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  #1  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2020, 7:14 PM
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QMJHL 2020-2021 Thread

QMJHL 2020-2021 Thread:

Due to popular demand, I have started a new thread for the upcoming Q League season. I will import the two most recent posts as Quotes:

Quote:
Originally Posted by felip_ars View Post
While I'll let someone more experienced to create the new thread. the max# for attendance has been revealed

(Source: @MikLalancette)

Bathurst : 1300
Cap-Breton : 1500
Halifax : 1900
Moncton : 2500
Saint-Jean : 1600
Charlottetown : TBD

Given the situation in Quebec at the moment, Those will be the highest numbers for at least October, as every regions is either max 250 people in a public gathering or no gathering at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lirette View Post
Looks like the Wildcats have over 2000 season seats sold, as it appears there about 250 tickets for the general public each game. This weekends home opener has about 60 tickets left for purchase.

I'm not sure how the suites factor into this.
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  #2  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2020, 7:22 PM
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I picked up my season tickets yesterday.

I must admit that I don't know yet how frequently I'll go to the games yet this year. The experience will certainly be a lot different than in previous seasons, with mandatory masks (except when seated), no loitering in the concourse, and limited concessions. I'm approaching a certain age where one must be careful about possible COVID exposure, but as long as there is no community spread going on, I think I would feel reasonably comfortable going to the games. I plan to attend the home opener this Friday.

With a capacity of 2,500, it is possible that the Wildcats might have the best attendance in the entire CHL this year. All of the Quebec based teams are going to be playing in empty venues this season, and, as for the OHL and the WHL, they don't even intend to start operating until the new year. No word yet on whether they will allow any fans in the buildings, but since the second wave appears to be at hand in the rest of the country, I have a sneaking suspicion they will be playing to empty seats too.

This will be a strange season.........
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  #3  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2020, 12:02 AM
Taeolas Taeolas is offline
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It'll be a strange season. Since the Atlantic division is the only one that will be able to have fans for a long time, it could mean that the Atlantic teams will probably be among the most profitable teams this season; or at least the teams least in the red.

6 Atlantic teams vs 12 Quebec teams. It's almost a shame there wasn't time (or even a desire) to get a team in Fredericton and/or Edmundston or even Saint Johns. If we could grow the Atlantic teams up enough to be a league of their own it might be better all around.
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  #4  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2020, 12:41 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Taeolas View Post
It'll be a strange season. Since the Atlantic division is the only one that will be able to have fans for a long time, it could mean that the Atlantic teams will probably be among the most profitable teams this season; or at least the teams least in the red.

6 Atlantic teams vs 12 Quebec teams. It's almost a shame there wasn't time (or even a desire) to get a team in Fredericton and/or Edmundston or even Saint Johns. If we could grow the Atlantic teams up enough to be a league of their own it might be better all around.
I'd love to see the QMJHL in St. John's again, but I don't think the financial viability of a team there has improved much since the Fog Devils moved off to Montreal 12 years ago.

Fredericton would be the logical location for expansion in the Maritimes, but they need to renovate or replace the main arena there.

I also think they're quite happy with an 18 team league, at least for now, anyhow.
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  #5  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2020, 12:46 AM
Djeffery Djeffery is online now
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What formula did they use to determine capacity per arena?
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  #6  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2020, 1:15 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Djeffery View Post
What formula did they use to determine capacity per arena?
At least for the Mooseheads, they've set a hard limit of 2000 people in the Scotiabank Centre, which is 18% capacity.
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  #7  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2020, 3:09 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by L'homard View Post
So do non=season-ticket holders just show up at the box office and hope like heck there's a ticket or two left? If so when do the tix go on sale? Or is there a new procedure for these weird times?
According to the information supplied with my season ticket, The "Subaru of Moncton Box Office" is only going to be open for "ticket resolution" issues. Maybe individual ticket sales will only be on line. Just a guess...........

In any event, after satisfying season ticket holders, and with a max capacity of 2500, there will be a genuine scarcity of tickets this year. Not a good thing if you are Mr Irving, and you want to build a loyal fan base.
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  #8  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2020, 1:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Taeolas View Post
It'll be a strange season. Since the Atlantic division is the only one that will be able to have fans for a long time, it could mean that the Atlantic teams will probably be among the most profitable teams this season; or at least the teams least in the red.

6 Atlantic teams vs 12 Quebec teams. It's almost a shame there wasn't time (or even a desire) to get a team in Fredericton and/or Edmundston or even Saint Johns. If we could grow the Atlantic teams up enough to be a league of their own it might be better all around.
Edmundston has a brand new arena and with the success the Blizzard have there for attendance, it would mean a Q-team would do well, the league just has to be ready to expand and find an ownership group.

I remember seeing figures, if I am not mistaken, that would place them in the top 8 of the Q for attendance.

For Fredericton, think they have to start to think about an event centre Downtown, something along 5-6000 people range would be nice.

Truro could also be interesting for an expansion team.

St-john’s would be nice to have back in the Q, but what kills them is the cost and the time for travelling.
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  #9  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2020, 1:19 PM
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Some wishful dreaming in this post. Feel free to ignore it.

Yeah, something like the QMJHL is a reason I've been trying to plant the seed of an idea of a downtown events centre for Freddy. We missed the boat a bit by going Willie O'Ree/Grant-Harvey, and we're focused on the Playhouse right now. But we should be planning so it would be the next project after the Playhouse. Whether anyone actually starts thinking of the idea seems doubtful.

Considering how many NB cities have Hockey teams that are doing well, the fact that the 3rd biggest city in the province DOESN'T have its own pro team is glaring. Personally, I blame the power and grip UNB has on the local sports scene for holding us back in that respect.

As I touched on in my first post, it would be nice if we could get enough Atlantic province growth so an Atlantic Canada league could stand independent of the Quebec league, and make a 4-division CHL. Maybe Newfoundland teams could be a subdivision of the Atlantic League, primarily playing among the Newfoundland teams with planned multigame series to mix with Atlantic teams while controlling travel costs (either Newfoundland teams to the mainland, or mainland teams to the Rock).

How many teams would be needed/supportable for a proper Atlantic Hockey League?

There are 6 teams in Atlantic now. With a bit of planning, and growth, we could probably almost double that fairly easily. (Fredericton, Edmundston, maybe Summerside for a second PE team, Truro, some team for southern Nova Scotia maybe), and try to find 4 teams for Newfoundland so they could have their subDivision to control travel costs.

If PAL Airlines was a sponsor of the Atlantic Hockey League, there'd be huge synergies too.
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  #10  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2020, 1:58 PM
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I doubt there are enough cities in Atlantic Canada to justify a fourth CHL league, nor is there likely any interest by the CHL in such a project (although it would solve the messy situation of always having to invite the host team to the CHL championship tournament).

Doing so would destabilize the QMJHL, which suffers from the fact that Quebec has a relative lack of medium sized cities interested in supporting major junior hockey, and greater Montreal is fixated on the Habs to the detriment of any lesser teams. The QMJHL would be much better off if, for example, there were three teams from the greater Montreal area. Removing the Maritime teams from the Q would leave them with just 12 teams, some in shakey small town markets.

I would think the minimum size for a new Atlantic Major Junior Hockey League would be 12 teams. We currently have six, therefore we need six more.

- Fredericton is a no brainer, but there is no satisfactory arena and the city is currently fixated on university hockey.
- St. John's is pretty much mandatory too, although travel cost to and from the Rock are a huge issue. The recent introduction of a PAL service to Moncton from St. John's would be a help.

Beyond this, the pickings get slimmer. I don't think there is anywhere else in NL that would be viable. In NB, Edmundston is most likely, and is a proven hockey market. Truro is the most likely market in NS to join the league, and they have a new arena which might do if a little seating expansion were possible. This gives 10 teams.

Finding two more teams would be really tough. Kentville possibly for NS and Summerside maybe for PEI. Kentville does not have an appropriate arena, and, while Summerside does, it is a small city with only about 15,000 people, and would rival Bathurst as the smallest market in the CHL.

Also, if the Maritimes went whole hog on the QMJHL, this would be the death knell for the Maritime Junior Hockey League. I can't imagine how they would both survive.
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  #11  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2020, 2:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MonctonRad View Post
According to the information supplied with my season ticket, The "Subaru of Moncton Box Office" is only going to be open for "ticket resolution" issues. Maybe individual ticket sales will only be on line. Just a guess...........

In any event, after satisfying season ticket holders, and with a max capacity of 2500, there will be a genuine scarcity of tickets this year. Not a good thing if you are Mr Irving, and you want to build a loyal fan base.
There is going to be very little ability to gain new interest from fans this year. Although I do wonder if you might see a few new fans who are looking for something to do check out an individual game. Perhaps the small crowd size, one directional arrows and guaranteed space around you will attract a few people.

The good news is rogers tv (for anyone who has it) has taken on an extensive broadcast schedule carrying 27 Wildcat games. I thought this would be a good year to find a way to move streaming permanently to youtube to make the product accessible as a way to bridge the gap for new fans who will have no NHL hockey until perhaps January, but those with Rogers can take in almost half the games.

Unfortunately the league streaming service is the same provider (neulion).
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  #12  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2020, 2:15 PM
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While Atlantic Canada churns out some incredible hockey players, there wouldnt be nearly enough talent to fill out a full Maritime Hockey League, you would end up with teams with entire 3rd and 4th lines that are Junior A talent, and hurt the overall quality of the league. Junior A is quality hockey, but its price point is $10-12. It would be much better to have the top stars from the maritimes playing against and with the top talent in Eastern Canada.

Hockey isn't really a growing sport participation wise, so I doubt anything that results in the expansion of the Q, or split of the Q into 2 leagues would make sense. The best case scenario for the Maritimes would be a few teams in smaller markets selling their teams and moving to a Fredericton, St Johns or Truro. Bathurst is another market you could see one day moving, but thats been talked about for what seems like 15 years and they just announced a ownership restructure today.

While Edmundson is clearly a top junior A market, I dont see the Q moving to an arena that is capped at less than 3000 as great as a facility as they have.
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  #13  
Old Posted Oct 3, 2020, 3:12 AM
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A socially distanced "sellout crowd" for the Wildcats at the Avenir Centre for the QMJHL home opener. The Cats unfortunately lost to the Charlottetown Islanders 4-2.



A sloppy, scrappy game with lots of poor play and unnecessary penalties, typical for a home opener with lots of rookie players still trying to figure each other out.
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  #14  
Old Posted Oct 3, 2020, 7:00 PM
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We got a pretty good start, came back to win the game 4-3 in OT against Saint John. The boys are really coming together, think that they are starting to have a good foundation, plays are being made, scoring opportunities are made, the Titan have come a long way since last year.

Suiting up against the Cats tomorrow, hopefully another win!
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  #15  
Old Posted Oct 3, 2020, 7:08 PM
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Mooseheads beat Cape Breton 6-2 last night, but half of those goals came within the last 2 minutes of the game. A great result considering a few guys are out injured.
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  #16  
Old Posted Oct 3, 2020, 8:52 PM
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Re: not enough local players to form a Major Jr. League.
Most players in such a league would come from elsewhere. As is normally the case.
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  #17  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2020, 2:49 AM
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Received an e-mail this evening:

Quote:
This weekend’s Moncton Wildcats home games have been postponed due to the fact that Moncton remains in the orange level under the province’s COVID-19 recovery plan.

It is important to note that the games on October 16th vs. Saint John and on October 18th vs. Charlottetown have been postponed, not cancelled.
Our season ticket members are asked to hold onto their tickets for this weekend’s games. Once the game has been re-scheduled, this will be the same ticket you use for entry on the new game date.
I'm not at all surprised. I would not have been attending the games in any event. I may be a season's ticket holder, but honestly, I doubt I will go to more than a handful of games this year anyway.
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  #18  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2020, 10:44 AM
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Also read that the league has suspended play in the 2 Quebec based divisions and will re-evaluate in 2 weeks.
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  #19  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2020, 2:29 PM
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Yes they will reevaluate oct 28th since a lot of teams are in red regions
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  #20  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2020, 3:04 PM
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The Quebec government has also given the 12 Quebec-based teams $1M each to continue operations.
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