By Michael Boriero – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
After a brief two-week hiatus since the end of the regular season, the Sherbrooke Phoenix are set to take on the third-place Chicoutimi Saguenéens on Friday evening for the first round of the 2021 President Cup Playoffs.
“Mentally, it was tough, quite a bit, but now that we know that we’re going to start next week guys are back to work and we’ll be ready,” said Phoenix head coach Stephane Julien about the prolonged break before the post-season due to COVID-19 safety measures.
They just want to play, he continued, as the Phoenix spent the past two weeks practicing without any clue as to when the playoffs would take place. But Sherbrooke is still riding high right now. They enter the post-season having won four of their last five games.
They also played the Saguenéens three times to conclude the regular season, winning twice, 5-4 and 5-2, respectively. Although they lost one, they managed to shut down Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) stars Dawson Mercer and Hendrix Lapierre.
