Still lots to be proud of this season
Jason Steven
Special to the Tribune
The West Nipissing Lynx reached the GMHL playoffs semi-final round, but came up well short against the Bradford Rattlers.The Lynx fell behind two games to one in Bradford before returning to the Marcel & Jane Labbe Arena for games 3 and 4. The Lynx kept it close in game 3, a 4-2 loss which saw them push the Rattlers right to the end. Matthias Weistche and Zach Major scored for the Lynx, who sent 56 shots on Rattlers goalie Maxim Ivanov.
Game 4 saw the Rattlers jump out to a 6-0 lead after the second period, en route to an 8-1 final to close out the best-of-seven series four games to one. Weistche scored the lone goal for the Lynx in the third period.
Award winners
Team award winners this season included Most Valuable Player, team captain Stephane Philion, Best Forward Alexandre Dubuc, Best Defence Zach Major, Most Improved Player Nathan Fisher, Rookie of the Year Tyler Brunet and Most Dedicated Player Mathias Droulet.
Members of the Lynx recognized with league awards for the North Division were Weistche, who was named Most Sportsmanlike Player, Major, who took home the Heart Award, and Coach Moe Mantha, who was named Coach of the Year.
Shout out to the fans
Team co-owner Mathieu Gaudette is very proud of the club’s accomplishments this season, saying “we had a season to remember. Our fans were amazing all season long, we never saw that arena so full, we only lost five regular season games at home due to our fans being the best in the league.” Gaudette adds that the club averaged 350 fans, with the largest crowd being 540.
Record breaking season
Gaudette points out several team records were broken this year, including the team’s overall 26-12-4 record. The 26 wins (up from 20 in 2018-19) and 56 points (up from 43 in 2018-19) both set new standards for the organization. Individual record setters were goalie Carson Lockhart with 13 wins (up from Giulio Costa’s 10 wins in 2017-18); Stephane Philion’s 41 goals (up from Thomas Ferrell’s 31 in 2016-17); Alexandre Dubuc’s 74 assists (up from Colin Boudreau’s 39 assists in 2018-19); Major’s 48 points (most points from a defenceman, up from Donovan Rich’s 46 points in 2017-18); and three players, Dubuc (99), Philion (83) and Weistche (69) all eclipsed the most points in a season (up from Boudreau’s 57 points in 2018-19).
Lots of local talent
Gaudette is also proud of the amount of local talent on the team. Philion, Major, Dubuc, Carson Laronde, brothers Riley Brunet and Tyler Brunet and goaltenders Deric Rivet and Terry Bradley all call West Nipissing home.
Gaudette says there will be lots of news coming in the coming months, including whether coach Mantha will return behind the bench. “We hope he does, but we gave him the time to think everything over,” he says.
Philion, Rivet, Weistche, Fisher and Liam Thor have all aged out, and are not eligible to return next season.