision to the Sagueneens on Wednesday night. A team often thought of as lacking offense, the Drakkar are proving pundits wrong, sitting seventh overall with 42 goals for on the year.
The Drakkar are led offensively by a former Islander; Xavier Fortin is in his final year of junior hockey and has built quite a quality career in Baie-Comeau since being traded from Charlottetown for Drew Elliott in 2019. Fortin is currently tied for the team lead with 12 points in 13 games; in 139 career games with the Drakkar, the 5’10 centreman has 45 goals and 56 assists for 101 points.
Another player to watch would be Justin Poirier. The 16-year-old forward is considered a dynamo for his age group; however, Poirier has been injured off and on to start his QMJHL career, having not played since October 15th. The younger brother of former Saint John Sea Dog Jeremie Poirier, Justin has picked up 6 points in his first six games played.
Catch all the action in tonight’s game live on Max 93.1 with George Matthews and Cory Arsenault! The game preview will start at 7:45pm featuring an interview with Islanders head coach Jim Hulton!
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