LAVAL | After a series of nine wins in ten games, the Laval Rocket lost twice on the road over the weekend – proof that you can never take your foot off the gas in the American League.

“When you're winning, sometimes you take things for granted and our attention to detail was less there. We put a little too much pressure on us, we tried moves that didn't exist and we lost the ball too many times. “It's a great lesson that brings us back down to earth and highlights the work ahead of us,” concluded head coach Jean-François Houle.

Xavier Simoneau agrees with his coach and believes it's a slap on the wrist that can be beneficial.

“I wouldn't say we've hit a wall, but we've maybe taken it easy and it's up to us to roll up our sleeves. Winning several online is good for morale, but you can also fall into a trap, and I think that's what happened at the end of the week.

character

In both the 4-2 loss at Syracuse on Friday and the 4-7 loss at Rochester on Saturday, the Rocket never had the lead, but they didn't give up either.

“It's part of hockey to have bad weekends, but I think we showed character in every game and came back from behind both times,” Simoneau insisted.

Houle believes his team has committed a sin by not strictly respecting the principles of play that have helped them achieve success over the last month and a half.

“Attention to detail is important to our team. We don't have a team that can play wide open, which is what we did against Rochester when it was 4-1. We decided to open the game a little and that's not good for us, we have to be tight-lipped and play carefully.”

The rocket occupies 4^e Ranked in the North Division with 42 points, 2 fewer than Rochester, which will host two games next weekend. In fact, the team's next five games will be against division rivals.

Beaudin wanted to leave

Additionally, the Canadian announced on Sunday that he had reached an agreement with defender Nicolas Beaudin to end his contract.

Beaudin played in 16 games for the Rocket this season and recorded six assists. He was also loaned to the Canadian team that competed in the Spengler Cup over the holidays, which may have helped him attract interest.

“Maybe he has an offer elsewhere, certainly in Europe,” Houle said. It's important, the individual, and if he chooses a different career path, I won't put a stop to him, even if it hurts our hierarchy because we now only have six defenders. »

Beaudin, a first-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018, was acquired from the Hawks in October 2022 for Cam Hillis. He did not wear the Canadian colors.