EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – As they did last year, the Edmundston Blizzard ended their regular season with a shutout. On Sunday, in front of 2,591 spectators at the Jean-Daigle Centre, the Blizzard beat the Campbellton Tigers 6-0.
First star for the second straight game, Jérémy D’Astous scored his 30th goal of the campaign and added two assists. The game’s third star, Darien Thomson, scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season. Jérémy Fortin (11th), Alex Thibault (6th) and Marco Martin (6th) also found the back of the net for the winners. Carl-Anthony Massé and Philippe Collette also contributed with two assists each.
Goalie Austin Caley earned the second star of the afternoon. It was his third shutout of the season, second since joining the Blizzard in January. He stopped all 30 pucks directed at him to record his tenth win in ten starts, one shy of the record held by Thomas Boucher in the 2022-2023 season.
The Blizzard (44-6-1-1) ended the season with 90 points out of a possible 104. No other team has done better since the Blizzard came to Edmundston in the 2017-2018 season. What’s more, they improved their defensive record by conceding just 126 goals to the opposition, knocking down the mark of 136 from last season.
In terms of individual honours, captain Philippe Collette finished tied for second in the league in scoring with 85 points. His 59 assists are a league high. With a five-point outburst on Sunday, Pictou County’s Lucas Canning won the scoring title with 88 points (53g, 35a). Jérémy D’Astous took fifth place in the scoring charts with 30 goals and 52 assists for 82 points, averaging 1.86 points per game, the highest in the league this season.
With a minuscule goals-against average of 1.98, Austin Caley easily won the race in this category. And he tied for the lead with the number of shutouts (3). Caley also finished first for efficiency rate (.930) and win-loss percentage (.857).
Among rookies, Blizzard’s Émile Fournier easily topped the list with 37 goals and 26 assists. The race for Rookie of the Year will be between him and Summerside goaltender George Gallant, author of a 20-4-0-1 record and a 2.64 goals-against average.
Among defensemen, Blizzard’s Raphaël Denis finished the season in first place with 53 points (11g, 42a), three points better than Pictou County’s Drew Maddigan.
Prior to Sunday’s game, Blizzard management honored the eight 20-year-old players in their final MHL season: Raphaël Denis, Jérémy D’Astous, Jérémy Fortin, Zachary Lessard, Carl-Anthony Massé, Fabrice Bourgeois, Mathieu Pigeon and Marco Martin.
The playoffs get underway this week. First in the overall standings, the Blizzard will have home-ice advantage in every series they take part in. The schedule for the best-of-seven series against the Miramichi Timberwolves will be announced shortly.
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Photo
Austin Caley had another excellent game in front of the Blizzard cage, stopping all 30 Tigers shots to earn his third shutout of the season. Photo Percy Picard
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Source: Hugues Chiasson, communications co-ordinator – Edmundston Blizzard – 506 740-0623 – (cell.)