QUEBEC CITY P.Q. — When looking at the Atlantic and Eastern divisions in the QMJHL, the Atlantic division is without a doubt the most interesting and competitive of the two. The Saint John Sea Dogs has only nine point leads over the Moncton Wildcats with the same number of games played (51). Cape Breton and Prince Edwards Island are only separated by one point (65-64) in Cape Breton’s favor with 15 games left to play for both teams.
With a 15 point lead and in first place in the Telus Eastern Division, the Quebec Remparts seem to be in a comfortable position over the Rimouski Oceanic but nothing is settled if you count the number of games left to be play for both teams (16 for Quebec and 17 for Rimouski). The Oceanic on the other hand only have a 10 point lead over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens (56-46) for second place. With 17 games left to play for both teams, it will be interesting to follow each battle for second and third place in the division.
Moncton is the team that made the most trades before the QMJHL trade deadline. Knowing they had to look for an offensive defenseman who can also play good defensive hockey, they made the acquisition of acquiring former Montreal Junior defenseman Alex Wall. Looking to add depth to their defensive unit they also traded for another defenseman; this time the team went inside their division trading with Halifax for Alex MacDonald.
They also needed depth on offense so the Wildcats made trades to acquire Gabriel Bourque from Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Nicholas Deschamp from Chicoutimi, Kelsey Tessier from Quebec, and last but not least, Moncton received a gift when the Philadelphia Flyers returned goaltender Nicola Riopel to Moncton from their AHL affiliate team, the Adirondack Phantoms. With all the additions, Moncton will be a very tough team to play against and have a very good chance to challenge Saint John who wasn’t too active at the trade deadline, preferring to stay with what they already have.
With an 11 point lead over Moncton (85-74) and the same number of games left to play (17), Saint John must continue to play very good hockey in order to stay on top of their division. With three games left to play against each other, Moncton has the best chance to grab six points if they win all three games. On the other side, if Saint John wins all three games Saint John will have a chance to win their division.
If Saint John wants to stay closer to Moncton in the standings they will need to have their performance be at a high level until the end of the regular season. The Wildcats on the other hand need to do the same with Cape Breton since the Screaming Eagles trail by 9 points to Moncton but the Wildcats have two games in hand.
With the Acadie Bathurst Titans and Halifax Mooseheads already out of any race, the Atlantic Division promises to be a very exciting race to follow. With the regular season nearly at it’s end, the saddest thing for QMJHL fans in the Maritime will be seeing a very good team eliminated from the playoffs after the first round.
Telus Eastern Division
Identified as the team to keep your eye on at the beginning of the regular season, Quebec head coach Patrick Roy decided to become a seller instead of a buyer at the trade deadline. Roy answered positively to Moncton’s tentativeness by acquiring Kelsey Tessier getting in return goaltender Louis Domingue forward Matthew Brown. Remparts GM also made trade with Victoriaville sending defenseman Samuel Groulx in return of forward Olivier Hinse defenseman Patrick Dore and a draft pick.
With these new players helped Quebec play much better and with less pressure. They continued to win game with a better atmosphere in locker room. The most interesting battle in this division is for the second place. Rimouski Oceanic is in second place with only 10 points lead over Chicoutimi Sagueneens.
The trades made by the Oceanic left head coach Clement Jodoin with a much younger team to work with. In goal, Philippe Tremblay has the best chance to get more experience since he was sent between the pipes. On defense, three rookies are learning the ropes and are on the ice more regularly. Jodoin can count on nine rookies at the forward positions.
In Chicoutimi, head coach Richard Martel is already in a rebuilding mode by trading veteran Jacob Lagace and Nicholas Deschamps respectively to Cape Breton and Moncton. It will be interesting to see how certain players react to the challenge to play to the best of their abilities if they are to be successful in their battle for second place.
Baie-Comeau Drakkar are in last place with 36 points in 51 games. The challenge for them is to end the regular season on a high note and earn some experience, especially the rookies who get chance to show head coach Stephane Hains that they still want to be part of the team. Acquired at the trade deadline from Moncton for Gabriel Bourque, Raphael Bussieres has played some very good hockey since his arrival in Baie-Comeau. In 13 games with the Drakkar, the former Moncton Wildcat has accumulated 8 points (2 goals ). In his career he has totaled 11 points (3g) in 33 games.
Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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