Wednesday, May 4, 2005 | By Philip Croucher, Halifax Daily News

The Halifax Mooseheads have no problem being seen as the underdog in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final.

In fact, they seem to relish it.

"Being the underdog is always fun," said Mooseheads goaltender Jeremy Duchesne.

"It puts the pressure on the other team and makes you go out there and have fun. And so, when you do win, it feels that much better."

But by no means are the Rimouski Oceanic clear-cut favourites to win this best-of-seven final.

The Oceanic finished just two points ahead of the Mooseheads to win the regular season title and both teams go into the final with identical 8-1 playoff records.

Only one loss in 2005

But since Jan. 1, the Oceanic have been the hotter team, losing just once in 37 games, including a 28-game unbeaten streak to end the regular season.

Rimouski is led by superstar forward Sidney Crosby, who is from Cole Harbour.

The Mooseheads have plenty of talent, too. Since the new year, Halifax sports a 32-7-4 record, second only to the Oceanic, who have home-ice advantage in this much-anticipated series.

"All playoffs, we've been taking it one game at a time, so we're going up for the first game (in Rimouski) and we're going to try and win it," said Mooseheads forward Francois-Pierre Guenette, who leads the team in post-season scoring with four goals and nine assists.

"This is our focus right now. We're just looking at the first game. That's it."

If the Mooseheads are to win this series, they'll have to try to contain Rimouski's offence.

Led by Crosby, the Oceanic scored 333 times during the regular season, which was 66 more than the Quebec Remparts, who had the second-most goals.

But the Mooseheads are countering with the league's best defensive unit, surrending just 172 goals in 70 regular season games.

"It's going to be a good challenge," said Mooseheads defenceman Franklin MacDonald.

"But it's the best-of-the-best now. Whoever wants it more is going to get it. Just play at the top of our game and not loose our focus. And stay disciplined."

Battle of special teams

Yes, discipline. The Oceanic have the league's top power-play unit, scoring in the post-season at a 27.3 per cent clip.

But Halifax has the best penalty-killing team, working at 87.7 per cent effficiency.

So again, something will have to give.

"Hopefully the refs will call it even. We have a pretty good power play ourselves, and our PK isn't too bad," MacDonald said.

"We just have to play it out and see what happens."

The first two games of the series go tomorrow and Friday in Rimouski.

The series then switches back to Halifax for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Tuesday.

"I think everyone is well rested. Probably both teams are healthy," Guenette said.

"How long it's going to be, who knows. But it should be a good one."