Condors this week

Weekend defeats cause Condor coach some concern

Richard Tardif
The Eastern Door

Things changed fast in the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League West Division last week. Slipping back into fourth spot are the Kahnawake Condors, relinquishing second spot to the Valleyfield Braves, a team they’ve won against twice, and leaving third to the Lachine Maroons who easily defeated the Condors 6-2 on Sunday. Overall the Condors have fallen to ninth position.
How they got there started in Lachine with a 4-3 loss on October 21, followed a week later by a loss to les Panthères de St. Jerome, and then a 5-4 loss to Granby last Friday and finally to the Maroons again on Sunday.
Head coach and general manager Patrice Bosch was not in a good mood, to say the least, after the Sunday loss.
"We could not buy a goal against Lachine,” he said. “We didn’t play physical because some players came out to play hockey, and didn’t work. We deserved what we got, which is a loss.”
Against L’Inouk de Granby on Friday, Bosch doesn’t think his team played a bad game - bad penalties is more the story, and while the Condors got ahead 3-2 in the second, penalties at the wrong time gave Granby their opportunities.
“We have to be disciplined,” said Bosch, referring to both weekend games, who feels he may have to draw the line when it comes to his team’s discipline. “We have some aggressive players, and penalties are a part of the game, yet our leaders are behaving in a way that they should not be.”
Penalties played a role in the Maroon game, but not right away and were not the only factor in the loss. Bosch says he was forced to overplay some players because they were giving it their all, while others were not.
“That’s why we had a mix up of lines in the third period,” said the coach. “We have to shake things up. Look at the shots in the game? The Maroons made good on their chances and we didn't. It is as simple as that.”
The Maroons took 24 shots, scoring six goals. The Condors directed 23 shots, with goals from Jonathan Castonguay, his ninth, early in the third after hitting a goal post late in the second; and Patrick Lapostolle, his 22nd. But thanks to Maroon goaltender Mathieu Bezeau, the Condors were stymied on other opportunities.
“I thought we were motivated then, as motivated as we had been in a while,” said Bosch, “but we were not looking for big plays, the big hits, or the scoring chances. I guess we were not motivated enough.”
Where penalties played a role was how the Maroons took advantage. The Maroons counted goals for three of four power plays, while the Condors, usually a threat with the advantage, were unable to get close to the net.
It didn’t get any easier for the Condors.
At 10:01 of the third frame Nicolas St-Onge was sent off for making contact with an opponents’ head. Though a debatable call, the penalties led to the Maroons’ final power play goal.
But for St-Onge, the hit to the head comes with a league disciplinary review. St-Onge, a physical player, has already been suspended for a hit to the opponent’s head during an October 16 loss to the St. Leonard Arctic. The forward received a three-game sentence for that hit.
The game was not the only loss for the Condors.
The Condors will have to do without the services of veteran defenseman Philippe Lauzon, who left the third period with a broken collarbone. His return before Christmas is in question.
Another home and home contest begins Thursday evening in Valleyfield and returns to Kahnawake on Friday at 7:45 p.m. Last time these teams met on October 13 and 14th, the Condors won both games.
“That was three weeks ago,” said Bosch “We just have not played any better than we did two weeks ago, and are we concerned about the playoffs now in November? No. What we are concerned about is that we have not improved in two weeks.”
After the mini series against Valleyfield, the Condors visit the 12th place Montreal East Rangers on Sunday. Game time is 4:00 p.m.

richardt@easterndoor.com