Wednesday, April 6, 2005 | By Philip Croucher, Halifax Daily News

Some see it as pressure. Jeremy Duchesne sees it as another game.

"I've always thought the more expectations you put on yourself, the less chance you have of accomplishing them," said Duchesne, the starting goaltender for the Halifax Mooseheads' post-season opener on Friday night. "What I mean by that is the more pressure you put on yourself, the less well you play.

"I just dont put any pressure on myself. For me, it's a game. I go out there and have fun. That's why I started playing and that's how I'll play during the playoffs. It's how I played during the (regular) season."

And what a regular season it was - in the second half. The 18-year-old goaltender went 12-0-2 with the Mooseheads, after being acquired from the Victoriaville Tigres on Jan. 8.

Duchesne was 2-9 in Victoriaville.

Duchesne's stellar play allowed him to grab the starter's job from Jason Churchill, who now serves as the back-up.

"Of course it's exciting. It's good to see all the hard work I've put in is paying off," said Duchesne, a playoff rookie who has a 1.50 goals-against-average and a .942 save-percentage with Halifax. "I'll go into the game like it's any other game. Just work hard and focus on the things that I can control. It's a team game, so it's a team effort. We'll win as a team in the playoffs."

While Duchesne had an outstanding second half, Churchill struggled at times and is now the No. 2 guy - the opposite of what was expected when Duchesne was acquired.

"They did their homework and they felt he would be a strong back-up for Churchill," said Mooseheads coach Al MacAdam, of the early January transaction. "And as we know with young guys, and you can see in our lineup as well, some can move quicker than others."

But MacAdam has confidence in both goaltenders, and feels the two are playing well heading into the post-season.

"We think both goalies are in a bit of a groove now," he said. "We think Duchesne in his whole time here, but especially ending the season on a strong note. And we feel Churchill down the stretch, and into this week and a half or so, feels good about his game too. It's important with your goaltenders that both want to play and feel good about their game - their last games.

We think, if at some point, if there has to be a change, for whatever reasons, (Churchill) will go in and feel quite comfortable about himself.

Duchesne will have a new look for the playoffs. After the regular season ended, Mooseheads general manager Marcel Patenaude asked Duchesne to replace his yellow goaltending gear brought over from Victoriaville.

Duchesne's gear will now sport a red and white look, with his pads being a slight variation from his yellow ones.

"First week was harder, but now I feel comfortable with them," Duchesne said. "I feel fine."