There is probably no one more demanding of Quebec Remparts forward Antoine Dorion than Dorion himself. Unhappy with one of his games this season, he re-watched the game seven times to make sure he didn’t made the same mistakes again!
• Also read: The character of the Remparts brings them victory
• Also read: The Remparts dominated Shawinigan
Even though he is the Red Devils’ leading scorer after nine games – he has one goal and six points – Dorion is still getting used to it as he is in his first year in the QMJHL after playing his first two seasons as a junior spent at the Ontario Junior A level.
And Dorion takes this adjustment to heart.
“After the first weekend I was really not happy with my game against Rimouski. I watched my game seven times and told D-Rod about it [l’entraîneur-adjoint David Rodrigue], he told me that I didn’t have to do that. He told me: Look at the presences you don’t like once or twice and then try to learn from them.”
Photo Marcel Tremblay / QMI Agency
This pursuit of perfection is a double-edged sword, believes head coach Éric Veilleux.
“He’s a guy who knows how to play hockey and has a good feel for hockey. I have to guide him to stop wanting to be perfect. I feel a bit like that too, but I’ve learned over time that not everything can be perfect. What you teach cannot be perfect the first time, nor the tenth or 50th time. Perfection, we would all like it, but it is difficult to achieve.”
The father’s advice
Dorion also knows he needs to temper his expectations of himself, because this isn’t the first time he’s been told this. His father and general manager of the Ottawa Senators, Pierre Dorion, often talked to him about it.
“I had a very big role at Hawkesbury last year [junior A] and I put too much pressure on myself. My dad always told me to focus on controlling what I could control, which was my effort level. You can try to be perfect, but you’ll never be able to. The most important thing is the work you put in to get close to the goal. That’s why I try to push myself in every practice, do more and work hard off the ice.”
Antoine Dorion’s father and Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion. Martin Chevalier / JdeM
On the first wave
After finishing last weekend’s three games with 13 power play shutouts, the Remparts practiced that aspect of the game extensively during Tuesday’s practice.
And Dorion found himself in the first wave of attack with five players, a position he hadn’t occupied since the opening game.
“It shows the trust the coach has in me. I think we’re going to hurt the power play a little bit.”
If Dorion finds himself in this situation, it is also because veteran Mikaël Huchette is once again excluded from the game for unclear reasons. The 20-year-old forward missed Thursday and Friday’s games due to illness and returned to the lineup on Sunday. However, after the meeting, the same signs of fatigue appeared again, explained the team’s general manager, Simon Gagné.
The striker is not expected to play on Wednesday evening during the visit of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and he will undergo more detailed tests to determine the reason for these signs of fatigue.