Friday Night Hockey heads back to the QMJHL as Mastercard Memorial Cup hopefuls the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada faceoff against the Quebec Remparts.
Blainville-Boisbriand has the CHL blueprint down to a tee: great goaltending, the ability to defend as a team and a couple of high-end scorers. Despite losing head coach Jean-Francois Houle and several top players from one season ago, the results remain the same for the Armada and another division title is in the books.
In net, BMO Top Prospect participant Samuel Montembeault is amongst the top goalies in the league in terms of goals against. He’s big, athletic, confident and calm. Marc-Antoine Turcotte has done a great job spelling Montembeault, which should pay dividends come playoff time.
On the back, there aren’t many stories better than Daniel Walcott, who has come from nowhere to be a top prospect for the New York Rangers. Walcott’s been aided offensively by Philippe Bureau-Blais, giving the Armada a formidable one-two punch, although both are questionable for this game. Charlie Roy and Guillaume Beaudoin have been pleasant surprises, while T.J. Melancon and Nathan Halbert have made their way through Ontario to the QMJHL.
For the Remparts, goaltender Zachary Fucale went through the NHL trade period with his name being thrown around, which had to be unsettling for a Montreal kid drafted by the Canadiens. Fucale’s numbers have been rather pedestrian since being acquired from Halifax, while Callum Booth is being highly touted for the upcoming NHL draft. In fact, the two have split time in net for the Remparts since the end of January.
The Remparts boast the league’s most prolific scorer from the blueline in Nikolas Brouillard. He’s defended well enough to continue to get NHL attention, but he’s unlikely to play. Matt Murphy has won a Memorial Cup and Ryan Graves has played in one, so they know what it takes. Raphael Maheux is solid, but the Quebec defence drops off after the top four.
Up front, the Remparts are extremely dangerous. Adam Erne, Anthony Duclair, Vladimir Tkachev, Guillaume Gauthier, Marc-Olivier Roy and all-world rookie Dmytro Timashov make for an excellent top six. And there’s plenty to like about the third and fourth lines. Goal scoring isn’t an issue for the Remparts, however playing away from the Colisee is, as Quebec is two games under .500 on the road.
Quebec Remparts
38-21-1-2 (13-15-1-2 Road) 3W, (2nd East Division, 4th QMJHL)
Individual Stats
In Goal
Team Stats
NHL Drafted/Signed Players
Zachary Fucale (MTL, 36th, 2013)
Marc-Olivier-Roy (EDM, 56th, 2013)
#Anthonly Duclair (NYR, 80th, 2013)
Adam Erne (TB, 33rd, 2013)
Ryan Graves (NYR, 110th, 2013)
*Cody Donaghey (TOR, signed FA)
*injured
#traded to ARI
NHL Central Scouting
Callum Booth No. 2 (goalies)
Dmytro Timashov No. 58
Vladimir Tkachev No. 121
Matt Murphy No. 138
Under The Radar
Guillaume Gauthier has remained the one constant in Quebec’s forward group amidst injuries and roster turnover.
Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
36-14-2-7 (21-7-1-1 Home)
Individual Stats
In Goal
Team Stats
NHL Drafted/Signed Players
Daniel Walcott (NYR, 140th, 2014)
Nikita Jevpalovs (signed, FA SJ)
NHL Central Scouting
Samuel Montembeault No. 3 (goalies)
Under The Radar
Charlie Roy is a smallish defender who’s much stronger than he looks. Eats minutes, defends well and ranks high on the compete scale.