QMJHL All-Star Teams Announced

On Monday, the league announced the first, second and rookie all-star teams.

First Team:

Goaltender - Kevin Desfossés (Quebec)
Defense - Marc-André Bourdon (Rouyn-Noranda), Marc-André Dorion (Baie-Comeau)
Left-winger - Stefano Giliati (Lewiston)
Center - Francis Paré (Chicoutimi)
Right-winger - Claude Giroux (Gatineau)

Second-Team:

Goaltender - Marco Cousineau (Baie-Comeau)
Defense - Kevin Marshall (Lewiston), Ivan Vishnevskiy (Rouyn-Noranda)
Left-winger - Michael Dubuc (Rouyn-Noranda)
Center - Mathieu Perreault (Acadie-Bathurst)
Right-winger - Jakub Voracek (Halifax)

All-Rookie team:

Goaltender - Olivier Roy (Cape Breton)
Defense - Samuel Groulx (Quebec), Simon Després (Saint John)
Left-winger - Nicolas Deschamps (Chicoutimi)
Center - Tomas Knotek (Halifax)
Right-winger - Jacob Lagacé (Chicoutimi)

Central Scouting Releases List For April

On Monday, the Central Scouting Department released their first official prospects list for the June Draft which will take place in Cape Breton in June. There were 520 players who made the list with 427 of them from Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces and the other 93 from New England. The players are listed alphabetically in all rounds.

The list is comprised of 15 and 16 year old players from Quebec, Atlantic Canada, and the New England states. Six defensemen and 12 forwards make up the first round. The final list will be published on May 1st.

Suspensions Highlight Week

There were several suspensions to start the week off in the QMJHL. In addition to the suspension of his son Jonathan, Quebec Remparts head coach Patrik Roy was also suspended five games and the Remparts were fined $4000.

For their part in the melee, Chicoutimi Sagueneens bench boss Richard Martel received a two game suspension with the team also incurring a $4000 fine. Three thousand dollars of the fine was for the organization, while the remaining $1000 was because Sebastien Rioux left the bench to take part in the fracas.

The Shawinigan Cataractes were fined $2000 and the Gatineau Olympiques $1000 for their actions in the March 22nd game in their series.

Acadie-Bathurst forwards Ryan Graham and Brad Tesink were both suspended a game each for their actions in the Tuesday game against the St. John’s Fog Devils as Graham illegally hit a Fog Devils player, while Tesink hit a Fog Devil with his stick. They served their suspensions on Wednesday night.

Halifax Mooseheads defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk was also suspended for Thursday night’s game against Victoriaville when he hit a member of the Victoriaville Tigres in the head.

On Monday, Victoriaville rearguard Kirill Tulupov received a one game suspension for his hit to the head of a Halifax Mooseheads player on Saturday night. The suspension was served on Monday.

As a result of the melee between Quebec and Chicoutimi, Commissioner Giles Courteau ruled that the teams would not be on the ice at the same time for their pre-game warm-up.

Games This Week

When the first round resumed on Tuesday, Michael Dubuc led the way with a goal and two assists as Rouyn-Noranda clobbered Val-d’Or 6-1; Nicholas Pearson’s hat trick plus one assist gave Shawinigan a 5-1 victory over Gatineau; Mikhail Stefanovich’s two goals led Quebec past Chicoutimi 6-1; Scott Howes had two goals and one assist to give Saint John a 6-4 victory over PEI.

Mathieu Labrie, Maxime Pomerleau, T. J. Brennan, and Luke Adam had a goal and an assist each to help St. John’s overcome a 4-0 deficit to beat Acadie-Bathurst with Pomerleau scoring the game-winner with 0.7 seconds left in regulation in the 6-5 win; Stefan Chaput's first period goal with 1:42 left in the frame saw Lewiston nip Cape Breton 2-1; and Francois Bolduc's overtime winner at 6:59 gave Rimouski a 2-1 win over Baie-Comeau.

On Wednesday, Dubuc's overtime winner lifted Rouyn-Noranda over Val-d’Or 5-4; Paul Byron and Darryl Smith scored twice each in Gatineau's 6-2 victory over Shawinigan; Kelsey Tessier had two goals and an assist in Quebec’s 5-1 win over Chicoutimi; Alex Grant led Saint John with a goal and three assists as Saint John swept PEI with a 6-3 win to take their series 4-0.

With a goal and three assists, Jean-Simon Allard helped St. John’s to an easy 6-1 win over Acadie-Bathurst; Dean Ouellett’s goal and two assists helped Cape Breton skate to a 4-1 victory over Lewiston; and Toby Lafrance led Victoriaville to a 2-1 win over Halifax with a goal and two assists.

Tom Joly’s four goals were instrumental in Acadie-Bathurst’s 7-2 romp over St. John’s; Stefano Giliati's goal and assist helped Lewiston stave off elimination with a 5-2 win over Cape Breton; Claude Giroux scored once and assisted on three others as Gatineau won 5-2 to win their best of seven series 4-1; while Joel Champagne had the game-winner 13:14 into the first period as Chicoutimi walked all over Quebec 7-1 in Friday night’s action.

On Saturday night, Colby Pridham's hat trick plus one assist helped Halifax to a 7-2 thrashing of Victoriaville; while Keven Veilleux's two goals and two assists was a factor in Rimouski’s 5-2 win over Baie-Comeau to take their series 4-1.

The first round wrapped up Monday night as Ryan Graham scored the game and series winner against his former team as Acadie-Bathurst edged St. John’s 4-3 to end their series in six games; Angelo Esposito’s game-winner with 1:05 left in the first saw Quebec take their series with Chicoutimi 4-2 with a 3-1 victory; Ryan Hillier’s fourth tally 7:01 into the first was all the scoring Halifax needed as they flattened Victoriaville 7-0 and won their series in six games; and Murdock MacLellan’s second goal 9:46 into the extra frame saw Cape Breton nip Lewiston 2-1 taking their series in six games.

The quarter finals get underway on Friday night as Cape Breton travels to Halifax, and Saint John hosts Acadie-Bathurst in the East semis.

In the Telus, Gatineau hosts Quebec, and Rouyn-Noranda hosts Rimouski.

The Leaders

Gatineau right winger Claude Giroux leads all playoff scorers with four goals and ten assists in five games played. Saint John Sea Dog right winger Ryan Sparling is in second place as he has three goals and ten assists in the four games, while St. John’s center Jean-Simon Allard rounds out the top three with four goals and eight assists in six games.

Among rookies Shawinigan right winger Nicholas Petersen leads the way with five goals and one assist in five games; Acadie-Bathurst rearguard Remi Blanchard has two goals and four assists which puts him into second place. Coming in third this week is Chicoutimi left winger Jacob Lagace, who has scored three times and assisted on two others.

Between the pipes based on four games played, Rimouski’s Jean-Christophe Blanchard is 4-1 with a 1.76 GAA, and 0.946 SAV %. Cape Breton’s Olivier Roy makes his way into second place with his record of four wins and two losses to go along with his 1.80 GAA, and 0.926 SAV %. Four wins and two losses, a 1.85 GAA, and 0.925 SAV % gives Halifax’s Mark Yetman third place.

Among first year players, Roy takes top honors with St. John’s Jake Allen (2-1, 3.74 GAA, 0.855 SAV %) second and Acadie-Bathurst’s Nicolas Champion (4-2, 4.33 GAA, 0.851 SAV %) third.