Gala match on Friday 6 January 2022 on Île Lacroix with reception in Angers, at 8pm. The opportunity for the Dragons to start under the best auspices in this final stretch of the championship.
This is the shocker everyone is waiting for! A more than inviting and very appetizing amuse-bouche to start the year well.
But to keep the promises of this poster between Rouen (3rd overall) and Angers (2nd), the Dragons will have had to digest a 2022 end that went pretty badly in people’s minds.
Over their last six games in December, RHE 76’s record is mixed at 3 losses and 3 wins. A hot and cold to catch cold fans who don’t understand too much the sawtooth results of their team.
We thought the Dragons had been revived by their sensational victory against Anglet on Tuesday 27 December at Île Lacroix (10-2), and here they were, taking a fierce 3-0 in the first third in Bordeaux, 29 December, for a 6 – 3 losses.
So surely Anglet is 10th in the championship while Bordeaux is 5th. Of course, the staff also had to manage a decimated defense due to injuries to Yeo (adductors) and Tournier (hematoma in his foot).
But as coach Fabrice Lhenry points out, his side need to project themselves further forward, make decisions even faster and show full consistency during the 60 minutes of the match.
The race for 2nd place
Because these failings, in the face of Angers, could be fatal to him. The Dukes, in their last six games in December, suffered only one more than surprising setback in Chamonix.
The unknown lies in the state of form and mind in which last season’s Magnus League finalists will arrive on the banks of the Seine.
In fact, the dukes will play the semi-final of the Coupe de France against Grenoble on 3 January. Holders of the title of this competition, they will have to overcome Isère leader and reigning French championship champion Magnus who, it must be admitted, is still flying over the championship this season.
Meanwhile, Rouen is just one point behind (58) in the general standings on Angers (59). His six points stupidly lost on the road cost him an almost inaccessible first place as Grenoble shows an insolent 10-point lead.
Now everything will be played remotely with Angers until the end of the regular season.
And this frantic race for 2nd place starts on Friday January 6, 2023 at the Nathalie-Péchalat ice rink.
Useful information
Rouen-Angers (day 29)
Friday 6 January 2023, at 8.00pm
Nathalie-Péchalat ice rink, avenue Jacques-Chastellain
Price: from €15
Read more about www.rhe76.com
Photo: Stéphane Heude
Remember to take the Calypso shuttle to get to the match, which rotates one hour before and one hour after the match, between the Pré-aux-Loups pier and Île Lacroix.
