One of the most surprising stories in the QMJHL this season has been that of Kay Schweri. The Swiss right winger was drafted in the first round of the 2014 CHL European import draft by the Sherbrooke Phoenix. The five-foot-ten, 175-lb., Schweri is second in the league in points, and tops in rookie scoring, with five goals and 26 assists for 31 points. He’s put up points in 15 of 17 games played this year. This past week, he continued his hot play, scoring a goal and adding five assists in three games. Two of those assists went to centre Daniel Audette, the league’s first star of the week.
Here are all the stars, NHL first goals by QMJHL players and other things you need to know from the past week in the Q:
Maritimes Division
The Saint John Sea Dogs remain atop the Maritimes Division, picking up two points against Baie-Comeau in a win and a single point in a shootout loss to Quebec. The 6–2 win against the red-hot Drakkar snapped the their six-game win streak. NHL draft prospects centre Nathan Noel and defenceman Jakub Zboril both had goals. The game turned nasty in the second period, featuring three fights and Drakkar defenceman Guillaume Beaudry getting kicked out for a head-butt. The rough stuff continued in the third with a series of fights, and players from both teams were kicked out and handed game misconducts.
In a three-game weekend, the Halifax Mooseheads played in two contests that were each won with nine goals. On Friday night the team prevailed 9–6 against Gatineau with NHL draft prospect Timo Meier, and Danny Moynihan and Philippe Gadoury each scoring a pair of goals. The next night, the Mooseheads lost 2–1 to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Brandon Vuic had the Mooseheads’ lone goal. (Vuic had returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch following his alleged involvement in an impaired driving and drug possession incident earlier in the month. The police investigation is ongoing.) Then the floodgates opened up on Sunday when Montreal Canadiens second-rounder Zachary Fucale had the night off and Kevin Resop filled in between the pipes. Resop was on the ice for all nine Victoriaville Tigres goals. The Mooseheads were shut out.
Defenceman Jesse Lussier, who has a father and brother in the Armed Forces, joined his team at the War Memorial in Ottawa while in town for a game against the Gatineau Olympics.
East Division
After dropping a pair of games to division rivals Baie-Comeau Drakkar last week, the Rimouski Océanic returned to dominance with three wins in which they scored 18 goals. The league’s top scorer, centre Alexis Loiseau, had four goals and five points in three games. He now has 34 points through 18 games. Ottawa Senators prospect Vincent Dunn (fifth round, 138th overall in 2013) had six points this week including a hat trick and an assist against Gatineau.
Memorial Cup hosts Québec Remparts are starting to look dominant with four wins in a row and eight wins in their last 10 games. Adam Erne scored a hat trick Friday against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan with his third goal coming in overtime. That was his second game in a row with a hat trick. Rookie winger Dmytro Timashov continues to lead the team in points with 28 through 16 games, including five assists last week.
Anthony Duclair remains with the New York Rangers, notching his first goal in the big leagues Monday night.
Anthony Duclair on Twitter: “Overwhelming, thank you so much everyone!! #BigWin”
The Baie-Comeau Drakkar had a six-game win streak snapped by the Saint John Sea Dogs on Saturday. The Drakkar bounced back the next night with a 4–3 win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Acquiring Luca Ciampini from the Halifax Mooseheads in the off-season was a smart move by the Drakkar. He’s currently second on the team in points, averaging a point per game with eight goals and nine assists in 17 games.
West Division
The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada is the hottest team in the QMJHL right now with a seven game points streak (6-0-0-1). Goalie Samuel Montembeault has five consecutive wins and currently sits eighth in the league with a GAA of 2.90. The six-foot-three, 166-lb. goalie is the team’s starter this year after only playing 14 games in his rookie season last year. Montembeault is projected to go in the fourth round or later at the NHL draft this year.
The road was not kind to the Val-d’Or Foreurs as the team lost all three games they played and let in at least five goals in each game. The lowlight of the weekend came Sunday when Rimouski shelled the team 8–2. Flyers prospect Nicolas Aubé-Kubel is one of the few bright spots on the team this season and had two goals and an assist this week. He’s averaging a point per game with six goals and six assists through 12.
Rouyn-Noranda were also losers on the road, dropping both games this week and snapping a five-game win streak. The team’s two goalies are still tops in the league in goals against average despite both losing this week. Alexandre Bélanger leads the league with a GAA of 2.13 while Samuel Harvey’s GAA is 2.34. The 16-year-old Harvey will be in Sarnia next week playing for Canada White at the Under-17 tournament. Huskies defenceman Liam O’Brien scored his first goal with the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Three Stars of the Week
Daniel Audette, C, Sherbrooke Phoenix: Audette had a record-setting night for the Sherbrooke Phoenix Friday when he scored a team record six points, including two goals and four assists. He scored with 16 seconds left to give the team a 6–5 win over Moncton. Audette was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the fifth round, 147th overall, in 2014.
Nikolas Brouillard, D, Québec Remparts: The Remparts won all three road games last week and were helped by defenceman Brouillard who had an assist in each game along with a goal on Friday against the Titan. After spending three seasons with Drummondville, Brouillard is off to a good start with the Remparts with three goals and eight assists in 14 games.
Marvin Cupper, G, Shawinigan Cataractes: Cupper won two games this week, with 50 saves, a GAA of 1.92 and a save percentage of 0.926. He is enjoying a stellar year so far with a league-leading save percentage of 0.922 and is second with a GAA of 2.37. He was named the first star of the month for September and will certainly be in contention again this month.
2015 NHL Draft Watch
Callum Booth, G, Québec Remparts: Booth could be drafted in the first round this season and he should be the first Q goalie drafted. The six-foot-three, 196-lb. goalie from Montreal was impressive last week with two wins. He stopped 32 shots from the Saint John Sea Dogs and 36 shots from the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. He’s been hot in October with five wins and one loss, a GAA of 2.44 and save percentage of 0.920. In his rookie season last year, Booth had an 11-8 record in 25 games.