Remparts have momentum on their side

The turning point that led to the Quebec Remparts’ dominant season dates back just over a year.

Head coach Patrick Roy pointed to last season’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff semifinal loss to eventual league champion Shawinigan Cataractes on June 1. Quebec fell 3-2 in the five-game series after having held a 2-1 series edge.

“Losing Games 4 and 5, I think it was a little bit of a slap in the face,” Roy said. “Made us realize that we had to be better, and I think that’s what our guys did. They came into the season on a mission and determined to do it.”

Remparts forward Zachary Bolduc, however, believes the team’s true turning point arrived during a late-season slump, when Quebec dropped five of six games between Feb. 23 and March 7. The Remparts followed with an eight-game win streak to close the regular season.

“When we’re all together and we play as a unit of five, good stuff will happen,” said Bolduc, just the sixth player since 2000 to record consecutive 50-goal campaigns in the QMJHL. “I think for us, that’s all we realized through that losing streak and I think that made us a better team.”

After finishing the regular season with the best record in the QMJHL, the Remparts swept their first three playoffs series before taking down the Halifax Mooseheads in six to claim their first league title in 47 years.

At their first Memorial Cup since 2015, Quebec defeated Kamloops and Seattle by a combined score of 11-4 to earn a berth in Sunday’s final — against the winner of Friday night’s late semifinal between the Peterborough Petes and Seattle Thunderbirds. The Remparts closed out the round robin with a 4-2 loss to Peterborough.

The Remparts hope to win their third Memorial Cup, and first since 2006.

“It will be the perfect ending for me,” Bolduc said. “I’ll play my last junior game here on Sunday, so I wanna finish on a win.”