Rising to the occasion

NEW GLASGOW - With a young Pictou County Weeks Crushers team in front of him, goaltender Alexandre Quessy has seen a lot of pucks fired his way this season.
Liars can figure and figures can lie, but not always: Pictou County has given up 1,166 shots this year. Only Restigouche (1,245) and Halifax (1,102) have allowed more shots, and those teams are in last place in their respective divisions, with a combined record of 11-46-6.
"I wouldn't trade him for any other goaltender in the league," Crushers' coach Troy Ryan said recently.
Losers in six of their last seven, the Crushers would like to hit the Christmas break on a winning note. They have a chance to do that tonight when the Truro Bearcats come to New Glasgow for the fourth meeting this season between the MJAHL rivals.
"It's a game we need to win," said Quessy (pronounced "Casey"), who added the team played well in their 3-2 loss last Saturday in Miramichi, and probably should have won it.
"I think we're is pulling in the right direction right now."
The 20-year-old Montreal native arrived in Pictou County last January, after playing - somewhat unhappily so - Junior 'A' in Granby, Que., in a league where offence was everything, and goaltenders were cannon fodder.
"I was pretty close to quitting until I had an opportunity to come here for a fresh start," said Quessy, who takes some online courses from Concordia University: English and American history.
Quessy rolled into the county last winter and backstopped his team to an upset over Truro in the MJAHL playoffs, then in April helped lead them to a Fred Page Cup title on home ice. At the national Junior 'A' championship in Cornwall, Ont., he was MVP in four of the five games the Crushers played and took them to within one win of playing for the Royal Bank Cup title.
While he says he approaches each game the same way, Quessy likes the heat of big games. "I've been like that since I started playing - when there's more pressure I play better. I've played not so good the last couple of weeks, but I think every player in November and December has a bit of a slump. We're getting back on track and I think my game's getting back on track, too."
The Crushers are 1-2 against Truro this season; all three games between the two teams have been one-goal affairs.
The Bearcats have scored more than anyone in the league (139 goals in 32 games) and have given up 82, a league-best, as defenders Sam Hounsell and Jeff McNeil anchor a tight 'D'. Bolstering their roster, Truro recently acquired forward Steve Pearson in a trade with the Restigouche Tigres.
Despite all that, coach/G.M. Shawn Evans expects a difficult game from the Crushers. "It's usually a tough, tight-checking game and I don't expect anything different," he said. "Quessy has played very well the last two times we've played them, and we expect the same."
Quessy welcomes the challenge of facing the vaunted Bearcats. "I like to play them - it's always a great game."