ROUYN-NORANDA, Que. - The Gatineau Olympiques are going to the Memorial Cup.
Matthew Pistilli scored three goals and added an assist as the Olympiques wrapped up their seventh Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship Friday night with a 7-3 win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
Gatineau, which captured the league title in five games, joins the host Kitchener Rangers, the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League and the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League in the Canadian junior hockey championship beginning May 16.
The Olympiques captured their third title in the past six years, after winning back-to-back QMJHL championships in 2003 and 2004. The Huskies fell short in their first final appearance since the franchise moved to Rouyn-Noranda.
A pair of Gatineau players capped the special night with milestones. Claude Giroux had a goal and two assists, establishing a new franchise record for points in a single post-season (51). Ryan Mior stopped 36 shots to earn the win for Gatineau, while extending his record for most career QMJHL games played by a goaltender (270).
Pistilli had two of the Olympiques' four first-period goals, and Gatineau cruised from there as they finished the QMJHL post-season with a record of 16-3.
The Huskies entered the final on a 12-game winning streak, with four-game sweeps of the Val-d'Or Foreurs, the Rimouski Oceanic and the Saint John Sea Dogs. Yet Rouyn-Noranda couldn't keep the high-powered Gatineau offence off the scoresheet, allowing a whopping 29 goals in the five-game series - highlighted by a 10-4 rout in Game 3 on Tuesday night.
Gatineau captain Jean-Philip Chabot had a goal and an assist in the victory, while Michael Stinziani and Alexandre Quesnel also scored. Paul Byron added two assists.
Michael Dubuc countered with a pair of goals for the Huskies, who boasted the best regular-season record in the league. Sebastien Piche added a single, while Maxim Gougeon and Milan Pucholt combined to make 22 saves in defeat.