RIMOUSKI, Que. - For Ian Duval, this is it. No more tomorrows, no more chances. On Sunday afternoon, the 21-year-old from Winnipeg will graduate from the junior ranks, with this being his final season of eligibility. But what a game to graduate from, with the over-age forward and his Kelowna Rockets playing for the 2009 Memorial Cup. "One last game, and it‘s for the Memorial Cup; it‘s pretty special for us," said Duval, whom the Rockets acquired at the Jan. 10 trade deadline from the Moose Jaw Warriors. Duval won‘t be the only Rocket graduating on Sunday; he‘ll be joined by fellow forward Ryley Grantham and defenceman Tysen Dowzak. "It‘s pretty crazy, knowing that," continued Duval. "Me and Tysen were talking about that. The seasons, they seem to be pretty long at first and you‘re homesick. Then when you‘re 18 and on, you wish the years were longer because you have such good times. (After Sunday), we have to move on, and maybe I‘ll move on to some professional hockey. "But, right now, I‘m excited for Sunday." After Sunday, Duval will also be able to shave his, well, patchy beard. "This is the grossest beard anyone has ever grown," said Duval. "Maybe I‘ll just shave it into mutton chops and a mustache for a couple of days."
NEW GEAR: Rockets backup goalie Adam Brown received two presents on Thursday: A new blocker and glove. Odds are they‘ll look new for quite some time. "The new equipment is stiff. . . . I love it, but I hate it," said Brown, who hasn‘t seen a minute of Memorial Cup action, and, barring injury to starter Mark Guggenberger, won‘t see a second of ice time in Sunday‘s championship game. "It‘s obviously tough (not playing), but the team‘s winning and I‘m along for the ride and it‘s awesome. "The boys are pretty fired up and we‘re anxious to play. Our last game (2-1 loss to Windsor) didn‘t go so well, but we‘ll be ready to go for the final. The season‘s been so long that it‘s hard to imagine the season is going to end. It seems like it never will - not that it‘s a bad thing - but it‘s certainly been a long season."
SCRATCHED, BUT SMILING: In hockey terms, they‘re called Black Aces, players who travel, eat, study and practise with the team, but don‘t play for one reason or another. In Kelowna‘s case, the Rockets brought an overloaded roster to Rimouski, and the team has three aces in defenceman Aaron Borejko plus forwards Shane McColgan and Spencer Main. The three haven‘t played so far through this Memorial Cup, and odds are they won‘t play in Sunday‘s championship game, with Kelowna having advanced to the title contest after going 2-1 in round-robin play. Still, despite not suiting up, the three are soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying their time in Rimouski. "We know they want to play as bad as anybody," said Rockets assistant coach Jeff Finley. "But the situation, it is what it is; they‘re doing their best to try and stay positive, and they‘re doing a great job of doing that." "We still feel that we‘re part of the team, but we have to stay positive and be ready to go in case anything happens," said Main, a 17-year-old from North Vancouver. "We want to help the team, so we need to stay upbeat and not be negative. "Even though we‘re not playing, this is a great experience for us and we‘re trying to make the most of it." Said McColgan, a midget-aged call-up: "We‘re doing whatever‘s best for the team right now. Personally, I‘m so humbled to be here because this tournament is unbelievable. It‘s humbled me so much, and it‘s not even my rookie season yet. "The experience we‘re learning from this, it‘s definitely going to help for next year."
WHAT SUCCESS? Rimouski head coach Clement Jodoin was in fine form in Wednesday night‘s post-game press conference. Never shy for words, Jodoin at times spoke at length about Rimouski‘s 3-2 loss to Drummondville to close out round-robin play. The loss placed the Oceanic (1-2) into Thursday‘s tiebreaker against Windsor (1-2), a team they defeated 5-4 on Saturday. Nearly all of Wednesday‘s media questions were in French, but one English query - asking him about Rimouski‘s round-robin success against Windsor - seemed to ruffle Jodoin. "We didn‘t have success. We played a game, OK?" Jodoin said in English. "It‘s a big difference, having success and playing one game. I knew they still have a pretty good hockey team out there; they‘ve been winning in Ontario. "So, it‘s another day to work with the boys and find a way. I know what we did in the past, but, most importantly, it‘s tomorrow‘s game." Top of Page
