B12

Peter Assaff

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Anyone who makes as many trades as Acadie-Bathurst Titan general manager Sylvain Couturier, knows that sometimes those players come back to haunt you. Of course, having your own son come home to do just that is a totally different story.

Couturier's oldest son Sean returned to the building he grew up playing minor hockey in and scored a hat trick last Sunday to lead the Drummondville Voltigeurs to a 10-3 drubbing of the Titan at the K. C. Irving Regional Centre.

"I was happy, obviously as a father, to see Sean play well," acknowledged the GM, who has pulled the trigger on a total of 98 trades since 2005. "The perfect scenario would have been a Titan win and for Sean to still have three goals."

Drafted second overall by Drummondville in the 2008 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League entry draft, the younger Couturier, who won't celebrate his 17th birthday until next month, has 12 goals and eight assists in 18 games with the Voltigeurs this season. As a rookie, he had 31 points, including nine goals, in 58 games before adding a goal and seven helpers in 19 playoff games as Drummondville captured its first league title and represented the circuit at the Memorial Cup.

"It is a weird situation," said the elder Couturier, who spent parts of three seasons playing for the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings. "It turned out to be a good ending for Sean, and I'm happy for him, but at the same time you want your team to succeed, especially now that we are in a slump."

Sunday's loss was the fourth straight for the Titan, who have dropped eight of their last 10 games to fall to 7-11-2-1.

"The first two periods were fine. I just thought we collapsed in the third period."

The Titan kept the game close through 40 minutes, trailing just 5-3 at the start of the third period, but Couturier's third goal of the night led to a five-goal outburst by Drummondville, which has won nine straight and trail the Saint John Sea Dogs by two points, with three games in hand, for first place in the overall standings.

Despite Acadie-Bathurst's struggles this season, Couturier said Drummondville is a perfect example of how quickly a team can turn their fortunes around.

"People seem to forget that (Drummondville) finished dead last two years ago," he said.

Peter Assaff is the sports editor of the Bathurst Northern Light. His Titan Trail column appears Wednesdays throughout the QMJHL season. He can be reached at passaff@nbnet.nb.ca