Looking Ahead

With the summer season just a little more than a month away, the excitement of the Shockers is intensifying and is definitely creating a whole lot of positive energy in the locker room.

"We're looking forward to game one, that is going to be big papillions point com right there," Alain Godard, the team captain, said a the pre-season press conference.

"It's going to be a big season for us all, that's for true!" exclaimed defensive work-horse, Francois Hamelin.

The team has been holding regular team practices every week trying out new strategies and ways to work out the lines, however, the team has been keeping quiet as to what the lines will be come game time. Another item of discussion that the team is keeping quiet is who in fact will get the start in nets.

Preliminary reports suggested that Giancarlo Capaz would get the start for game one, however, due to his contract clauses with the division one Blues, he will not be able to play games on consecutive days. That being said, if the Blues do make a return for the summer season and game days are held on consecutive days, we might see Capaz on the sidelines for most of the season. With Capaz's status in question, who will take on the responsibilities of carrying this team to the cup? There are some speculations that the Shockers will look into some goaltending options from the minors. Charles "Chuck" Ghazarian is a promising candidate the Shockers look to evaluate in the coming weeks. He is posting excellent numbers in the minors including a whooping 2.03 GAA. Some rumors, which were quickly denied by the Shocker's management, had Jaroslav Whiffen, the backup goaltender for the division one Blues, joining the team.

Some online sources are rumoring that a trade involving Capaz for another goaltender who the team can count on and not have to worry about contract stipulations. When Capaz was asked about his future with the Shockers, he simply said: "we'll have to see what my agent says, if the contract negotiations go well, I'll be more than happy to take this team to the top."

To avoid another Ray Emery situation, Godard cleared the air by this statement, "[Capaz] has got to look out for himself and his better interests. Obviously, his family is number one and he's got to do what is best for them. We want to see him between the pipes for us this season, right on, right there, on the spot."

As the dust will soon settle on both sides of those fences, the team looks to solidify its defensive pairings of Marc Boucher, Greg Emmanuel, Jeff Jasmin and Francois Hamelin. "We have a good balance on defense, they know when to jump into the attack and they know when it is time to play smart defense. Boucher will be our go-to guy on the powerplay. Emmanuel has good speed and can play the man well. Jasmin is definitely going to be a tough dude to get around. Hamelin, he's like the [Patrice] Brisebois of the gang, he'll put in the key goals in tight game situations and he'll stick with the team for years to come, y'est franchise buddy," Godard boasted.