QMJHL 2019-2020 Thread

[theshark]

Well a little over halfway though the season and the Titan has the same amount of wins than last season! Things are changing slower than expected but at this point, any amelioration is good. We have good base of young players, Kidney, Huckins, Delemont, Brants and others. Big win against Rimouski last night, hoping they can repeat that at home tonight!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by PEI highway guy

I was checking the Q standings and The Sea Dogs appear to be solidly in a playoff spot. What is the playoff format? is it a conference format of 1 vs 8? or do the divisions play off first?

This link will lead you to a series of short video clips explaining the 2019 playoff format. There has been no change for 2020 AFAIK.

https://moncton-wildcats.com/2019-playoff-format

[MonctonRad]

The Cats beat the Dogs for the 2nd time in two nights by a score of 7-4. This is despite the fact of going down 3-0 to the Dogs before the 10 minute mark of the first period.

The Cats peppered the SJ goalie with a franchise record of 69 shots during the game!!

The Cats now have 30 wins and 12 losses for 60 points, and are 6 points behind Chicoutimi for second place in the league, and first place in the Eastern Conference. They will have to be almost perfect for the rest of the season in order to catch up.

The Cats have five players with 20 goals or more already.
- Mika Cyr (23)
- Gabriel Fortier (22)
- Alexander Khovanov (21)
- Benoit-Olivier Groulx (21)
- Jeremy McKenna (21)

With 26 games left in the season, all five of these players could have over 35 goals.

[lirette]

Over the next 11 days Chicoutimi has a few tough matchups in there that could help Moncton gain some ground

01/24 vs Rimouski
01/26 vs Sherbrooke
02/01 vs Sherbrooke

I'd say the results of these games likely determine Monctons chances at taking 1st in the conference. The rest of the schedule for Chicoutimi is pretty easy.

Over the same time span Moncton has one opponent in the contender category in Cape Breton on 01/28

They also play head to head @ Chicoutimi on 02/27.

[MonctonRad]

Well, it was moose huntin' season at the Avenir Centre tonight, and our freezer is now full of fresh meat...........

The Cats basically wiped the floor with the Moose and posted an 8-0 victory.

It could have even been more lopsided. If the Cats had capitalized on all their chances, it could easily have been 12-0.

I liked that it was a team victory. Eight different players scored goals. The team also played tight defensively, and although Lund-Cornish wasn't overly challenged in goal, he made several big saves and earned his shutout. This was his second shutout as a Wildcat. and I am starting to feel comfortable with him in his back-up roll with the team.

The Cats play again tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM against the Islanders in Charlottetown. The team could be tired, and the Islanders are a constant nemesis of ours, so I am not necessarily predicting another victory tomorrow. We'll see what happens.......

[lirette]

Great weekend in the standings for Moncton, winning 2 games they are supposed to win and Chicoutimi lost twice.

1st place in the conference is now within grasp as they are 6 pts back with 2 games in hand on Chicoutimi & more important they play Chicoutimi at the end of Feb.

The game tuesday against CB is a huge one.

[MonctonRad]

Cats lose to Cape Breton 5-4 in OT at Centre 200 in Sydney tonight.

They went down 2-0 early, and battled back later from a 3-1 deficit to lead the game early in the 3rd period 4-3. CB tied the game about the 10 minute mark, and then won in OT during a 4 on 3 power play advantage.

The Cats only lost one point in the standings relative to CB on the game, and showed some character by battling back from a two goal deficit. Still, they have to be better than this if they want to be assured of advancing to at least the semi finals in the Q League playoffs.

[theshark]

Win for the Titan last night 4-2 over Halifax, we have now beaten the win numbers of last year and sitting at 9, all though we will more than likely be in last this year again, things are looking up.

More than likely I predict that Durocher’s days are numbered, His contract will end early next season, they are already paying for two coaches due to a previous contract that will also be done soon so some money will be freed up to get a new coach. He is not motivating the players at all and does quite the opposite.

[Philbilly]

Great game for the cats tonight, total dominance...Great discipline great defence from the forward and the D . If they play this way when needed during the playoffs we can go far .

[MonctonRad]

Indeed, the Cats didn't allow the Islanders to get on track at all. A very good defensive game, but enough offence to easily secure the win. A nice hat trick by McKenna, now with 26 goals on the season.

I see that Chicoutimi took down the Phoenix tonight in a huge game by the score of 8-6. Because the Sagueneens won, we remain four points behind them in the standings.

The fall of the mighty Phoenix leads me to wonder just how much their point total is inflated by playing in the (weaker) western conference. It could be that Moncton and Chicoutimi might be just as good as they are..........

[lirette]

Chicoutimi were upset by Shawinigan last night. First place(in the east) is now within reach for the Wildcats if they win the 2 games in hand.

[MonctonRad]

Another shutout victory by the Wildcats, on the road against Blainville. The final score was 4-0.

The Cats are now only two points behind Chicoutimi in the race for first place in the Eastern Conference. The Cats still have one game in hand.

[MonctonRad]

Three days, three games, three wins for the Moncton Wildcats during their Quebec roadtrip.

They completed the sweep this afternoon with a come from behind victory over the Quebec Rempart by a score of 5-3.

The Wildcats have now reclaimed first place in the Eastern Conference over Chicoutimi. We are tied at 75 points, but we have more victories than they do.

A big accomplishment for the Cats. They played these games in only 2.5 days (the Friday game was a late evening game), and the team is reported sick with upper respiratory tract infections. Kudos to everyone.

[MonctonRad]

Wildcats are now two points ahead of Chicoutimi in the standings (79 vs 77 pts) for first place in the east, but Chicoutimi currently has one game in hand.

The Cats are riding a 13 game point streak (12-0-1-0) and really seem to be masters of their own destiny at present.

We have six players with over 20 goals on the team, with 16 games left in the season. Zachary l'Heureux is not too far behind:

- Khovanov - 26 G, 53 A, 79 pts in 39 games
- Pelletier - 27 G, 42 A, 69 pts in 45 games
- Groulx - 23 G, 44 A, 67 pts in 43 games
- McKenna - 30 G, 31 A, 61 pts in 45 games
- Fortier - 29 G, 22 A, 51 pts in 52 games
- Cyr - 29 G, 17 A, 46 pts in 52 games
- l"Heureux - 17 G, 27 A, 44 pts in 43 games

If each of these players maintained this productivity for the remaining 16 games, their individual totals would be:

Khovanov - 37 G, 75 A, 112 pts
Pelletier - 37 G, 57 A, 94 pts
Groulx - 32 G, 60 A, 92 pts
McKenna - 41 G, 42 A, 83 pts
Fortier - 38 G, 29 A, 67 pts
Cyr - 38 G, 22 A, 60 pts
l'Heureux - 23 G, 37 A, 60 pts

Talk about balanced scoring! We have three lines that are serious scoring threats. If the opposing team has one good checking line, how can you defend against an offence like this!!!

[theshark]

You guys will make 2 points tomorrow as you head up against us, will be realist, would like to see us win, but its that kind of year again.

On another note we picked up a win last night against Halifax 6-2. So this year all though we are last is still getting better than last year!

[FeralFeline]

Hang in there, bud: 'tis the nature of junior hockey. When you guys were at your prime, a couple years ago, we had one of the worst teams in the league. Alternately, look at how far Halifax has fallen from last season.

[theshark]

I know! They gave everything last year and are in the same position as us, except us it was 2 years ago. On the bright side our two last victories are against them!

[MonctonRad]

Two more wins by the Wildcats this weekend, including a 7-2 drubbing of the Mooseheads this afternoon. Benoit Olivier Groulx led the way with a hat trick and an assist against his former team.

The Cats now have a nine game winning streak, and a 15 game points streak. They are four points ahead the Sagueneens for second place in the Q, and first place in the Eastern Conference.

We now have three players with 30 or more goals on the season - McKenna & Cyr at 31 and Fortier with 30.

Wednesday night will be a huge game as we are facing the hottest team in the league (Rimouski) and the projected #1 NHL draft pick, Alexis Lafreneire.

[lirette]

Not a whole lot to analyze beating teams like Halifax & Bathurst..but the important thing is they are beating teams they should beat handily. There hasn't been much to criticize since the egg they laid against Baie Comeau

Rimouski is red hot coming into town Wednesday and I believe fully healthy. This is the most anticipated game of the regular season and if you haven't checked out the team since the trade deadline this is the game you should pick.

Ticket sales are looking strong at over 6000+ currently. Awesome for a weeknight game.

[MonctonRad]

Huge 4-3 OT win by the Wildcats over the Rimouski Oceanic at the Avenir Centre tonight in front of 7800 fans.

Not a perfect win by the Cats by any means. They were outplayed in the first period and got into some really serious penalty trouble. They were lucky to escape the frame with a 1-0 deficit. The Cats dominated for the first part of the second period, but Rimouski took over play for the remainder of that period. The Cats came to life in the third period, taking a 3-2 lead, before giving up a late tieing goal to Rimouski. The OT was pretty evenly matched.

Pelletier was the OT hero, but McKenna had two goals and two assists on the night and was named first star.

The Cats made a statement with this win. Rimouski is the hottest team in the league and has the presumed #1 NHL draft pick in Alexis Lafreniere. Despite putting in an imperfect game, we were able to outlast Rimouski for the win.

Interesting points:

- 10 wins in a row for the Wildcats!!
- The Cats now have 85 points on the season, and are six points ahead of Chicoutimi for first place in the Eastern Conference.
- The Cats are now only five points behind Sherbrooke for first place in the QMJHL. We likely won't catch them, but we could make it interesting.
- The Cats are now #4 in the CHL top 10 rankings.

And the icing on the cake is that Cape Breton went down to defeat to Acadie-Bathurst this evening. The Eagles are now 12 points behind us in the standings, which is probably insurmountable. I have been worried about the Eagles this year. They have a very good team, and are a serious black horse.