Memorial Cup: Antoine Bibeau saves his best for when it matters most for Val-d’Or

LONDON, Ont. - The toughest save Antoine Bibeau had to make on Friday night was on a harmless dump-in from the opposing zone. It should have been a routine save, but Bibeau was distracted. He was looking up at the video scoreboard – a rare break from his otherwise razor-sharp focus in the opening game of the Memorial Cup.

“The 200-foot save was easy,” said Bibeau with a smile. “It was just me, I wasn’t ready. I was watching the faceoff but the puck hadn’t dropped yet, so I started looking at the replay … I didn’t notice there was a five-second (delay) on the clock.

“I saw the puck at the last second, it was an easy save, but a key save.”

The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect turned aside 51 shots and made almost all of them look easy as his Val-d’Or Foreurs beat the host London Knights 1-0. It was the most saves at the Canadian Hockey League title tournament since 2008. In the mix of Bibeau’s flawless performance was stopping a penalty shot taken by London sniper Bo Horvat, a first-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks and a member of Canada’s world junior team.

“He played an unbelievable game tonight,” said Horvath of Bibeau. “You can’t take anything away from him. He stoned us. He moves quickly and he kept them in the game.”

But that’s not a surprise – Bibeau practically kept Val-d’Or in the QMJHL playoffs and is a big reason why the small Quebec mining town is at the tournament as league champion. Before coming to the Foreurs in a trade at Christmas from the Charlottetown Islanders, Bibeau had flown under the radar.

It was during the first round of the playoff series between the then-PEI Rocket and the Foreurs last season that the native of Victoriaville, Que., piqued the interest of head coach Mario Durocher and general manager Alexandre Rouleau. Durocher was so impressed with Bibeau’s play in a losing effort that the Foreurs decided to make some calls when they were in the market for a new netminder.

“In the first half of our season our offence was there, so we thought if we wanted to go a little bit longer (in the playoffs) we have to improve our defence,” said Durocher. “We got Bibs and we got (defenceman) Ryan Graves to be bigger and stronger on the D-side of our game. … (He had) to know that he has a good offensive team in front of him so if lets in one bad goal he knows we can score, he doesn’t have to get down.”

As a 16-year-old Bibeau played three games with the Lewiston Maineiacs. The team folded in his rookie year. He was claimed in the dispersal draft by the Charlottetown franchise, where he spent two and half uneventful seasons before being traded to Val-d’Or.

“I didn’t really know (Bibeau) at that time,” said Foreurs teammate Anthony Mantha, who scored the winning goal against London. “When he came here we knew he was big and that he was great in shootouts in practice the first time we saw him, but after that it was game after game him winning it for us.”

He found his footing with the Foreurs and went 13-7-0-1 in the regular season. In the playoffs he was lights-out and the main reason Val-d’Or beat the defending QMJHL champion Halifax Mooseheads in the league semifinals. Even his teammates admit they weren’t really sure how good Bibeau could be until he hit his stride in the playoffs. It was not uncommon to see him face upwards of 40 shots a night.

Some were surprised when Bibeau, who turned 20 on May 1, was named as the league’s playoff MVP considering Mantha had scored 24 goals in 24 playoff games for the Foreurs.

“He won games by himself,” said Mantha, whose first-period goal was all the Foreurs needed against London, playing its first game since being knocked out by Guelph in the second round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. “Against Halifax he faced 40 and 50 shots and against Baie-Comeau (in the QMJHL final) the same thing. So I think he was the real MVP of the series.”

Cue the jokes about Bibeau being a draft pick of the Maple Leafs. It’s been a while since the NHL club drafted and developed its own surefire, long-term starter, and Bibeau – a sixth round pick in 2013 – looks like he has the raw potential to be a steal.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound goalie said winning his first game in the playoffs that served as a catalyst for his play heading into the tournament – it was a snowball-effect for his confidence.

“It’s just one good game and then you get comfortable and you get more confident,” said Bibeau. “All the little details were good and that made me more comfortable and I was more confident every game.”

That added swagger is seeping into his teammates as well, knowing he’s got their backs when they get into trouble. Val-d’Or’s high-powered offence results in a lot of turnovers or getting caught deep in the other team’s end – resulting in two-on-ones or three-on-twos for the opposition.

“Bibs is always there for us and that gives us a lot of confidence,” said Graves. “It allows us to play a little more on the offensive side.”

They aren’t afraid to gamble for goals and that makes Val-d’Or a dangerous team with Bibeau in net. And people are finally taking notice. Winning a QMJHL championship falls short of playing on one , of junior hockey’s largest stages.

“I’ve had a lot of attention in the last couple of weeks because we won the (President’s Cup) in our league and now we’re at the Memorial Cup,” said Bibeau, who’ll be back in net Monday night when Val-d’Or meets Guelph.

“That’s good for me and all the players this week.”