The Trois-Rivières Lions had an overall positive assessment of the first half of the season on Wednesday.
With a record of 19-22-4 after 45 games, the ECHL club close to the Montreal Canadiens is in the middle of the playoff race. The Lions are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference North Division, three points behind the Worcester Railers and one point ahead of the Maine Mariners. The first four teams qualify.
The second half of the season promises to be a busy one as the Lions will play several games against teams directly involved in the playoff race, four-point games, as Lions head coach Ron Choules explained. “We are already in playoff mode. These games are four-point games, in some cases I would even say six-point games,” he says.
Choules also said he was fortunate to have a good core of players, led by captain Cédric Montminy, who is just three goals away from 100 in the ECHL.
For the rest of the schedule, Choules would like to see more from his team. “We have to be more consistent in our style of play. We started the season well. Yes, we lost players, but we have to regain our consistency in all areas. I feel like we often take one step forward and two steps back.”