Luc Bourdon Passes Away

Former Val-d’Or Foreurs, Moncton Wildcats, and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles defenseman Luc Bourdon was killed when his motorcycle was involved in a collision with a tractor trailer in Northern New Brunswick on May 29th. Bourdon played with the Val-d’Or Foreurs, Moncton Wildcats, and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles from 2003-2008 scoring 22 goals and adding 66 assists in 200 regular season games. He netted three goals and 14 assists in 39 playoff games over that period as well.

The Vancouver Canucks selected Bourdon tenth overall in the 2005 NHL entry draft and was one of the last cuts at the pre-season training camp later that year. Bourdon netted six points in Team Canada’s six games at the 2006 World Junior Hockey Championships and was a tournament all-star. He was also a member of the 2007 squad as well.

He played on the 2005-06 Moncton Wildcats team that won the President’s Cup and went all the way to the Memorial Cup final before losing to the Quebec Remparts. At the conclusion of the 2005-06 season, Vancouver signed Bourdon to an entry level contract and he played nine games for Vancouver to start that season before being returned to the Wildcats for the 2006-07 season where the team traded him to Cape Breton.

When Cape Breton exited the 2007 playoffs, Bourdon joined the Canucks’ AHL affiliate the Manitoba Moose for the playoffs for five games going pointless. In the 2007-08 season, Bourdon played 41 games for the Moose scoring six goals and adding eight assists along the way. In six Moose playoff games, he never had a point. In 27 games with the Canucks, Bourdon scored two goals.

Draft Gets Underway

The league draft took place on Saturday morning with the Moncton Wildcats selecting 16-year-old Notre Dame (Saskatchewan) Hounds rearguard Brandon Gormley first overall with his teammate, 15-year-old forward Sean Couturier, going second to the Drummondville Voltigeurs, while Victoriaville made 15-year-old winger Brandon Hynes of the Western (Newfoundland and Labrador) Subway Kings the third overall pick.

Gormley played 42 games for the Hounds last season scoring 23 goals and adding 33 assists finishing tenth in scoring in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA League. He netted one goal and added nine assists in nine playoff games giving him 15th overall in the playoff points race. Couturier followed right behind Gormley in 11th spot in the regular season scoring race with 19 goals and 37 assists in 40 games and finishing in seventh place in the playoff race with three goals and eight assists in 10 games.
Notre Dame finished atop the League standings in the regular season with a 34-6-3-1 record and 72 points and won the League championship over the Saskatoon Blazers 3-1.

Hynes led the Newfoundland and Labrador Major Midget League in goals scored with 40 goals and 20 assists. The 60 points gave him second place overall in the scoring race behind St. John’s AAA Fog Devil Zach O’Brien. The Western Subway Kings finished second in the League standings and lost to the AAA Fog Devils in five games in the playoff championships.

To see the list of draftees click here:

http://www.lhjmq.qc.ca/lang_en/index.php?page=457745123

Trades

Several trades also took place before the draft as well. On Friday, the Lewiston MAINEiacs sent all-star rearguard Kevin Marshall, a 2008 second round pick, and a 2009 third round selection to the Quebec Remparts for two 2008 first round picks and a 2008 second and third round pick.

The Baie-Comeau Drakkar dealt Benjamin Breault and their 2009 third round selection to Quebec for Felix Petit and the Remparts’ 2008 second round pick. Halifax sent Peter-James Corsi to Drummondville for four upcoming draft picks.

The Gatineau Olympiques traded Matthew Pistilli to the Shawinigan Cataractes for a 2008 first round pick. Shawinigan also acquired forward Michael Dubuc from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for their 2009 first round selection.

Another trade saw Antoine Tardif, Dany Masse, a 2008 first round import pick, their 2009 ninth round selection, and 2010 sixth round pick to Drummondville for Jonathan Lessard, Radek Vlasanek, 2008 first and second round picks, 2009 second and fifth round picks, and a 2008 import draft second round selection.

Here's a link to all of the trades made this past weekend:

http://www.lhjmq.qc.ca/lang_en/index.php?page=1867346

Arsenault, Beaulieu and Bonneau Receive Awards

The last three awards of the season were handed out Friday with Saint John Sea Dogs GM Jacques Beaulieu receiving the Maurice Filion Trophy as the league’s top GM, Victoriaville Marketing Director Yves Bonneau being awarded the Jean Sawyer Trophy for the Marketing Director of the Year, and the Rimouski Oceanic’s Mario Arsenault being awarded the John Horman Award for the League’s top administrator.

Slaney Receives QMJHL Guy Lafleur Award of Excellence

Last Wednesday, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles forward Robert Slaney received the QMJHL Guy Lafleur Award of Excellence. The award is presented annually to amateur hockey players who have best combined a level of excellence in hockey and academics.

The program was created in 1985 to encourage sports and academics excellence for all players within the four major amateur hockey leagues in the province of Quebec, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), the Quebec member schools of the Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) and the Junior AAA Hockey League. The winners are selected by a jury composed of representatives from the sports media and the hockey and education communities. Molson will award recipients of the Guy Lafleur Awards of Excellence a $6,000 scholarship given out over a three year period.

Slaney attends Cape Breton University where he maintains an 87% academic average in Business Administration. He netted 55 points (26 goals and 29 assists) in 64 games this season. He was the Screaming Eagles Scholastic Player of the month in December 2006, January 2006 and December 2007 and was a finalist for the Marcel Robert Award as the QMJHL’s Scholastic Player of the Year.