Second round battles expected to be longer
It's time to resume the QMJHL playoffs, after a first round that saw teams take care of business quickly.
Just a single series went past six games, with five sweeps taking place. Shebrooke and Blainville-Boisbriand, separated by just two points, went the distance; the Phoenix held off a comeback from down 3-1 in a series that saw six one-goal contests.
Fourth-place Sherbrooke must now tackle the top dogs in the west, Drummondville, but over in the east, fourthranked Cape Breton opens on home ice versus sixth-seeded Chicoutimi.
Second-seeded Rouyn-Noranda battles third-ranked Victoriaville in the west, and regular season champion Baie-Comeau faces seventhseeded Acadie-Bathurst.
Drummondville dominated Saint John, outscoring the Sea Dogs 25-8. Ethan Gauthier (Tampa Bay), one of the Volts' four 30-goal men in 2023-24, helped lead the parade with eight points.
DRUMMONDVILLE VS. SHERBROOKE
Drummondville's leagueleading offense will become more intimidating as Alexis Gendron nears a return. Gendron (Philadelphia) started the year in the AHL before coming back to junior hockey.
The Volts continue to be without defenseman Maveric Lamoureux (Arizona) for the playoffs, while the league's fifth-leading scorer Israël Mianscum will remain out of the Sherbrooke lineup.
The Phoenix topped the Armada without Mianscum and scoring threat Charles-Antoine Beauregard. But it will be a much taller order playing a Volts squad that held the top record in the circuit over the final 30 games and won five of seven meetings versus Sherbrooke.
Team Canada goaltender Samuel St-Hilaire will have to improve upon his .898 save percentage in the opening round for the upset, and the Phoenix will need continued production from overager Andrew Belchamber who had a strong first series.
ROUYN-NORANDA VS. VICTORIAVILLE
Either Rouyn-Noranda or Victoriaville will be very disappointed with an early exit after being a big buyer at Christmas.
The 100-point Huskies finished nine points ahead of the Tigres, but they split their six meetings.
Rouyn-Noranda dispatched Gatineau in five contests while Victoriaville swept Shawinigan. Victoriaville's overage star Maxime Pellerin was the lone player to score in every playoff game.
Tigres overage star goaltender Nathan Darveau was lights out in round one, stopping 100 of 105 shots, but he'll have a much tougher challenge against Rouyn-Noranda's well-balanced offense including QMJHL scoring champion Antonin Verreault.
The Huskies also have no worries in net with 2023 title-winning keeper William Rousseau between the pipes, but in addition to Dyllan Gill's (Tampa Bay) absence, Jérémy Langlois (Arizona) is also out due to injury on the backend.
CAPE BRETON VS. CHICOUTIMI
The Tigres/Huskies showdown may feature projected contenders, but the Cape Breton/Chicoutimi showdown might have the hottest clubs. The Sags had the best record through the last 20 regular season outings, and the Eagles entered the playoffs on a league best ninegame winning streak.
Neither outfit was a surprise winner, but perhaps both got through quicker than expected. The Eagles dominated Rimouski in two games in Sydney before finishing the Océanic in five on the road.
The Sags were tasked with facing a higher seed in Moncton, but the slumping Wildcats proved no match as they were swept away.
Cam Squires (New Jersey) paced the Eagles' attack, leading the QMJHL with 11 points, playing alongside former Chicoutimi forward Jacob Newcombe. The player whom Newcombe was traded for, Thomas Desruisseaux led the Sags in scoring, part of a deadly power play that went six for 17.
Former goaltending partners, Cape Breton's Nicolas Ruccia and Chicoutimi's Rémi Delafontaine will now face off.
Chicoutimi will be without offensively gifted blueliner Loïc Usereau, who didn't play in games three and four due to illness and remains out of the Chicoutimi lineup this spring.
BAIE-COMEAU VS. BATHURST
The other east matchup features a showdown between a pair of sweeping victors. There was little surprise as Baie-Comeau sailed by Charlottetown, but the stunner was produced by Bathurst flattened Maritime leaders Halifax.
It was a tumultuous end to the season for 2022-23 scoring champion Jordan Dumais (Columbus), who was suspended for a DUI upon returning from his NHL organization for injury treatment. When the suspension was over, he remained sidelined, and following Halifax's elimination, reports emerged both he and Moosehead captain Jake Furlong (San Jose) had asked for a trade from Halifax.
Colby Huggan averaged two points a game, and Antoine Keller (Washington) was sensational in goal in engineering the upset.
It will be much tougher tackling Baie-Comeau and the Q's stingiest defense.
The Drakkar finished 42 points ahead of the Titan and also received the best news possible when overage defenseman Émile Chouinard returned from Hodgkin's lymphoma. In both East matchups, the season series was split 1-1, with the home side winning all four meetings.
All eight remaining teams return to action tonight.