The QMJHL regular season ended last Tuesday night, with Chicoutimi and Rimouski getting the last two tickets for the Spring’s Last Dance. Here is the QMJHL playoffs picture.
The regular season
is over.
The Shawinigan Cataractes dominated the QMJHL
and finished first overall with an eyes-popping 116 points, 15 more than the
runner up, the Val-d’Or Foreurs. This season has been noticeable for
the obvious strength of the Lebel Conference compared to the Dillio Conference.
Four teams of the Lebel Conference (Shawinigan, Val-d’Or, Victoriaville and
Rouyn-Noranda) had more points than the 90 points of the Dilio Conference leader
the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. Also, three Dilio Conference teams (Rimouski,
Chicoutimi and Québec) participating to the playoffs would have been
excluded of the Lebel Conference playoffs.
Let’s get it on!
14 teams are now fighting to claim the QMJHL
ultimate championship, the President Cup, and a subsequent shot at the Memorial
Cup. Now let’s look at the playoffs match-ups for the first round and predictions
of the outcomes.
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Question: How can the Castors get past the Foreurs and their explosive offense lead by QMJHL leading scorer Simon Gamache? Answer: Pull a miracle, pure and simple. This should end quickly. Prediction: Val-d’Or wins in 4 games. |
A repetition of the 2000 Memorial Cup? Don’t think so.
The Oceanic isn’t nearly the same team that dominated the CHL last
year, having lost most of its big names and barely making it to the playoffs.
It shouldn’t be too hard for Halifax to make it to the second round. |
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This is one of the most heated rivalry in the QMJHL, in
two cities only a few miles apart. The Tigres have too many offensive
weapons for Drummondville to handle with the likes of Sébastien
and Marc-André
Thinel, Antoine
Vermette, Carl
Malette and Co. The Voltigeurs has the edge between the pipes
with Jean-François
Racine, but he’ll have to be outstanding if the Voltigeurs wants to
avoid the early elimination. |
This should be a no-brainer. The bigger, older Eagles
should beat the smaller, inexperienced Saguenéens, right?
Well… The Sags have been playing desperation hockey for the past
weeks, trying to qualify for the playoffs. And there they are, lead by
the red-hot rookie sensation Pierre-Marc
Bouchard and Montreal Canadiens draftee Christian
Larrivée (QMJHL Offensive PoW for the
last week of the season); Chicoutimi is entering the playoffs full speed.
Can you say "Cinderella"? |
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Having a feeling of déjà vu? This is the 4th straight years that these two teams will square off in the playoffs. The Olympiques won all three previous battles. Can the Huskies overcome their Waterloo this year? This should be an exciting, high-scoring series, both teams having scored over 300 goals this season. Ultimately. Rouyn-Noranda’s defense should make the difference Prediction: Rouyn-Noranda in 6 games |
The Remparts are the youngest team of the entire
QMJHL, and they still managed to make it to the playoffs without too much
problems. They will face a well-known foe in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan,
who’ve eliminated Québec back in the 1998 playoffs, en route to
the Memorial Cup Tournament. Both teams have changed a lot since, but
the outcome should remain the same. |
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