The Lions de Trois-Rivières failed to qualify for the playoffs in their second season of existence with Bergeron saying, “the team was in a difficult situation more often than not all season long” and guessed that the team played with their full roster for about ten games total this season. There seemed to be a cloud hanging over the team as bad news seemed to pile up. It starting with the unexpected departure of head coach Eric Bélanger a month into the season catching everyone by surprise just as the team was preparing to head on an arduous road trip to Utah. Bergeron said that the team was “not prepared for such an important departure”.
Player departures also affected the stability of the team, whether it was call-ups to the American Hockey League or players leaving entirely. Bergeron mentioned that it is incredibly hard to replace players with the calibre of Alex Breton and Olivier Galipeau mid-season despite the pride of seeing these players perform at a higher level. “The ECHL is a league that has lots of movement. It’s hard to manage. We are all still discovering it right now, as GM, as fans. It’s more complicated than major junior.”
Finding replacement players mid-season was the big challenge for the Lions this season, and the self-imposed strategic limitation made it all the harder, leading the team to reconsider one of its pillars. “Since the start we’ve wanted to be a team made of Quebecois players. We are realizing that mission is not as simple as we thought. Replacing good Quebecers during the season is a lot more complicated than we thought. We have to remember that another goal of the team is to win…”
The underlying message was that the Lions would begin to prioritize winning over icing a team made solely of Quebecers, especially given the lack of an agreement with the Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey (LNAH), which punishes its players from signing in the ECHL. “We are open to discussions with the LNAH in the goal to remain as Quebec as possible. We are hoping that there is an eventual deal soon,” but Bergeron’s tone did not seem very hopeful. With a lack of an agreement to dip into a pool of ready-made players to step into replacement roles on the Lions, they began dealing heavily with the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL), the American-based Pro A league, for substitute players.
“We developed a good relationship with the SPHL. We know them more now than we did before. These are players who want to develop, they are players who want to continue moving up. SPHL players were part of our line-up for almost the entire season”. Bergeron singled out players like Cameron Cook, Brett Beauvais, and Matthew Barron who came from the SPHL and did honest work for the Lions and earned extended stays.
Bergeron also did not close the idea of using players from the Quebec Senior AAA Hockey League (LHSAAAQ) to fill-in on occasion, saying that the team needs to remain realistic. He brought up the example of calling goaltender William Lavallière on a Friday night to see if he’s available for a road trip on Saturday morning as important flexibility to have given how fast things can change.
Despite not having many players from the Rocket for the majority of the season, Bergeron mentioned that their relationship with the Canadiens is excellent, with John Sedgwick as the intermediary, just that it was unfortunate that the start of the Lions aligned with a historic injury streak by the Habs for the past two seasons. A total of 55 players wore the Lions jersey this season (around 27 were from Quebec). A significant improvement from the 80+ last season, but still a lot of change to manage for one team per Bergeron, with more stability desired to allow players to get used to one another.
“It’s not like we missed the playoffs by 50 points. We are talking about 10 points. There were many games this season where we felt we didn’t get the result that we deserved, and say those five or six games were the difference.” Bergeron pointed to a particularly difficult month of January that was the difference-maker, and noting that aside from the three losses in Newfoundland on the team’s final road trip of the season, the team was 7-2-1 to close out the year.
Bergeron began the press conference by thanking outgoing President Marc Weightman for what he brought to the organization to help launch it, and then later emphasized that he would be staying on as Vice-President and General Manager. As for remaining as head coach, he will need to think about it, including talking to his family, to see what road to take. “All possibilities are still open” said Bergeron noting several times that he has to gather his thoughts first.
Sitting next to Bergeron during the press conference was assistant coach Pascal Rhéaume, who stayed silent for the majority of the conference with only one question thrown his way as to whether he would like to be head coach. “Of course. It’s my second year here, and loved my time here I’ve had a great experience. My main goal is to come back with the Lions next season, and hope that things are done in the right way. It’s Marc-André who is in charge, and we will see.” Rhéaume’s contracted expired at the end of the season.
Despite these challenges, Bergeron highlighted an improvement of the team’s power play year-over-year as a positive sign on-ice, and off the ice, despite public perception, was able to sign six players late in the season who may be a part of the team next year. He gave credit to his scouting staff who have begun developing relationships with teams and coaches across the NCAA, USports, and Europe, to build those bridges for the future. Having completed his exit interviews, Bergeron mentioned that “the majority of players want to return despite the season that the team had.”
