Petersen and Allen Receive Weekly Honors

On Monday, Shawinigan Cataractes forward Nicholas Petersen and Montreal Juniors goaltender Jake Allen today were named the offensive and defensive players for the week ending September 28th. Peterson scored three goals in 14 tries, assisted on four others, and was a +1 in three Shawinigan victories. Peterson’s best game was last Tuesday, September 22nd as he had a five point night as Shawinigan beat Victoriaville 7-1. Rouyn-Noranda’s Gabriel Lévesque, Peterson’s teammate Cédric Lalonde-McNicoll, and Allen’s teammate, Matt Fillier, were also nominated.

Allen went 2-0 with a 1.50 GAA, and 0.955 SAV% over two games. He made 32 saves as Montreal doubled Saint John 6-3 on Friday, and on Sunday he stopped 31 shots in Montreal’s 5-0 shutout of Gatineau for his third career blanking. Also considered were Moncton’s Nicola Riopel, Rouyn-Noranda’s Marc-André Bourdon, and Allen’s teammate Alex Wall.

Stinziani Named CHL Player of the Week

Fresh off being named the QMJHL Offensive Player of the Week ending September 21st, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles forward Michael Stinziani was named the CHL Player of the Week for the same period. He scored twice and assisted on four others in a three game period.

On Thursday, September 17th he had a goal and an assist as Cape Breton doubled the Val-d’Or Foreurs 6-3, another goal and assist in his team’s 4-2 win over the Halifax Mooseheads 4-2 on Saturday, and two assists against the Saint John Sea Dogs in their 5-2 win on Sunday.

Three QMJHL Teams Nationally Ranked

When the CHL rankings were announced on Wednesday, three QMJHL teams were ranked in the top 10. With their 5-0-0-0 record, Cape Breton came second with the Moncton Wildcats (4-0-0-0) sixth, and the Drummondville Voltigeurs (4-0-0-0) ranked 10th.

Top 10 Rankings – Week 1

1. Windsor Spitfires - (2-0-0-0)
2. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles - (5-0-0-0)
3. Brandon Wheat Kings - (2-0-0-0)
4. Belleville Bulls - (1-0-0-0)
5. London Knights - (2-1-0-0)
6. Moncton Wildcats - (4-0-0-0)
7. Swift Current Broncos - (2-0-0-0)
8. Prince George Cougars - (2-0-0-0)
9. Spokane Chiefs - (1-1-0-0)
10. Drummondville Voltigeurs - (4-0-0-0)

Joly Receives Two-Game Suspension

On Wednesday, Acadie-Bathurst Titan forward Tomy Joly was suspended two games for trying to injury a Rimouski Oceanic player on Sunday. He was suspended one game for the incident and an additional game for the severity of the gesture. Joly missed the game at home against Halifax on Wednesday and the game Friday night in Cape Breton.

Games This Week

Action resumed again on Tuesday as Shawinigan walloped Victoriaville 7-1 with Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll and Charles-Olivier Roussel netting a goal and two assists each.

On Wednesday, Chad Earle provided the overtime winner 3:34 into the extra frame as Halifax nipped Acadie-Bathurst 4-3.

In Thursday’s lone contest, Pierre-Alexandre Vandall (2G, 2A) and Lalonde-McNicoll, Adam Bourque-Leblanc, and Matthew Pistilli (1G, 1A each) led Shawinigan to a 7-5 win over Rouyn-Noranda.

Lewiston laid out the welcome mat for Moncton with a 3-0 loss to the visitors as Pierre-Marc Lessard scored once and added one assist, and Nicola Riopel made 28 saves in Moncton’s 3-0 shutout. Chris Culligan led Cape Breton with a goal and three assists as Cape Breton continued their undefeated streak with a 10-6 win over Acadie-Bathurst.

PEI won their first game of the season with Jordon Southorn, Maxime Provencher, Jean-Christophe Lirette, Benjamin Cassavant, and Simon Olsson scoring the goals in the Rocket’s 5-2 win over Halifax. Jacob Lagace netted the game-winner 3:53 into overtime as Chicoutimi got past Baie-Comeau 4-3.

Kelsey Tessier and Dmitri Kugryshev beat Antoine Tardif in the shootout as Quebec edged Drummondville 4-3. Gatineau also needed the extra frame to beat Rouyn-Noranda 3-2 with Jean-Philip Chabot beating Mathew Dopud 2:56 into the extra stanza, and Luke Adam led the way with two goals and one assist in Montreal’s 6-3 doubling of expansion cousins Saint John in their first meeting since the Juniors relocated from St. John’s to Montreal earlier this season.

It was a light schedule on Saturday night with only four games taking place.

In the all-Quebec affairs, Marc-Olivier Vallerand needed only 32 seconds to scored into the extra frame giving Quebec a 4-3 win over Gatineau while Philippe Cornet and Félix Lefrançois both beat Marco Cousineau in the shootout as Rimouski edged Baie-Comeau 6-5.

The all-Atlantic affair saw Cape Breton’s undefeated streak come to an end at the hands of Acadie-Bathurst as Spencer Jezegou scored with only 41 seconds left in regulation to give the Titan a 3-2 victory.

Andrej Nestrasil’s game-winner with 40 left in regulation saw Victoriaville edge Saint John 4-3 in the Telus-Atlantic contest.

Six games finished out the week on Sunday.

In the first game, Matt Brown’s two goals was a key factor in Moncton’s 4-2 doubling of Halifax in the all-Atlantic match. The Battle of Quebec was fought on three fronts as Dany Masse and Gabriel Dumont led the way for Drummondville with a goal and assist each in their 6-2 pounding of Chicoutimi. Jarrod Struthers led his team in scoring with two goals and one assist as Rouyn-Noranda skated to a 5-2 win over Val-d’Or; while the other all-Quebec affair saw Jake Allen make 33 saves in Montreal’s 5-0 shutout of Gatineau.

The other all-Telus affair had Lewiston welcoming Victoriaville with Danick Paquette netting the game-winner 8:51 into the third in the MAINEiacs’ 4-3 win over the Tigres.

The Leaders

Moncton leads the Atlantic Division and the overall standings with their 6-0-0-0 record and 12 points. It is their best start in franchise history as well.

Telus Central Division leaders Drummondville have a 5-0-0-1 record for 11 points, while Quebec (5-1-0-0, 10 points) tops the Telus Eastern Division. Gatineau (3-2-1-0, 7 points) is the top team in the Telus Western Division.

Among skaters, a pair of Shawinigan forwards are one and two respectively with center Dave Labreque (5G, 9A, 7GP) in first and Peterson (5G, 8A, 7GP) skates into second place. Baie-Comeau center Felix Petit rounds out the top three with his two goals and 11 assists in six games.

Drummondville defenseman Dmitry Kulikov leads all freshmen with two goals and six assist in five games with Victoriaville teammates Andrej Nestrasil (4G, 3A, 7GP) and Olivier Hinse (3G, 4A, 7GP) finishing out the top three.

Between the pipes based on a minimum of five games played, Moncton’s Nicola Riopel leads the way with his 6-0 record, 1.48 GAA, and 0.942 SAV%. Following him into second place is Drummondville’s Antoine Tardif (4-1, 2.56 GAA, 0.883 SAV%), and Victoriaville’s Loic Boivin (2-3, 2.59 GAA, and 0.878 SAV%) is third this week and is also the top rookie netminder.

Based on a minimum of four games played, Saint John’s Karel St-Laurent who is 1-2 with a 3.32 GAA, and 0.890 SAV% is second this week for rookies and Montreal’s Jean-Francois Berube (1-3, 4.02 GAA, and 0.878 SAV%) finishes out the top three.

The Coming Week

Play resumes again on Wednesday night with two games as Gatineau hosts Acadie-Bathurst, and Victoriaville is at home to Drummondville.

The lone games on Thursday will see Shawinigan traveling to Saint John.

A busy Friday night will see seven games take place.

The lone Atlantic Division tilt has Halifax at home to PEI while the Battle of Quebec takes place on three fronts with Quebec hosting Baie-Comeau, Chicoutimi making their way to Rimouski, and Rouyn-Noranda taking on Drummondville at home.

Three Atlantic-Telus Division games features Cape Breton at home to Lewiston for the first of a two game set that will finish on Saturday, Moncton hosting Shawinigan, and Montreal hosting Acadie-Bathurst.

Fourteen other teams will see action on Saturday as Rimouski is at home to Baie-Comeau; Acadie-Bathurst continues their Quebec swing with a stop in Victoriaville; PEI returns home to host Shawinigan; Chicoutimi makes their way to Quebec City; Halifax goes to Saint John; Val-d’Or is at home to Drummondville; and Gatineau is in Rouyn-Noranda.

Four games will close out weekend action on Sunday as Val-d’Or takes on Gatineau at home; Lewiston continues their swing through Nova Scotia with a stop in Halifax; an all-New Brunswick match takes place in Moncton as Saint John comes to town; and Montreal is at Victoriaville.