Never before has the term ‘Elite Eight’ been a more fitting term in the Québec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs.

Eight teams remain in contention for the QMJHL’s President’s Cup, and the even more coveted spot in the Memorial Cup that comes with winning it.

Each year there are always one, maybe two matchups between teams so well built that the mere thought one won’t advance to the semi-finals does that team injustice.

But in this year’s playoffs, the Memorial Cup picture is as clouded as it has ever been.

One doesn’t need to do much more than look at the remaining teams for an understanding of how complicated this round will play out, with four teams invariably being left to wonder what could have been with such a strong team.

No one knows this better than Moncton Wildcats head coach and director of hockey operations Danny Flynn. One might think the second-seeded Wildcats would be full of confidence and optimism against a No. 7, but this year’s No. 7 is the tournament-host Rimouski Océanic.

The term "underdog" is too deceiving of a label for the Océanic, particularly when the team they will face believes they’re anything but an underdog. Rimouski has won 24 of their last 25 games, regular season and playoffs, as sure a sign as any that this year’s seventh-place team should be considered in the same breath as the regular season champions.

Which is exactly the case regarding the Océanic.

"You can make an argument that right now they’re the best team in the Canadian Hockey League," Flynn said.

Then there’s the so-called No. 5 ranked Shawinigan Cataractes. All they did was finish second overall in league standings in the regular season, seven points behind league No. 1 Drummondville and three points up on No. 2 Moncton.

The reason Shawinigan fell to fifth is simple: they didn’t win their division.

The QMJHL’s playoff format awards the top four seeds to each division winner, meaning a team like Shawinigan loses home ice after the first round, barring major upsets.

Shawinigan doesn’t have home ice advantage in the second round but likely holds an advantage in terms of talent over their opponent.

The Gatineau Olympiques, in spite of being the defending league champions, finished with 24 fewer points than the team they’re hosting after winning the weak Telus Western Division. By playoff format standards, Shawinigan is simply ‘the best of the rest.’

To write the Olympiques off, however, would be ludicrous.

This season was essentially split in two for Gatineau, who underwent the resignation of a head coach early enough to give the team a fighting chance to turn their season around. The Olympiques eventually figured it out and were one of the hottest teams in the league while throwing their hat in the ring of elite teams shortly after Christmas.

The rest of the league caught on near the end of the season as the Olympiques fizzled but a five-game series win over Acadie-Bathurst should give the offensively-dangerous team a chance to contend.

Then there’s the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, the league’s No. 6.

Cape Breton not only contended for the Atlantic Division crown with Moncton until the very end but swept a strong Saint John Sea Dogs team in the opening round. Their potential isn’t as obvious as teams like Drummondville or Moncton, but a strong goaltender in sophomore Olivier Roy and a dedicated, team-oriented game allows teams like the Screaming Eagles to overachieve, in some respects.

Their opponent is one of the league’s biggest non-surprise teams, the Québec Remparts. Head coach and general manager Patrick Roy made no secret of his intentions this season, loading up throughout the summer with a very gifted offensive arsenal of forwards and the late-blooming Charles Lavigne in goal.

There’s no doubt the Remparts could win the league championship while there’s no doubt the Screaming Eagles are a team capable of sneaking in and surprising a fellow elite club.

The series predicted to finish quickest is none other than No. 1 versus No. 8. The Drummondville Voltigeurs were the darlings of the 2008-09 season, emerging from a pile of rubble at the bottom of the league standings to enjoy a league-record 79-point turnaround.

Drummondville’s offensive firepower is downright scary. The Voltigeurs outscored the Lewiston MAINEiacs 38-9 in their four-game sweep.

Their opponent is the Montreal Juniors, who would have trouble beating Drummondville even if Angelo Esposito and Luke Adam hadn’t suffered season-ending injuries. The one thing Montreal has working in their favour is their goaltender, Jake Allen.

Considered by many to be the starter for Canada’s next world junior team, Allen is the wildcard that could make this series interesting.

All eyes, however, will be fixated on the Wildcats-Océanic series. Had the standings been determined differently, this is a matchup many could see playing itself out in the league finals. Unfortunately for those teams, it’s not, and one will be picking up the pieces far earlier than they otherwise should.

"(Rimouski is) arguably the most talented team in this league and it’s going to take an awful good team playing awfully well to win four games from them," Flynn said.

One might ask why a team with this much respect from their opposition finished so low. For starters, a rash of injuries devastated the lineup early in the season. Perhaps because they were hosting the Memorial Cup, the team remained patient in waiting for their stars to return, while loading up with some big acquisitions before the trade deadline. The chemistry was built quickly, as evidenced by their winning streak.

Moncton enjoyed their success playing a brand of hockey uncharacteristic in the QMJHL: strong defence with no superstar scoring forward. Many general managers in the QMJHL do little to hide the fact they believe a few scoring sensations is the recipe for success. Others, such as the Wildcats, believe it comes down to goaltending.

Moncton starter Nicola Riopel set a league record for lowest goals against average in a season at 2.01, while the team set the mark for fewest goals allowed at 149.

"He’s been remarkably consistent," Flynn said. "He’s given us outstanding goaltending virtually every night. He deserves a lot of credit for our success so far."

Riopel got the credit warranted by being named the league’s player of the year on Wednesday. But to say he has his hands full in the series against Rimouski would be a catastrophic understatement.

"They’re deep and they’re talented and they’re well prepared," Flynn continued. "We’ve got a younger team and we’re going to have to play our best hockey."

As will each other team. The mantra each season is that there are two spots available in the Memorial Cup for the league hosting the tournament. While this is true, no one ever mentions one of those spots is already occupied by the host, regardless of the outcome of the playoffs. The only time that means anything, and this scenario played itself out three years ago when Québec lost to Moncton in the final, is when the league runner-up is awarded the other spot after losing to the host in the league championship series.

However, since the mindset is that there are two spots open, every team with a fighting chance generally decides to load up on the trade front for the opportunity at junior hockey glory. It’s for that reason the discrepancy between league contender and everyone else is such a broad and well-defined line.

And unlike in past seasons, this year’s remaining teams bring a stunningly accurate definition to the term ‘Elite Eight.’