Press Release
Friday, October 12, 2018
Hockey Aigles Bleues Begin Hosting X-Women
Rookie head coach Marc-André Côté gives instructions to his players during a practice.
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The Marc-André Côté coached team played two exhibition games and was 1 and 1. The coach has confidence in his players and the team should have a very good season with a fine mixture of rookies and veterans.
“We have been working on a process since the beginning of September and we are looking for progress at each game,” said rookie coach Marc-André Côté, who was an assistant coach for five seasons. “We are asking them to play differently on the ice for the last six weeks. We need to do things differently. We have to manage and channel our energy.”
The Aigles Bleues have eight rookies and 13 veterans, including fifth season Katryne Villeneuve and Cassandra Labrie. Katherine Dubuc and Jennifer Arsenault are in their fourth season. Goaltenders are Sabrina Lebrun, in her third year and rookies Mélika Florent au Audrey Berthiaume.
“We need to play a full 60 minutes and be constant on the ice,” added team captain Cassandra Labrie. “We have a speedy and talented team with good cohesion and communications on the ice. This is my second campaign as captain, and I want to lead by example. We have a number of rookie defencemen, and I will do my best to help them. We are solid in all three zones, and we need to score more often than last season. We must finish our plays.”
The Aigles Bleues did finish in fifth spot in the final standings last season with a 10-10-4 record, with 24 points. The team was able to eliminate the Dalhousie University Tigers, 2-1 in the quarterfinals before falling 2-0 to the X-Women in semifinal action. It was the eleventh and final season behind the bench for head coach Denis Ross. Katryne Villeneuve did finish fourth in the AUS scoring race with 26 points on 12 goals and 14 assists.
Athletic Director Marc Boudreau will launch the season with an official face off prior to the game. All 2018-2019 players will be introduced prior to the game.
The game can be seen on AUStv.ca.
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