Youthful team making noise in QMJHL
Chicoutimi a success

by Brad Rowe for Faceoff.com, exerpted, 10/30/01

The Chicoutimi Sagueneens are proving that youth and inexperience can still sometimes translate into success in major junior hockey. The Sagueneens, who have 11 rookies in their lineup, are one of the hottest teams in the QMJHL and as a result have moved into the upper echelon of the standings.

Before an uncharacteristic 6-1 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads at Halifax on Monday, the Sags had won six straight and were 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. They're 11-5-1 record has them in third in the Dilio Conference's East Division. They trail only the Canadian Hockey League's No. 2-ranked Rimouski Oceanic (13-2-2) and the veteran-laden Baie-Comeau Drakkar (11-6-0-2). Chicoutimi, which only won 22 games last season, is fourth in the conference and fifth in the overall standings.

"When the season started our focus was on getting our young players enough ice time to develop as the season progressed," said Chicoutimi coach Alain Rajotte. "But what we've seen so far is that we can be competitive at the same time as developing. We have ten 17-year-olds and one 16-year-old in our lineup so we're a very young team.

"But we do have one of the best young players in the league in Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who is the key to our team. He's a tremendous talent. He's also a good team player."

Bouchard took the league by storm as a 16-year-old rookie last season. Despite playing on a team that scored just 242 goals in 72 games, Bouchard scored 38 goals and added 57 assists in just 67 games en route to being named rookie of the year.

"I'm used to working with young players. I'm confident in young players and tell them if they work hard they'll play. I believe work equals respect. Even if the guys don't win as long as they work they'll get the respect of the fans and their opponents."

Rajotte expects things to only get better for the Sagueneens. "We haven't played our best hockey yet," he said. "We've played good hockey, but I know there's room for improvement as long as the players continue to work hard. They've shown me already that they have a lot of character."

Rajotte has been able to inject confidence in his young players, a reputation he earned in Victoriaville and a big reason why Chicoutimi's new ownership group hired him to replace Martin Daoust last October. The new owners include Chicoutimi alumnus Guy Carbonneau, the Montreal Canadiens' assistant coach who is also took on the role of president of the Sagueneens.

"There was a really bad atmosphere when I came here," said Rajotte. "The owners really wanted a change. They took a big risk buying this team because the fan base was dead. The kids didn't have much self esteem because the team wasn't winning. They were pretty sad and looked at the floor all the time. I told them as long as they worked hard they would discover how good they were and they could hold their heads up and be proud because people would respect them."

They're certainly getting respect now.