QUEBEC CITY. P.Q. — Four QMJHL teams earned the right to go to the second round by sweeping their opponents. Shawinigan, Drummondville, Rimouski and Cape Breton won their respective series four games to none. 
Shawinigan began their series as the favorite, and even if people should have expected a longer series, the Cataractes didn’t waste any time in showing their true colors. Offensively, Eric Veilleux’s troops scored 35 goals in four games and allowed only 18. Shawinigan netminder Timo Pielmeier ended the series with a saving percentage of .936. Game 1 – Victoriaville 2 vs. Shawinigan 5 Game 2 – Victoriaville 1 vs. Shawinigan 7 Game 3 – Shawinigan 4 vs. Victoriaville 3 in overtime Game 4 – Shawinigan 2 vs. Victoriaville 1 in overtime Nicolas Petersen (3g-3a-6pts), Cedric Lalonde-McNichol (2g-4a-6pts), and Pierre-Alexandre Vandal (1g-5a-6pts) were the offensive leaders for the Cataractes. Andrej Nestrasil (2g-1a-3pts), David Clich é (2g-0a-2pts) and Philip-Michael Devos (2g-0a-2pts) were the stars on offense for Victoriaville. In Drummondville, the Voltigeurs were definitely too strong for the Lewiston MAINEiacs. Offensively, Drummondville outscored Lewiston 38-9. a real indicator of the difference between the two teams. Game 1 – Lewiston 3 vs. Drummondville 12 Game 2 – Lewiston 1 vs. Drummondville 10 Game 3 – Drummondville 7 vs. Lewiston 2 Game 4 – Drummondville 9 vs. Lewiston 3 Yannick Riendeau (9g-10a-19pts), Danny Masse (7g-10a-17pts), and Mike Hoffman (11g-3a-14pts) were the scoring leaders for the Voltigeurs. Maxime Gratchev (2g-1a-3pts), Danick Paquette (1g-2a-3pts) and Billy Lacasse (1g-2a-3pts) were the top scorers for Lewiston. (*Note – Lewiston will not be moving in the off-season. The word is they will be staying in Lewiston, Maine) In Rimouski, the Oceanics didn’t take anything for granted, even if you couldn’t find anyone who would give Chicoutimi a chance to win this series. The acquisition of defenseman Drew Paris wasn’t enough to help the Sags. Chicoutimi forwards Nicolas Deschamps and Jacob Lagace did their best, but it just wasn’t enough. The team played with young players and will have to rebuild the team beginning with next season’s QMJHL entry draft. The Oceanics on the other hand are in mission first to win the President Cup as QMJHL champion. They successfully went through the first step by defeating Chicoutimi. The road promises to be tough if they want to win it all, but Head Coach Clement Jodoin is experience and will make sure that his team will be very well prepared to play whichever team comes next. Game 1 – Chicoutimi 2 vs. Rimouski 8 Game 2 – Chicoutimi 1 vs. Rimouski 5 Game 3 – Rimouski 6 vs. Chicoutimi 3 Game 4 – Rimouski 4 vs. Chicoutimi 3 Kevin Veilleux (3g-9a-12pts), Philippe Cornet (3g-6a-9pts) and Olivier Fortier (3g-3a-6pts) were the scoring leaders for QMJHL’s representative as the host team at this years Memorial Cup. Defenseman Drew Paris (1g-5a-6pts), forwards Nicolas Deschamps (3g-1a-4pts) and Jacob Lagace (1g-2a-3pts) were the top point producers for the Sagueneens. Twenty-four points separate the two teams before the series began. Another good indication of the disparity between the two teams. In Saint John, fans certainly wanted to watch the Sea Dogs trios of defensemen Simon Despres, David Stitch, and Yann Sauve contain the Cape Breton offense, but unfortunately they weren’t able to make a deference. Game 1 – Saint John 4 vs. Cape Breton 5 Game 2 – Saint John 2 vs. Cape Breton 5 Game 3 – Cape Breton 8 vs. Saint John 3 Game 4 – Cape Breton 3 vs. Cape Breton 2 Joey Haddad (4g-3a-7pts), Nick MacNeil (4g-3a-7pts), and Robert Slaney (3g-3a-6pts) were the leading scorers for the Screaming Eagles. Olivier Ouellet (2g-3a-5pts), Michael Kirkpatrick (2g-2a-4pts), and defenseman Simon Despres (0g-4a-4pts) were the top scoring leaders for the Sea Dogs. Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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