QMJHL 2013-2014 Thread

[JHikka]

It'll be good for the Eagles to have a good year this year. It would also be vital for them not to go crazy and think they can go all the way this year and start trading all of the picks they got from Chicoutimi. Place well this year (10th-12th), play a round in the playoffs, then draft two or three strong kids in the first round for next year where your current team will be a year older and you have younger guys who can put up numbers.

Conceivably, if they play this right, Cape Breton could win the league in 2014-2015.

[JHikka]

Also, although not a Q league player, in light of our recent posting about MacKinnon being young...Aleksander Barkov became the youngest player to score a goal since 1943 at the age of 18 years, 31 days.

[MonctonRad]

fun facts:

there are more ex-Moncton Wildcats in the NHL than any other Q League team - a total of 12 active players.

Players who spent the majority (or all) of their junior career in Moncton:

- Corey Crawford (G - Chicago Black Hawks)
- Andrew MacDonald (D - New York Islanders)
- Keith Yandle (D- Phoenix Coyotes)
- Mark Barberio (D - Tampa Bay Lightning)
- David Savard (D - Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Brad Marchand (F - Boston Bruins)
- Steve Bernier (F - New Jersey Devils)

Players who spent a smaller portion of their junior career in Moncton:

- Johnny Oduya (D - Chicago Black Hawks)
- Jason Demers (D - San Jose Sharks)
- Francois Beauchemin (D - Anaheim Ducks)
- Pierre Alexandre Parenteau (F - Colorado Avalanche) nb - currently Nathan MacKinnon's line mate.
- Gabriel Bourque (F - Nashville Predators)

There are at least a couple of ex-Cats knocking on the door of the NHL - notably Dimitri Jaskin and Brandon Gormley. They could conceivably break into the parent club's rosters (St. Louis & Phoenix respectively) later this year.

Four former Moncton Wildcats (Crawford, Oduya, Marchand & Beauchemin) have Stanley Cup rings.

[q12]

In case anyone missed it on the weekend the Mooseheads scored a franchise record 15 goals against the Rouryn-Noranda Huskies in Rouryn-Noranda.

Apparently this was the highest-scoring Q game since 1992 (20 goals), which was before the birth of any current major junior player and Maritime QMJHL franchise. Source

EDIT: Here's all 15 goals: http://www.sendtonews.com/?id=211&SK=ab22FLK3z6

Here are two highlight goals from Drouin and Ehlers.

• Video Link

• Video Link

[MonctonRad]

The Moncton Wildcats have withdrawn their bid to host the 2015 Memorial Cup.

Apparently the CHL now has minimum standards for ventilation and air conditioning for any venue to host the event and the coliseum doesn't come anywhere near to meeting these minimum requirements. It would cost several million dollars to bring the coliseum up to speed, which is more than the city is willing to pay.

Yet another indication of how important it is to build the new events centre.....

To be honest though, the Cats are early in their rebuilding phase and likely wouldn't have a competitve team next year anyway, so perhaps this is all for the best.

[MonctonRad]

Moncton Wildcats defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs this evening by a score of 8-3.

The game was notable in that the Wildcats now have an actual winning streak (two games) for the first time this season!

It isn't as bad as it sounds though, as the Cats also have not had any protracted losing streaks this season either, and stand not far below .500 with a record of 10-12-0-1.

There will be a big challenge coming up tomorrow night though as the Cats will be on the road facing the Moose in Halifax. The season record against the Moose so far this year is 1-1.

[MonctonRad]

Add another player to the above list of ex-Wildcats in the NHL.

Zach Sill has just been called up by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He was always one of my favourite players on the team - lots of heart, grit and determination. I think he's from Truro if I recall. It couldn't happen to a better person!

[JHikka]

Was at the Saint John/Gatineau game last night and the Sea Dogs looked atrocious. This team could easily miss the playoffs this year.

It makes sense, though. The Dogs have four or five players who are still a year or two away from their Jr. prime and getting two more high picks (Entry & Import drafts) could do well for the team moving forward.

I wasn't as impressed with Nathan Noel as I was when I saw Daniel Sprong of Charlottetown earlier in the season. I'd definitely give the leg-up to Sprong right now in the category of 16 year old's in the Maritime division.

[q12]

Halifax Mooseheads are on a 7 game winning streak are only 2 points back of first in the league. Drouin and Ehlers are now tearing up the league. Drouin is tied for 2nd in scoring and has only played 17 games. Impressive after losing a few guys to injury this season too.

[MonctonRad]

So I see the Wildcats shut out the Moose in Halifax on Sunday by a score of 2-0.

That's the second time this season that the Cats have shut out the Mooseheads on their home ice. I wonder what's up with that?

[q12]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

So I see the Wildcats shut out the Moose in Halifax on Sunday by a score of 2-0.

That's the second time this season that the Cats have shut out the Mooseheads on their home ice. I wonder what's up with that?

I think half the team had the flu, they were on 9 game winning streak till the flu hit last week and they lost to Cape Breton. That will teach them for not getting the flu shot.

[JHikka]

Aaanndddd Drouin received a hit last night from Rempart's forward Adam Erne and experienced concussion symptoms. This isn't good for Halifax and can't be good for Canada's U20 hopes this Christmas.

[MonctonRad]

The Moncton Wildcats are actually riding a 5 game winning streak and are now back at a .500 record (17-17-0-2)!

The team has finally started to gel and is generating some consistency and has been receiving outstanding goaltending from Alex Dubeau. Their most recent win against Cape Breton last night happened even despite the fact that three of their top scorers (Caissy, Lalonde and Barbashev) were out of the line-up. This indicates some serious team discipline. This is good. Once a team begins to believe in itself, many things are possible.


And on another note, I thought I would look up the lifetime records of all the Q League Maritime teams to see which one has been most successful year after year. Here are the results:

Team                          Seasons   GP     W     L    T    OTL   SOL   PCT



Saint John Sea Dogs              8      550   294   224    0   12    20   .564

Moncton Wildcats                17     1188   603   454   54   42    35   .563

Halifax Mooseheads              19     1330   636   554   73   39    28   .531

Acadie-Bathurst Titan           15     1048   482   464   33   42    27   .509

Charlottetown Islanders         11      725   323   323   12   30    37   .500

Cape Breton Screaming Eagles    16     1118   503   508   45   40    22   .498

I am impressed that all of the teams are at .500 or above (except Cape Breton, but at .498 they are just barely below the threshold). The Maritime Division thus acquits itself quite well against the competition from Quebec. This season however is a little atypical in that we are the weakest division in the Q. I guess we have to pay the price for having the league champion the last four seasons in a row…..

[JHikka]

Sea Dogs on pace for the first overall pick in next summer's draft.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Sea Dogs on pace for the first overall pick in next summer's draft.

There's always a silver lining…..

This is actually a point of concern for the Wildcats. We emptied the cupboard in terms of high draft picks for the next couple of years in our vain attempt to build a contending team last year. This causes a dillemma for team management as far as the upcoming Christmas trading session is concerned. Do we let our good players go (Lalonde or God forbid Dubeau) in order to get some first round picks or do we stand pat. Right now, I think our highest draft pick next year is in the third round!

Personally, I would stand pat. Both Dubeau and Lalonde could be back next year as 20 year olds. The rest of the team is mostly composed of 16-18 year olds and are coming together. With a little seasoning, we should be a top tier team next year in any event.

For those who are wondering why I didn't bring up Garland or Barbashev as trade candidates, they both have no-trade clauses in their contracts.

So please Mr. Flynn, don't monkey around with the line-up too much this Christmas…….

[MonctonRad]

Moncton Wildcats defeated the hated Moose of Haligon 5-4 tonight at the Coliseum.

The Wildcats have now won three games against the Mooseheads so far this season (twice by shutouts in Halifax)…..

The Wildcats are also now riding a seven game winning streak, and have won eight out of their last nine games. They are starting to close in on the Screaming Eagles for second place in the Maritime Division.

I would say that right now, the Wildcats are one of the hottest teams in the Q, and are continuing to win despite the loss of Barbashev to the World Juniors, and Lalonde to a 4 game suspension. In addition, Caissy has just returned from a long injury layoff (compartment syndrome in one of his thighs - a rare but dangerous condition) and Simpson is now out with a fractured collar bone.

Despite all this, the team continues to dig deep for the victories!!

[MonctonRad]

Rank	TELUS Maritimes Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM

1	Halifax, Mooseheads	        37	23	13	0	1	47	0.635	143	106	0-3-0-0	4-5-0-1	585

2	Cape Breton, Screaming Eagles	36	19	14	0	3	41	0.569	132	127	0-2-0-0	6-4-0-0	522

3	Moncton, Wildcats	        38	19	17	0	2	40	0.526	117	118	7-0-0-0	8-2-0-0	549

4	Charlottetown, Islanders	36	14	17	1	4	33	0.458	116	135	0-1-0-0	1-7-0-2	696

5	Acadie-Bathurst, Titan	        36	14	18	2	2	32	0.444	90	130	1-0-0-1	4-4-1-1	587

6	Saint John, Sea Dogs        	34	8	23	0	3	19	0.279	82	131	1-0-0-0	2-7-0-1	550

[Philbilly]

I watched the cats game tonight, they were playing really good even leading in shots. then they got 2 minor penalty witch gave halifax a 5 on 3. The cats killed the penalties witch exhausted them but after that dubeau got hot after a sloppy start and kept the cats in the game!

[MonctonRad]

The Wildcats defeated the Mooseheads again yesterday - this time in Halifax, by a score of 2-1.

The Cats have now taken 3 out of 4 games this year in their barn.

The Cats are also now on an 8 game winning streak and have won 9 out of their last 10 games. They now stand in second place in the Maritime Division. Their next two games are against the Sea Dogs and (no offence to the Saint John forumers) therfore probably stand a good chance of extending their current winning streak.......

The Cats have traded Cameron Yarwood and Lucas Batt for draft picks, and have picked up a goalie from the Shawinigan organization to address our weakness in that position. Our best players are staying put (so far) and I am pleased to see this.

The team is gelling nicely, and we might have a good second part of the season coming up!!

[MonctonRad]

from Twitter:



Tkachev was Ivan Barbashev's linemate in the World Under 18 Championships and they had great chemistry. The Cats selected him 39th overall in the import draft last year, but because of the strike by Canadian consular officials in the fall, he had trouble getting his visa and elected to play in the KHL this year. I guess he's finally coming over!!

Vladimir Tkachev selected 39th overall by the Wildcats in the CHL Import Draft

The Moncton Wildcats are proud to announce that they have taken Vladimir Tkachev with the 39th pick in the CHL import draft. Vladimir comes from Omsk Russia where he spent most of his time in the MHL in Russia with Omskie Yastrebi.
Tkachev was born on October 5th 1995 making him 17 years old and eligible for the 2014 NHL Draft. Vladimir collected 35 points with Omskie including 13 goals. He played seven games with the Russian U18 team and amassed 11 points.
“Vladimir was the 3rd leading scorer in the World Under 18 Championships in Sochi ,” said Director of Hockey Operations Danny Flynn. “He played on the same line with Ivan Barbashev who finished 4th in tournament scoring. He is a crafty right winger with very good offensive instincts. ”
More information can be found here: http://bit.ly/14NWAkD