Suspensions

On Tuesday, Quebec goalie Jonathan Roy was suspended seven games and fined $500 for his assault on Chicoutimi goalie Bobby Nadeau and for the inappropriate gestures that he made toward the crowd in Saturday night’s game in Gatineau. Teammate Maxime Lacroix received a three game suspension for hitting a Gatineau player while he was still on the ice and teammate Marc-Olivier Vallerand was suspended two games for his actions in the fighting.

Chicoutimi winger Antoine Roussel was suspended one game automatically as he was the instigator in a fight while teammate Charles-Antoine Messier received a two game suspension for assaulting another player. Sebastien Rioux will miss the next six games as a result of his leaving the penalty box to take part in the fracas.

Shawinigan winger Tommy Tremblay received a six game suspension for body-checking Ryan Mior on Saturday night. Olivier Donais got a one game suspension for hitting a Gatineau player in the head. Gatineau rearguard Julien Machabée was suspended two games for his involvement in a fight between two other players.

Also suspended one game was St. John’s forward Matt Fillier when he hit an Acadie-Bathurst player from behind on Saturday night. Saint John winger Brett Gallant was also hit with three games as he was automatically suspended one game with another two added on for being the aggressor in a fight.

Perreault, Bernier, and Champion are Players of the Month

On Thursday, Acadie-Bathurst forward Mathieu Perreault, Lewiston goalie Jonathan Bernier, and Perreault’s teammate goalie Nicolas Champion were named the offensive, defensive, and rookie players for the month of March. Over a seven game period, Perreault scored four times while assisting on 12 others. Gatineau’s Claude Giroux, Drummondville’s Garrett Peters, and Ryan Hillier of Halifax were also nominated.

Bernier went 4-1-1 with a 1.49 GAA, and 0.951 SAV % over six games as he faced an average of 30 shots per game. Acadie-Bathurst’s Maxime Renaud, Rouyn-Noranda's Maxim Gougeon, and Rimouski's Alexandre Néron were also up for the award.

Champion went 6-0-1 with a 2.83 GAA, and 0.912 SAV % over the seven games that he played in and was a unanimous choice as the rookie of the month. Over that time frame, Champion faced an average of 32 shots per game. Drummondville teammates Mike Hoffman, Charles Landry, and Philippe Lefebvre were all up for the award.

Charbonneau is Director of Central Scouting

On Friday, league Commissioner Giles Courteau announced that Patrick Charbonneau will become the new Director of Central Scouting next season. Alain Charbonneau will be his assistant and will also be the Coordinator of the Quebec-Atlantic territory. Both have been a part of the CSR for a few years.

Three QMJHL Teams in Weekly Top 10

Rouyn-Noranda, Baie Comeau, and Gatineau made the CHL Top 10 when the rankings were posted on Wednesday. The Huskies and the Drakkar stayed at sixth and seventh respectively, while Gatineau moved from ninth to eighth.

Top 10 Rankings – Week 25

1. Kitchener Rangers - (53-11-1-3)
2. Spokane Chiefs - (50-15-1-6)
3. Belleville Bulls - (48-14-4-2)
4. Tri-City Americans - (52-16-2-2)
5. Vancouver Giants - (49-15-2-6)
6. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies - (47-20-2-1)
7. Baie-Comeau Drakkar - (45-19-2-4)
8. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds - (44-18-2-4)
9. Gatineau Olympiques - (43-19-6-2)
10. Lethbridge Hurricanes - (45-21-2-4)

Scholastic Players of the Month Announced

On Wednesday, the league announced their scholastic players of the month for February. Here is the listing of this month’s award winners.

Acadie-Bathurst Titan – Maxime Renaud
Baie-Comeau Drakkar– Jean-Philippe Paquet
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles – Samuel Finn
Chicoutimi Saguenéens – Mathieu Bolduc
Drummondville Voltigeurs – Michaël Trudel
Gatineau Olympiques – Jean-Philip Chabot
Halifax Mooseheads – Justin Pender
Lewiston MAINEiacs– Peter Delmas
Moncton Wildcats – Nicolas Riopel
PEI Rocket– Greg Paynter
Quebec Remparts – Bryan Cayouette
Rimouski Océanic – Mathieu Asselin
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies– Alex Émond
Saint John Sea Dogs – Payton Liske
Shawinigan Cataractes – Francis Filion
Shawinigan Cataractes – Pierre-Alexandre Vandall
St.John’s Fog Devils – Jean-Simon Allard
Val-d’Or Foreurs – Jonathan Hazen
Val-d’Or Foreurs – Christian Morin
Victoriaville Tigres– Travis McIsaac

Playoffs Begin

The first round of the playoffs got underway on Friday night. In the Eastern Conference tilts, Joey Haddad’s two goals and three assists helped Cape Breton blast Lewiston 8-3; Bryce Swan’s hat trick plus an assist led Halifax to a 6-4 victory over Victoriaville; Francois Gauthier’s hat trick led Saint John to a 10-4 pasting of PEI, and Ryan Graham came back to haunt his former team with two goals as Acadie-Bathurst topped St. John’s 8-5.

Over in the Telus, Quebec needed overtime to beat Chicoutimi 2-1 as David Gilbert scored 10:42 into the extra frame; Gatineau nipped Shawinigan 4-3 on Michael Stinziani’s goal 9:23 into the third; and Rouyn-Noranda throttled Val-d’Or 8-3 with Sebastien Piche leading the way with a goal and two assists.

The game between Baie-Comeau and Rimouski was postponed due to bad weather in the Baie-Comeau area. The series will start on Saturday night with game two on Sunday.

Prior to the start of the Rouyn-Noranda-Val-d’Or contest, Commissioner Courteau presented the Huskies with the Jean-Rougeau Trophy which is awarded to the regular season champions. On Saturday, Nicolas Deschamps scored twice and added two assists, Jacob Lagace had two goals and an assist, and Francis Pare added a goal and two assists as Chicoutimi walked all over Quebec with a 10-1 shellacking; Jean-Philip Chabot’s two goals and two assists, and Matthew Pistilli’s two goals and one assist helped Gatineau to a 9-3 win over Shawinigan.

Bryce Swan’s two goals and one assist, Guillaume Monast’s two goals, and Ryan Hillier’s goal and assist saw Halifax blast Victoriaville 11-1; Ryan Sparling led Saint John to a 7-3 victory over PEI with two goals and three assists; Spencer Jezegou's goal with 1:10 left in regulation saw Acadie-Bathurst nip St. John’s 5-4.

Cape Breton got goals from Robert Slaney, Nick MacNeil, and Jeremy Gouchie to shutout Lewiston 3-0; Sebastien Piche’s four assists, Michael Dubuc's three goals and one assist, Jean-Sebastien Berube’s and Brett Morrison’s goal and two assists each led Rouyn-Noranda over Val-d’Or by a score of 9-0; and Philippe Cornet, Kevin Veilleux, and Maxime Gratchev all scored in Rimouski’s 3-0 blanking of Baie-Comeau.

Alexandre Boivin’s two goals helped Baie-Comeau turn the tables on Sunday with a 5-2 win over Rimouski. That series is tied at one game apiece, while the other winners enjoy 2-0 leads.

The Leaders

A trio of right wingers and a center sit atop the playoff scoring race as Halifax`s Bryce Swan, Gatineau`s Claude Giroux, Rouyn-Noranda`s Brett Morrison, and Saint John`s Ryan Sparling have two goals and five assists each.

Among rookies, Acadie-Bathurst right winger Remi Blanchard has two goals and four assists, while Chicoutimi center Nicolas Deschamps is second with two goals and two assists, while Saint John center Michael Kirkpatrick sits third with one goal and three assists.

In the net, based on two full games played, Rouyn-Noranda`s Maxim Gougeon leads with his 2-0-0 record, 1.50 GAA, and 0.949 SAV %. Coming in second is Cape Breton`s Olivier Roy as he is 2-0-0 with a 1.50 GAA, and a 0.935 SAV %. He is followed by Halifax`s Mark Yetman who also has two wins against no losses or ties and a 1.50 GAA with a 0.945 SAV %.

Among rookies, there are only two goalies that have played 120 minutes in net. Roy is the top rookie with Acadie-Bathurst’s Nicolas Champion coming second as he is now 2-0-0 with a 4.50 GAA, and a 0.862 SAV %. St. John’s Jake Allen, having played only 20 minutes in the net has a 0-0-0 record, 6.00 GAA, and a 0.750 SAV %.

Games To Come

The playoffs will resume on Tuesday with a change in venue for the 12 teams as Acadie-Bathurst travels to St. John’s, PEI hosts Saint John, and Lewiston is at home to Cape Breton in the East.

In the Telus, Val-d’Or hosts Rouyn-Noranda, Gatineau makes their way into Shawinigan, Quebec hosts Chicoutimi, and Rimouski is at home to Baie-Comeau.

Game four of all of series will take place on Wednesday night. The other Wednesday night game has Victoriaville hosting Halifax with game four on Thursday.

The other Thursday tilt will see Baie-Comeau traveling to Rimouski.

Weekend action will see game five of the Acadie-Bathurst-St. John series, Cape Breton-Lewiston, Val-d’Or-Rouyn-Noranda, Shawinigan-Gatineau, Quebec-Chicoutimi, and PEI-Saint John series on Friday if necessary.

Game five in the series between Halifax and Victoriaville if necessary will take place Saturday in Victoriaville, while Baie-Comeau will host Rimouski in game five of their series.

Game six, if necessary, between Rouyn-Noranda-Val-d'Or, Gatineau-Shawinigan, and Saint John-PEI will take place on Sunday afternoon.