Monday, January 23, 2012

O’Brien, Cadorette and Gourde named TELUS three stars of the week

Press Release

Zach O’Brien, Philippe Cadorette and Yanni Gourde were named, today, the TELUS three stars of the week for the period spanning January 16th to the 22nd.

The first star is awarded to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s right-winger Zach O’Brien. His offensive performance this week allowed him to teeter just 2 points behind Yanni Gourde (with 86 points) atop the scoring standings. Friday, in a 7-4 win against the Moncton Wildcats, O’Brien scored his 40th goal — the first player to do so in the QMJHL this season — with a remarkable career high output of 4 goals and 1 assist. He was deservedly named the 1st star of the game. It’s worth noting that after 114 games played, he has yet to make a trip to the penalty box (regular season and playoffs combined). Sunday, against the Saint John Sea Dogs, he scored another goal and added an assist. He ended the week with 5 goals and 2 assists for a total of 7 points.

The second star belongs to Philippe Cadorette, the rookie goaltender of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. Last Friday against the PEI Rocket, he made 11 saves in a 6-1 win. Sunday, during his 4th game in the QMJHL against the Rimouski Océanic, the Drakkar’s 2nd round pick in last June’s draft made 28 saves and celebrated his first career shutout. He was later named the game’s first star.

Victoriaville Tigres left-winger Yanni Gourde is the recipient of the 3rd star. Friday, in a 5-4 win against the Drummondville Voltigeurs, he scored 1 goal and added 3 assists, including one on the game-winning goal late in the 3rd period which broke a 4-4 tie. Sunday, against the PEI Rocket, he scored the eventual game-winner. The 20 year-old star finished the week with 2 goals and 3 assists for a total of 5 points and a +/- of +3.

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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