The Drummondville Voltigeurs confirmed the hiring of Éric Bélanger as head coach on Wednesday night during their matchup once morest the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
Bélanger acted as head coach of the Lions of Trois-Rivières, in the ECHL, but he tendered his resignation on Tuesday evening, following spending just over a season at the helm of the club affiliated with the Montreal Canadiens.
With the Lions, Bélanger posted a 40-35-7 record. The Trois-Rivières team lost in seven games once morest the Newfoundland Growlers in the first round of playoffs last season.
Bélanger was also the head coach of the Chevaliers de Lévis, of the Ligue de développement du hockey U18 AAA du Québec, for two seasons before joining the Lions.
“Eric directs his teams as he played. With passion and intensity. He knows the world of hockey, he knows the game and he has significant NHL experience that he can share with all our players,” mentioned Voltigeurs general manager Philippe Boucher.
Bélanger played 820 NHL games, scoring 138 goals and 358 points. He played for the Los Angeles Kings, Carolina Hurricanes, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild, Washington Capitals, Arizona Coyotes and Edmonton Oilers.
Boucher and Bélanger were notably teammates with the Kings during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.
The Voltigeurs have been looking for a new head coach since Steve Hartley was fired seven days ago. Hartley was an assistant coach with the Drummondville troupe from 2016 to 2018 and then took the reins from 2018 until last Wednesday.
In Wednesday night’s victory for the Voltigeurs, Jérémy Lapointe had a goal and an assist.
Simon Hughes opened the scoring following just 53 seconds, then Lapointe doubled the power play lead in the second period.
The latter then assisted in the goal of Drew Elliott in an empty net.
Quebec beaten twice in a row for the first time
Nathan Darveau saved 33 pucks and the Victoriaville Tigres defeated the Quebec Remparts 4-1.
Darveau notably stood out in the third period, as the Tigers sought to maintain their three-goal lead. He gave up only once in 13 pitches.
The Tigers gave the Remparts a first this season, while Patrick Roy’s men suffered a second consecutive defeat. The Victoriaville squad has remained undefeated in regulation time in its last three games.
Egor Goriunov had a goal and two assists in the victory for his team. Maxime Pellerin, Thomas Belzile and Tommy Cormier also scored for the Tigres, while Pier-Olivier Roy contributed three goals.
Zachary Bolduc deprived Darveau of a second shutout this season when he moved the ropes at 11:46 of the third period. William Rousseau blocked 24 shots.
Joshua Roy takes charge of the Olympics
Montreal Canadiens prospect Joshua Roy found the back of the net twice and the Sherbrooke Phoenix beat the Gatineau Olympiques 4-1.
His second goal came in an empty net, just like Justin Gill’s 33 seconds before.
Israel Mianscum was the other scorer in the victory.
Delafontaine clears the Drakkar
Rémi Delafontaine was perfect in front of 27 shots and the Shawinigan Cataractes blanked the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 2-0.
William Veillette scored the winning goal midway through the second period, 17th of the season already, while Loris Rafanomezantsoa completed the scoring in the final third with his very first goal of the year.
