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HELLYER LADDER

Team	GP	W	L	PTS
Ice	5	5	0	15
Thunder	6	4	2	12
Bears	4	3	1	9
Mustangs	3	1	2	3
Ice Dogs	5	1	4	3

RURAK LADDER

Team	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	PTS
Northstars	4	3	0	1	0	11
Lightning	6	3	3	0	0	9
Adrenaline	3	1	1	0	1	4
Brave	6	1	5	0	0	3
Rhinos	4	0	4	0	0	0

SCORING LEADERS

Jeremiah
Addison (PER)

Player	Points
Aiden Wagner (NNS)	18
Wehebe Darge (NNS)	15
francis Drolet (NNS)	15
Joey HUGHES (MIC)	14

GOALIE LEADERS

N Novysedlak (BRE)

1.000

Goalie	SV%
Rhys Pelliccione (PER)	.950
Tatsunoshin Ishida (MIC)	.933
Leo Bertein (PER)	.905
Charles Smart (NNS)	.903

Dugas keeping Thunder in the mix

Wednesday, May 21, 2014 - Submitted by Gemma Fagan

Perth Thunder may not be off to the start they would have hoped for this season but it isn’t due to the effort put up by the 6’0” French Canadian goalkeeper, Mathieu Dugas. The import goalie has asserted his presence in the crease over the past eight games for the Thunder.

Despite the single shootout win, Dugas has a great save percentage at .926% and just over three goals per game, which is hardly the record of a goaltender of the team at the bottom of the ladder. It’s the hard work that Dugas puts in that makes him the shining light for any team he plays for. Dugas was fresh off an SPHL season with the Mississippi Surge where he had a win/loss record of 14-14-1 and posted a .910% save percentage with an impressive 1024 saves.

Dugas came to Australia on the recommendation of the Thunders’ 2013 goalkeeper Daniel Clarke. Clarke realised just two weeks out from the beginning of the season he would be unable to return to Western Australia for the 2014 AIHL season. He contacted his Surge teammate Dugas, with whom he shared the load for the 2013-14 SPHL season. Dugas jumped at the opportunity as he had already been making inquires about the league and thought he wouldn’t get a chance to play in the AIHL this season.

“I had a few team mates in Mississippi who played in the league,” Dugas said. “I sent emails around the league to teams to see how many teams needed a goalie and how the league worked, tried to find out what it as all about and tried to get more details. At first, I wasn’t sure I was going to play this year and I got the call from Dan Clarke. I talked to Stan and we worked things out fairly quickly.”

While many young hockey players are drawn to the glory of scoring goals. Dugas decided at a young age that he wanted to be the one stopping the shots. Funnily enough, his father had been a forward in his hockey playing days.

“I don’t know I just always attracted the position as far back as I can remember,” Dugas said. “I had oven mitts and a stick trying to play goalie in the hallway of my house. I was always amazed with their gear, and the colours and everything. I think I just wanted to be different. I love the pressure, I love making a difference and sometimes I hate it when you are on the wrong side of the scoreboard but I love the challenge and embrace it every day.”

Now an experienced goalkeeper at the age of 26, Dugas earned his stripes working his way through the Canadian hockey system. At 18, he left home to play junior hockey in Maritimes Hockey league for two years before heading south to play in Wenatchee, Washington, which was followed by four years in Bremidji State University NCAA division 1 in Minnesota.

In the off-season for the past few summers Dugas has had the opportunity to train with Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup winning goalie Marc-André Fleury and believes the experience has been a positive learning curve in his development.

“It brought me down to earth and showed me that it was all about consistency,” Dugas said. “In some places I was better than him but over all over the summer, he got more consistent. I think the biggest thing was controlling the rebound and not giving bad rebounds. It makes your defencemen’s job is a lot easier and doesn’t get you into trouble and not giving the other team second and third chances.”

Dugas prides himself on being a good technician who will never quit on a puck while he’s on the ice but he also enjoys his time away from the rink as well.

“I like to play golf; other than that I love the outdoors,” Dugas said. “I play pretty much every sport; tennis, golf, volleyball, basketball, you name it. I love physical activity; I’m a pretty active guy.”

With only eight games under his belt in the AIHL Mathieu Dugas has already impressed with his athletic style and fast glove. Only having shared a glimpse of what he has to offer so far, Thunder fans can feel safe knowing that Dugas is defending their net this season.

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