It was yesterday that Grüner was able to announce that they had signed a contract with the French goalkeeper Quentin Papillon from Scorpions de Mulhouse
Photo: Scorpionspictures.com
As Hockey4You reported yesterday, the French goalkeeper from Rouen, France was ready for Grüner and comes from a club that is a mediterranean level in the French series. Scorpions de Mulhouse ended up in 8th place last season and 5th place in the 19/20 season. But still Papillon has managed to impress in the league so he was named best young player in the French series in the 19/20 season and best goalkeeper in the 20/21 season. According to reports from France, this is a big loss for the club and many believe that he was the best player in the club.
At his own request and advice from the national team coaches, he has chosen to search for new challenges in a league other than the French to be able to take the step further. The club itself announced this to its supporters: Quentin Papillon ends the Mulhouse adventure, seizing the opportunity to develop his talent into a new league. No hard feelings from the club who did their best to try to keep him ... We are happy to take comfort in the pride of having contributed to Quentin's great progress. Good luck with the rest of your career Quentin!
Among other things, some of the many comments from the supporters were:
"Very sad news, for sure, but we can be proud to have him in our club and help him move on." "We were so lucky to see him play some amazing games!"
"So this is very very bad news. On the other hand, I understand that. He's not going to win trophies in Mulhouse. Good luck. He's going to go a long way ..."
When asked to describe his style of play, Papillon says that he sees himself as a goalkeeper with great 'passion' and who is good and fast with his legs, something he needs because he does not have the great height. He also sees games in Grüner as a great challenge for himself to be able to develop further as a player and looks forward to trying his hand in the Fjordkraft-league. - I felt that I had done what I could in France and wanted to strongly challenge myself to try a new club and a new league to be able to develop further as a player, Papillon tells Hockey4You. I am aware that Grüner is not a top club and came in last place last season but my goal is to help the club improve its position in the league.
And in Oslo, of course, they are happy to land this agreement with a goalkeeper who is such a big profile in France, many will probably claim that this is one of the biggest signings Grüner has made. - For us as a club with the framework we have, it is clear that bringing in a goalkeeper with good experience in recent seasons in the French top league is quite big news for us, says general manager Trond-Erik Larsen in Grüner Ice Hockey. When he also performs as he has done and participates in national team gatherings and is highly relevant for the upcoming Olympic qualifiers, it is a great signing for us.
Trond-Erik Larsen admits that they have spent a long time landing the agreement as long as they have the framework they have while looking for a specific goalkeeper profile that will fit into the team. - He comes from a team that is not a top team so he is used to "being at work" and that we are dependent on and looked for when we have researched the market for goalkeepers. It will still be tough days at work for our goalkeepers since we are in posistion as we are and then it is important for us to bring in a goalkeeper who is used to it.
Grüner's general manager says that they considered several French goalkeepers before they landed on Papillon and they talked to, among others, Magnus Eikrem Haugen who could give good shots about the French league. Larsen describes the league perhaps a little notch higher than the Norwegian with a high tempo while the Norwegian league is more characterized by tactical play when he is asked to compare the leagues against each other. - And if you look at the national team of France, they are on a par with Norway even though they are down in the group below, Larsen says to Hockey4You.
Good season in France Mulhouse, with a town of 110,000 inhabitants located on the outskirts of France near the border with Switzerland, came in 8th place last season. Still, Papillon feels he had a good season for the team and was awarded the Jean Ferrand Trophy as the best goalkeeper in the league. - Personally, I think I had a good season even though the team came in 8th place, together with the team I did what I could. There were enough expectations and personally I had expectations that we would get higher on the table since we finished the season the year before in 5th place, but we did what we could and must accept that we were not better than we were. Before he comes to Oslo and plays for Grüner, he hopes to join the squad for France during the Olympic qualifiers on August 26, where they meet Latvia, which has home ground, Italy and Hungary. - There will be tough matches, there are only three matches to play for and we must all win to secure the opportunity to go to the Olympics, the French goalkeeper concludes.
Photo: Scorpionspictures.com