With less than a month to go in the regular season, the QMJHL playoff picture is starting to fall into place. Division leaders Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (85 points), Rimouski Océanic (84 points) and Moncton Wildcats (83 points) continue to jockey for position but should finish on top of the league.
The Wildcats had a couple of incredible individual performances this month: Connor Garland led the league with 27 points and became the first player to surpass the 100-point mark. Ivan Barbashev led the league in goal scoring, finding the back of the net 15 times. The duo has been unstoppable and will surely be a handful in the playoffs.
With a late-season surge, the Gatineau Olympiques no longer appear to be in danger of missing the post-season. The team was busy at the Q trade deadline, shaking up the roster while sitting near the bottom of the league, but the moves didn’t translate into wins until recently. Now it appears Gatineau is jelling under team Canada head coach Benoit Groulx.
Valentin Zykov, a Los Angeles Kings second-round pick in 2013 acquired from Baie-Comeau in December, has now scored in five straight games. Yakov Trenin was one of the hottest rookies in February, picking up four goals and 10 assists. The only rookie to score more points was fellow Russian, Evgeny Svechnikov of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. He scored eight goals and 15 points while solidifying his first-round projection for the NHL Draft in June.
Here’s what you need to know from around the Q this week:
Maritimes Division
After a lengthy and point-filled run, the point streaks by Halifax Mooseheads forwards Nikolaj Ehlers and Timo Meier are over. Winnipeg Jets first-rounder Ehlers set a franchise record of 33 straight games with a point, picking up 73 total. Meier, projected to go in the first round of this year’s NHL Draft, had the third-longest streak in Moose history with 51 points in 27 games. Both streaks came to an end in a 4-2 loss to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar Friday.
The regular season’s end can’t come soon enough for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The league’s worst team was shutout twice on home ice last week, losing 8-0 to Rimouski and 2-0 to Gatineau. In February, the Titan only managed to score five goals and have been shut out in five of their last eight games. If the 17th-place Drummondville Voltigeurs (51 points) pick up a single point the rest of the season, Acadie-Bathurst (36 points) will clinch last place. Both teams have eight games remaining.
East Division
Rimouski Océanic goalie Philippe Desrosiers was downright stingy last week, posting back-to-back shutouts and picking up three wins. In a showdown between two Q powerhouses, the Dallas Stars second-rounder made 30 saves on way to blanking the Québec Remparts 3-0. He had a lighter night against Acadie-Bathurst, only needing 14 saves in an 8-0 win. Although shakier against Halifax, letting in four goals, Desrosiers still came out on top in a 5-4 win.
While Ehlers may be the most attention-grabbing Winnipeg Jets prospect in the Q, defenceman Jan Kostalek has anchored Rimouski all season. In February, the 2013 fourth-rounder scored three goals and added 11 assists. On the season, he has seven goals and a personal-best 41 points. Kostalek leads the league in plus-minus with a plus-48.
Remparts forward Anthony Duclair was traded from the New York Rangers to the Arizona Coyotes in a blockbuster deal for Keith Yandle. While he’ll remain in the Q this season, Duclair will have a chance to play with team Canada linemate Max Domi in the NHL next season. Since returning to the Remparts after the world juniors, Duclair has nine goals and 25 points.
West Division
The gold and white-clad Val-D’Or Foreurs continue to leave their opponents black and blue, winning eight games in a row. After a cold start to the season, the defending league champs are the hottest team in the league and now sit in eighth-place with 68 points. This week they picked up wins over Rouyn-Noranda (7-3), Shawinigan (4-3) and Drummondville (4-1). Etienne Montpetit has emerged as the team’s starting goalie, playing in seven games while Edmonton Oilers prospect Keven Bouchard started three. Montpetit had six wins in February and Bouchard won all three of his starts.
The Sherbrooke Phoenix lost all three games they played this week, with d-man Carl Neill being one of the few bright spots. He picked up a goal and three assists in a 7-4 loss to Victoriaville and an assist in a 7-2 loss to Shawinigan. The blue liner was invited to Calgary Flames training camp in the fall after going undrafted, but his NHL hopes took a hit when it was discovered he had an irregular heartbeat. After undergoing an operation, Neill returned to the Phoenix and has made his third season in the Q his best. After scoring four goals last year, he’s followed it up with 13 this season. While still in the red, his plus-minus has shot up from minus-31 to minus-12. Neill should find himself at an NHL camp next year.
With his second goal of the season, François Brassard surely will finish the season as the league’s top goal-scoring goalie. Brassard hit an empty-net against the Saint John Sea Dogs during a 6-2 win Saturday. While a member of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, he scored a short-handed goal on Dec. 13. He now has five points on the season.
Three Stars
Evgeny Svechnikov, RW, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles In four games, the Russian scored four goals and eight points. He was the league’s hottest rookie in February with 15 points and could be a first-round pick in the NHL draft in June.
Valentin Zykov, RW, Gatineau Olympiques The big Russian forward scored four goals and added two helpers to help the Olympiques revive their playoff hopes. Zykov is on an eight-game streak with 12 points over that span.
Philippe Desrosiers, G, Rimouski Océanic The Rimouski goalie posted back-to-back shutouts of the Québec Remparts and Acadie-Bathurst Titan. He was able to hold off a third-period comeback by the Halifax Mooseheads on Sunday, picking up his third win in three games.