Sunday will be longest day of the year for many of the players that'll skate in the Memorial Cup final.
The host Halifax Mooseheads and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies will face off in an all-QMJHL championship game Sunday evening at Scotiabank Centre.
The 8 p.m. start time will feel like an eternity.
"It's going to be a long, long day," Mooseheads forward Samuel Asselin said during an interview on Saturday afternoon.
Asselin is making his second straight trip to a Memorial Cup final after helping lead the Acadie-Bathurst Titan to their first Canadian Hockey League title in 2018.
"Last year, I wasn't able to eat before the game," Asselin recalled. "You're so nervous. You don't want to talk to anybody, you don't want to eat, you just want to be in your own zone and do your thing. But you're also all alone in your thoughts.
"This year, I'll be able to nap, maybe spend some time with my family who's here. It's about taking the brains out of it, keeping my mind off things and be ready for the big game."
The Mooseheads' off-season acquisitions of Asselin and forward Antoine Morand were surely made for a moment like this, with the prospect of playing for a national championship.
Morand was also obtained from Bathurst, six days after raising the Memorial Cup with the Titan in Regina.
The 20-year-old playmaker, a second-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2017, was the Halifax team captain this season. He had 22 goals and 70 points during the regular season and another 15 points in the playoffs.
Asselin was acquired just hours before Halifax's first game of the regular season. He topped all QMJHL scorers with 48 goals during the regular season after leading the 2018 Memorial Cup tournament with five goals in four games.
"In the Memorial Cup last year, (Asselin) was absolutely incredible and this year it's been the same. He's been great," Mooseheads winger Raphael Lavoie said.
"He and (Morand) have given us great leadership for us and they've been great players to look up to."
Morand and Asselin were coached last season by Mario Pouliot, who now has guided the Huskies to a Memorial Cup final berth.
Superstar defenceman Noah Dobson followed Pouliot - the CHL coach of the year - from Bathurst to Rouyn-Noranda after he was acquired at the QMJHL trade deadline in December.
Like Morand and Asselin, Dobson - and Pouliot - are seeking back-to-back national championships.
This will be eighth meeting in the past month between Halifax and Rouyn-Noranda.
The Huskies, who beat the Guelph Storm 6-4 in Friday's semifinal, got the best of the Mooseheads 4-3 in the round-robin and beat them in six games in the QMJHL President Cup final.
"We can’t stray too far from what got us here," Rouyn-Noranda forward Peter Abbandonato. "We just have to continue with our game plan. We just have to stay the same, put pressure on them, get the puck deep and keep attacking. They are a very skilled team so we can’t play their game, a back and forth style. We’ll be ready for them tomorrow."
Asselin has told his teammates to seize the moment.
"I've been telling the guys since the beginning of the week to enjoy it and have fun," Asselin said. "It's why we play hockey, to hoist the big trophy."
"We can't be too stressed out," Lavoie added. "It's a big game, there's going to be a big crowd. A lot of pressure but we have to stay composed and be ready for it.
"We'll come to the rink, do some video, a little activation to get the legs going. After we'll take a good nap and get ready for the game."
