Five years ago, Guy Chouinard thought his coaching career was over.
Friday night, he joined one of the most exclusive clubs in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League - and he did so on a winning note.
Chouinard joined legendary coach Real Paiement in the 1,000-game club, guiding the P.E.I. Rocket to a 4-1 win over the Shawinigan Cataractes in QMJHL action.
"When I started my career I certainly had no idea I'd one day get to 1,000 games, especially following my last stint in the league which came to an end in 2002," Chouinard said prior to Friday's game. "At that point, I figured that my major junior coaching career was over.
"But, the Rocket organization gave me another opportunity," added Chouinard, the league's all-time leader with 521 regular-season wins. "I've been lucky to be able to work with 16- to 20-year-olds who give it their all every night. I really love what I do."
Elsewhere in the QMJHL on Friday, it was: Cape Breton 4 Drummondville 3; Lewiston 4 Moncton 3 (SO); Quebec 5 Halifax 4; St. John's 8 Victoriaville 2; Chicoutimi 6 Baie-Comeau 0; and Val-d'Or 5 Rimouski 3.
At Charlottetown, P.E.I., Bryan Main opened the scoring for the Rocket (12-14-1-0) - winners of two straight - 4:58 into the game on the power play. But Pierre-Alexandre Vandall replied for the Cataractes to even the score going into the second.
Matthew Lachaine gave the Rocket the lead in the second, while Nathan DesRoches and Chris Doyle rounded out the scoring in the third.
Marc-Antoine Gelinas made 33 saves for the Rocket, while Kevin Maletto turned away 29 shots for the Cataractes.
It was the third loss in as many nights for Shawinigan (13-15-0-2), which has scored just three goals during its slide.
Screaming Eagles 4 Voltigeurs 3
At Sydney, N.S., Dean Ouellet scored once and added two assists in Cape Breton's win over Drummondville.
Philippe Fontaine, Joey Haddad and Jordan Clennending had singles while Chris Culligan added three assists to pace Cape Breton (19-10-2-2), which ended a two-game losing streak.
Philippe Bergeron, Garrett Peters and Radek Vlasanek countered for the Voltigeurs (7-24-1-1).
Maineiacs 4 Wildcats 3 (SO)
At Moncton, N.B., Kevin Marshall scored the game winner in the seventh round of a shootout to lead the Wildcats past Lewiston.
Stefan Chaput scored twice in regulation while Stefano Giliati had the other goal for Moncton (12-17-2-2).
Randy Cameron, Scott Brannon and Matt Marquardt replied with third-period goals for the Maineiacs (17-10-1-2).
Remparts 5 Mooseheads 4
At Halifax, Angelo Esposito had a pair of goals in Quebec's win over the Mooseheads.
Kelsey Tessier, Joey Trudeau and Maxime Sauve added singles for the Remparts (16-14-0-1).
Bryce Swan, Ryan Hillier, Jakub Voracek and Guillaume Monast scored for Halifax (20-5-0-4).
Fog Devils 8 Tigres 2
At St. John's, N.L., Nick Layton had a goal and four assists, tying a franchise record for points in a game as the Fog Devils trounced Victoriaville.
Luke Adam scored twice and added two helpers while T.J. Brennan added a pair of goals and Chris Thorne, Taylor MacDougall and Ryan Graham had singles for St. John's (12-15-1-3).
Toby Lafrance had his 19th and 20th goals of the season in a losing cause for the Tigres (17-14-0-0).
Sagueneens 6 Drakkar 0
At Baie-Comeau, Que., Francis Pare scored two goals and added a pair of assists as Chicoutimi hammered Baie-Comeau.
Mathieu Bolduc, Sebastien Rioux, Jacob Lagace and Matthew Whitaker rounded out the scoring for the Sagueneens (14-14-1-0).
Mathieu Leclair allowed four goals on seven shots before being replaced by Marco Cousineau halfway through the game for Baie-Comeau (18-7-0-3).
Foreurs 5 Oceanic 3
At Val-d'Or, Que., Martin Thibeault scored a pair and Brad Marchand registered four assists as Val-d'Or edged Rimouski.
Francis Desrosiers, Jason Legault and Samuel Richard also counted for the Foreurs (12-16-1-2) who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Philippe Cornet, Alexandre Neron and Emmanuel Boudreau replied for the Oceanic (12-17-1-0).
Raffaele D'Orso made 35 saves for the Foreurs, while Michael Dupont turned away 29 shots for the Oceanic.