The equipment has encountered some operational problems. We tried to see if we could easily fix it, but with technology changing at an incredible rate, we quickly realized that we didn’t have the parts and that replacing that equipment was absolutely necessary.explains François Saint-Onge, deputy general manager of the city of Shawinigan.

The decision to upgrade this device was made a few months ago when sporadic problems started to appear. The council approved the spending at a meeting in May.

At a very bad time for the Cataracts

For several weeks, the Shawinigan Cataractes organization and the city tried to find a temporary solution to extend the life of the current scoreboard. Team President Roger Lavergne had his fingers crossed that he would hold out until the new guy arrived somewhere in mid-November.

The three screens died less than two weeks ago, deemed irretrievable… in full preparation for the celebrations aimed at marking the only President’s Cup championship in Shawinigan’s 53 seasons of junior hockey.

We wanted to set up temporary screens. We contacted several suppliers, but the deadline was too tight. Due to the lack of staff, nobody was able to help us in time for our first game. It’s unfortunate, but it won’t take away the joy of unveiling the champions’ banner QMJHLexplains Roger Lavergne.

The team will likely turn to social media to showcase the videos that were set to be shown during the ceremony.

No impact on games

No video projection before the game and during the ceremonies. No animation during pauses or video playback. Animation in a broader sense will suffer for a few more weeks.

The display of the time, as well as the penalties, is functional. That QMJHL agreed that in the meantime we can continue to use these devices to run games. So the season will start without any problems. We are currently looking for a window of around five days of no activity on the ice to allow for the panel to be taken down and the new one put up. This should be done around mid-November or early December at the latestassures François Saint-Onge.

The City of Shawinigan recognizes that this $300,000 investment primarily serves the interests of the Cataractes, but recalls that all activities taking place within the walls of the Center Gervais Auto can benefit from it.