Doing it the Duke way

Anthony Duclair (www.journalquebec.com)

On the last day before the QMJHL shut down for their holiday break, Anthony Duclair (NYR 2013 3rd) went out in style to help his Quebec Remparts start their vacation with a win. "The Duke" had a 1-2-3 evening as his Quebec Remparts came back to defeat the Chicoutimi Saguenéens 4-2.

It was "The Duke's" 29th goal which came at 41 seconds of the 3rd period which broke a 2-2 tie and wound up being the game winning goal for the Remparts. It was Duclair's 5th game winner of the season but that just touches the surface of Duclair's season but first the game.

Duclair earned his first point of the night when he set up Kurt Etchegary's 7th goal of the season just 2:34 into the game and a 1-0 Quebec lead. Duclair's 2nd point of the game was his goal and his 3rd point was a secondary on Kurt Etchegary's 2nd goal of the game an empty net goal which sealed the win.

And for the end of his first half of the season there is no doubt that Anthony Duclair has blown all of the other Ranger prospects away for best prospect. Duclair is 29-21-51 in just 35 games which is good for 6th in the QMJHL. Besides the 5 game winners, Duclair has 7 power play goals, 14 power play assists , 3 shorthanded goals and 1 shorthanded assist. The only area where Duclair has not shined has been on his shootout attempts where he is 0 for 5 this season.

Go enjoy your vacation "Duke" as you have really earned it.

Ryan Graves (NYR 2013 4th) really tried to rally his Charlottetown Islanders with 3 "dangerous" scoring chances on a team high 6 shots but it could not prevent his team from dropping their 3rd straight game. The Islanders were shut out 2-0 by the Shawinigan Cataractes as they finish their 1st half with a very disappointing 1-8-0-1 which dropped their record to .14-19-1-4

Graves played hard but was a -2 on the game as the Islanders are left searching for answers after a very hot start to the season has totally disappeared.

Loic Leduc (NYI 2012 4th) and his Cape Breton Screaming Eagles are also heading to their vacation with a 3 game losing streak after losing 4-2 to the Saint John Sea Dogs. The Screaming Eagles are 19-15-0-3 which for them is a shocking turnaround for the team that has traditionally has been one of the worst in the QMJHL. Right now consistency is their main enemy as if they can find some then this will be one very dangerous team.

Vacation Time

Since nobody is going to play until Thursday morning when Canada and Team USA open the World Under-20 championships then I too will be taking a few days to charge the batteries. Seeya Thursday