Jason La Rose
There’s something to be said for timing.
Languishing in the middle of the standings in the Ligue de hockey junior AAA du Québec (LHJAAAQ) as the regular season wound down, Collège Français de Longueuil picked the perfect time to play its best hockey of the season and earn its spot at the 2024 Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Hortons.
Longueuil won its final nine games to close out its schedule before embarking on an epic playoff run that included a seven-game win over the top-ranked Cobras de Terrebonne in the semifinals and another over L’Everest de la Côte-du-Sud in the LHJAAAQ final.
Collège Français played its best games when it mattered most. Facing elimination in Game 7 against the Cobras, it romped to a 5-0 win, backed by a 31-save shutout from Mathis Lacroix-Goulet. It was only the second time in 60 games Terrebonne had been shut out. The other? Game 4, when Longueuil evened the series at two apiece.
In the final, after dropping the first two games to Côte-du-Sud, Longueuil responded by winning the next two by a combined 15-3, and took Games 6-7 by a combined 9-3 to punch its ticket to Oakville.
Collège Français wasn’t overly dominant in any single aspect – it was fifth in the LHJAAAQ in goals scored, fifth in goals allowed, eighth in power play and seventh in penalty kill – but when it came to playoff wins, nobody else got to 12.
Individually, Olivier Denis led the way in the regular season with 58 points (20-38—58), good for 27th in the LHJAAAQ, while Simon Laramée paced the offence in the playoffs with 19 points (10-9—19) in 18 games.
It’s the second time in three years Collège Français will represent Quebec at Canada’s National Junior A Championship; two years ago in Estevan, it reached the semifinals before bowing out to the eventual national champion Brooks Bandits.
HOW THEY GOT TO OAKVILLE
Ligue de hockey junior AAA du Québec Quarterfinal: defeated VC de Laval 4-0 (5-0, 4-1, 4-2, 2-1) Semifinal: defeated Cobras de Terrebonne 4-3 (6-3, 2-8, 3-5, 3-0, 6-2, 0-4, 5-0) Final: defeated L’Everest de la Côte-du-Sud 4-3 (1-6, 2-5, 7-2, 8-1, 1-3, 5-2, 4-1)
REGULAR SEASON
Record (W-L-OTL): 30-14-4 (4th in LHJAAAQ) Goals for: 232 (5th in LHJAAAQ) Goals against: 185 (5th in LHJAAAQ) Power play: 46 for 200 (23.0% - 8th in LHJAAAQ) Penalty killing: 141 of 182 (77.5% - 7th in LHJAAAQ) Longest winning streak: 13 (Feb. 10-March 8)
Top 3 scorers: • Olivier Denis – 20G 38A 58P (27th in LHJAAAQ) • Jean-Thomas Turp-Tremblay – 24G 27A 51P (35th in LHJAAAQ) • Brandon Boudreau – 28G 20A 48P (41st in LHJAAAQ)
PLAYOFFS
Record: 12-6 Goals for: 68 Goals against: 46 Power play: 14 for 95 (14.7%) Penalty killing: 78 of 91 (85.7%)
Top 3 scorers: • Simon Laramée – 10G 9A 19P • Thomas Bourbonnais – 8G 10A 18P • Jean-Thomas Turp-Tremblay – 5G 12A 17P
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
2022 – Collège Français de Longueuil | 4th place | 3-3 | 21GF 26GA 1990 – Sieurs de Longueuil | 4th place | 1-4 | 16GF 34GA
COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY COMMITMENTS
None
CJHL TOP 20 RANKINGS
Oct. 2 – not ranked Oct. 9 – not ranked Oct. 16 – not ranked Oct. 23 – not ranked Oct. 30 – not ranked Nov. 6 – not ranked Nov. 13 – not ranked Nov. 20 – not ranked Nov. 27 – not ranked Dec. 4 – not ranked Dec. 11 – not ranked Dec. 18 – not ranked Jan. 8 – not ranked Jan. 15 – not ranked Jan. 22 – not ranked Jan. 29 – not ranked Feb. 5 – not ranked Feb. 12 – not ranked Feb. 19 – not ranked Feb. 26 – not ranked March 4 – not ranked March 11 – not ranked