Titan, Wildcats at opposite ends of stunning QMJHL results

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A pair of stunning results involving New Brunswick based teams highlighted the first three games of the QMJHL playoffs.

First, the Acadie-Bathurst took the league by storm with three consecutive victories over the Halifax Mooseheads, including a convincing 7-2 triumph in Game 3 on Tuesday evening at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre.

And after Milo Roelens wore the hero’s cape in the first two games, Colby Huggan continued his amazing season with a playoff high five points Tuesday, a line that included three goals.

It’s been mentioned previously, but Huggan posted seven points in each of the previous two seasons before racking up 63 this season, and now has six points in his first three post-season games with the Titan.

Meanwhile, the Moncton Wildcats finally earned a lead in a game against Chicoutimi, taking a 2-0 edge in the second period of Game 3 but surrendered three goals in the final frame and fell 4-2.

Surrendering a two-period lead is a rarity for the Cats.

The Wildcats were 29-2-1-1 in the regular season when leading after two periods, but one of the two regulation losses happened in the second-to-last game of the regular season in a 7-4 loss in Bathurst March 22 after leading 4-3 after 40 minutes.

In Saint John, the script was similar as the Sea Dogs were in the game but ultimately Drummondville had too much firepower in a 4-2 victory. The Dogs once again rode the goaltending performance of Patrick Leaver, who made 45 saves and, as he did in the regular season, leads all goalies in saves. He had 113 saves after three playoff games.

Game 4 in every series was slated for Wednesday evening, where six teams were poised to close things out. Only five times in league history, the last being Val d’Or in 2015, has a team rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a series.

Where required, teams will play Game 5’s on Friday.

Looking ahead: It is a good bet the Wildcats and Chicoutimi Sagueneens will be among the top teams in the QMJHL next year as both boast young lineups and their rosters are poised for a big run in 2024-25.

Both teams were very active at the draft and training camp transaction periods with the Wildcats listed in 13 deals and the Sags 16 last summer. However, they were both reasonably quiet this past Christmas, with the Wildcats making two deals and not acquiring any players while the Sags made just one deal, acquiring current goaltender Remi Delafontaine, who played every minute of the series against the Cats in the first three games.

Soaring Eagles: The Cape Breton Eagles are not slowing down after ending the regular season on a nine-game winning streak and entered Wednesday’s fourth game in Rimouski with a 3-0 series edge to push that mark to 12.

One of the leaders is former Saint John Sea Dog Cam MacDonald, who has three goals in the series, including the winner in a 3-1 Game 3 victory in Rimouski. In all, he had five points and was a plus eight for the Eagles in the first three games of the series.

He spent two and half seasons with Saint John, winning the Memorial Cup in 2022 and was shipped to Gatineau at the 2022 trade deadline in a deal that landed Saint John a lottery pick for this year’s draft. Gatineau then traded MacDonald to Cape Breton for two picks in last year’s draft and he rejoined current Cape Breton coach Louis Robitaille, who joined the Eagles in the off season after three years in Gatineau.

Format to stay as is: There has been some discussion on a number of format changes for next year, including the playoffs. In 2018-19, the league went to the current conference set up of 1-vs.-8 in the East and 1-vs.-8 in the West, with the option of the ninth and 10th placed teams in the East taking the final slots in the West if they had more points.

There have been talks about reverting back to previous formats of 1-vs-16, or even reseeding the clubs after the first round with the surviving eight teams from the opening round. Ultimately, none of those scenarios were approved, so do not expect any changes for 2024-25.

The last time the league went with the 1-vs.-16 format, Acadie-Bathurst, seeded No. 2, won the league title and then went on to capture the 2018 Memorial Cup, igniting the current four-team QMJHL championship run with the CHL’s top prize.

Draft news: What could change is the elimination of the U.S. draft, which seems likely it will happen. If teams want to stock their rosters American players, they can draft them or if they are available, ink them as free agents.

Saint John selected American Egan Beveridge with its top pick, 30th overall, in last year’s main draft. The Dogs, as it stood, had the first pick in the QMJHL’s inaugural American Draft in 2018, taking Jack Williams of Biddeford, Maine. Williams never played in Saint John and the five-foot-11 right winger just completed his second season at Northeastern University where he recorded 36 points in 34 games.

Finally, the draft will be held in Moncton in the spring and it will likely be the last large draft the league holds. Look for a reduction to 12 rounds from the current 14 rounds at some point, possibly as early as 2025. It is expected to remain at 14 rounds for 2024.