EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – Who better to round off an extraordinary day on Sunday afternoon at the Jean-Daigle Centre than the clutch player Philippe Collette.
The Edmundston Blizzard captain scored the only goal of the shootout to give a 3-2 win over the Grand Falls Rapids.
The victory had everything to enhance the scope of the show. For one thing, it was the team’s 40th win of the season, one more than the record 39 set last year. For another, the Blizzard celebrated reaching the magic 500,000 spectator mark since its debut in 2017.
After a scoreless first period, the Blizzard opened the scoring in the second with two goals, from Will Allen (18th) at 1:18, then Alex Thibault (4th) at 7:15. But the Rapids responded at 16:19 with a goal from former Blizzard Nathan Plamondon (15).
In the third period, Grand Falls tied the game at 14:17 on a two-men power play, leaving the crowd in disarray. Jonah Leard (25th) put both teams to square one.
Austin Caley earned victory in front of the Blizzard cage, while Adam Lecours suffered the loss despite another outstanding game in Edmundston. Lecours faced 47 shots, while Caley received 26 pucks.
Collette (1st), Thibault (2nd) and Lecours (3rd) were chosen the stars of the game played in front of 2,340 spectators.
Prior to the game, the Blizzard had attracted 498,487 spectators to its games since its first exhibition game on September 2, 2017 at the Saint-Jacques Palladium, pending that the Jean-Daigle Centre would be ready to welcome its first fans a little over a month later (October 28, 2017). With Sunday’s 2,340 spectators, the total now stands at 500,827 in 221 games, an average of 2,266 per game, despite the fact that attendances had dropped considerably during the pandemic seasons.
During the automatic half-time break in the first period, Blizzard management presented one person with a souvenir jersey to mark the 500,000th entry to a Blizzard game, exhbition, season and playoff games combined. And the lucky winner is Émilie Caron.
The magic number for the Blizzard to be crowned overall champion of the season is 5. With 82 points, they are 12 points ahead of the Summerside Western Capitals, leaders of the Eastlink South section. Summerside, however, has three games in hand.
The Blizzard (40-5-1-1) play their next game on Thursday, February 20, when they host the Miramichi Timberwolves (26-16-0-3).
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Photo
In these images, Philippe Collette shows his great joy after lodging the puck over the glove of goalie Adam Lecours, giving the Blizzard their 40th win of the season. Photo Percy Picard
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Source: Hugues Chiasson, communications co-ordinator – Edmundston Blizzard – 506 740-0623 – (cell.)