QMJHL 2014-15 Thread - Page 2

MonctonRad · #21 Posted **Dec 7, 2014, 4:25 AM**

Interesting to see that the Wildcats have traded Lalonde to Shawinigan and Tkachev to Quebec.

This is a bit of a shock, but Roger Shannon (the director of hockey operations) swears that this is not the start of a fire sale on the team. I tend to believe him.

In return, Moncton got 2nd & 3rd round draft picks in 2016 (from Shawinigan) and Taylor Burke and 7th & 8th round picks from Quebec.

I think (hope) what it boils down to is that the team has been fairly successful over the last four weeks and is the highest scoring club in the Q, despite the fact that both Lalonde and Tkachev were out of the line-up. This perhaps made these two players expendable.

Tkachev I think had issues and was not living up to expectations. If he came back into the line-up, this might upset the chemistry that has developed between Barbashev and Garland. I think it was the right move to get rid of him.

I'm sorry to see Lalonde go. He was a 40 goal scorer last year and started off on a good pace early this year before his ankle injury. He was the team captain and will be missed. The rumour is that once the real Christmas trading period starts, that Moncton will send back the draft picks to Shawinigan and pick up a couple of seasoned roster players for our run during the second half of the season. I hope this is the case.

On the other hand, this could be the start of a fire sale.....

JHikka · #22 Posted **Dec 7, 2014, 4:48 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

On the other hand, this could be the start of a fire sale.....

I'd be surprised, personally. This is the last season you're going to have Barbashev, Garland, and Dubeau...and now Burke. Might as well go for it.

Saw Burke play last week and he looked quick and strong. Should work well with Garland and Barbashev. I found the trio of Garland/Barbashev/Tkachev worked really, really well at times and really, really poorly at other times...Burke should bring some consistency if they're played together. Lalonde is tough to see go but he's an overager and you need to get picks and players back when you can. Moncton won't be winning the League this year but they should make a good push.

MonctonRad · #23 Posted **Dec 7, 2014, 1:27 PM**

Garland is only 18. We'll have him for at least one more year.

MonctonRad · #24 Posted **Dec 19, 2014, 2:21 AM**

A wild night at the coliseum tonight.

The Cats were down 5-2 to Cape Breton halfway through the 2nd period, then we scored 4 goals in 54 seconds to take a 6-5 lead.

It was 8-5 by the end of the 2nd period and 10-5 at the end of the game.

Needless to say. Cape Breton took some umbrage at the turn of events and play was decidedly chippy (nasty) towards the end of the 3rd period. There will be suspensions to players from both teams, especially for Lalonde of Cape Breton for a nasty cross check on Kyle Tibbo.

Conor Garland had another 5 point night (even without Barbashev - he's away for the World Juniors).

Moncton is now #1 in the division and #2 in the league. The last CHL rankings had us as #9 in the country. I'm sure we're higher than that now.

Conor Garland is now the top scorer in the league, 21 goals 42 assists and 63 points in 34 games.

It is now the exact midpoint of the season........

MonctonRad · #25 Posted **Jan 9, 2015, 3:41 AM**

The Moncton Wildcats pulled off a 3-2 shootout win over the Saint John Sea Dogs tonight at the Coliseum.

The Cats now have a 27-11-0-2 record for 56 points, are first overall in the Quebec League, and now have a four point lead in the Maritime Division standings over the Sea Dogs.

Conor Garland had another two assists tonight and now has 71 points in 40 games. He leads the scoring race by 11 points over his nearest competitor.

This was Ivan Barbashev's first game after the World Junior Championships. He was player of the game twice in the tournament and of course now has a silver medal to his credit. He seemed kind of slow and stiff out there on the ice tonight. Perhaps he is tired and banged up from the tournament. He still had one point (an assist) tonight anyway.

The Cats are now #8 in the CHL national rankings.

MonctonRad · #26 Posted **Jan 31, 2015, 2:44 AM**

Excellent game at the Coliseum tonight.

The Moncton Wildcats (CHL #9) defeated the Baie Comeau Drakkar (CHL #10) by a score of 8-5.

A very entertaining up tempo game with lots of scoring. The Cats showed a lot of jump and in particular, this was the first game since the World Juniors where Garland and Barbashev were clicking perfectly. This is quite a relief as I was getting worried.

Garland had 2 goals and 3 assists and now has 84 points to lead the league in scoring. Barbashev also had 5 points, all assists.

The Cats remain #1 in the Q League. I'm starting to look forward to the playoffs.......

iLoveYatget · #27 Posted **Feb 3, 2015, 2:26 AM**

You guys are so lucky. I miss the Q in St. John's.

MonctonRad · #28 Posted **Feb 17, 2015, 6:48 PM**

So the Wildcats have completed their most recent Quebec road trip with a 3-0 record. They are tied for first in the Q league with Blainville.

Conor Garland has surpassed 100 points this season (101), and will set a new team scoring record if he is able to get an additional 13 points this season. Unless he gets injured, this should be a piece of cake. Garland will also likely be the first Wildcat in franchise history to win the league scoring title.

photo from the Q league official website

Nice picture of Garland and Barbashev following the Victoriaville game this weekend. Barbashev scored his 200th career Q league point during the game and Garland got his 100th point this season in the same contest.

MonctonRad · #29 Posted **Mar 10, 2015, 3:03 AM**

Congratulations to Conor Garland for setting a new Wildcats team record with 117 points on the season. Six more games yet to go too!

MonctonRad · #30 Posted **Mar 15, 2015, 2:09 PM**

It's now a two team race for the league regular season championship. Both Rimouski and Moncton have 93 points with three games remaining. Blainville has faltered with 87 points.

Conor Garland is decimating his competitors in the league scoring race. He has scored 8 points in the last two games and now has 125 points on the season. His closest competitor, Danick Martel has only 102 points. Garland has the race sewn up and will be the first Wildcat to ever win the league scoring championship.

Barbashev is now #5 in league scoring with 92 points (43 goals, 49 assists) in only 55 games. If he hadn't played for Russia in the world juniors, he would have been right up there with Garland in league scoring.

This has been an incredible year for the Cats. No one would have predicted that they would have been at this point at this stage in the season. They were predicted to be a slightly above average team probably placing #2 or #3 in the Atlantic Division. This was supposed to have been Cape Breton's year.........

L'homard · #31 Posted **Mar 15, 2015, 2:31 PM**

I attended the last two games (EDIT: and a half-dozen other games this season) and they are impressive when they put their minds to it.
Since I don't watch the Ontario or Western leagues i dunno how they stack up against the rest of the nation but if anyone more knowledgeable than i wants to chime in I'm all ears.
They are certainly a fun team to watch and even when trailing in a game they can never be counted out until the final buzzer.

josh_cat_eyes · #32 Posted **Mar 16, 2015, 4:05 AM**

I find it hard to believe PEI has had a league scoring champion before Moncton!

MonctonRad · #33 Posted **Apr 4, 2015, 9:52 PM**

The Wildcats took all three road games in Chicoutimi to win their first round playoff series 4 games to 1.

MonctonRad · #34 Posted **Apr 8, 2015, 2:09 AM**

Both Halifax and Charlottetown are through to the quarter finals as well.

Moncton will face Halifax beginning on Friday. Should be a good series!

MonctonRad · #35 Posted **Apr 11, 2015, 3:24 AM**

Well. that was embarrassing.

The Cats lost to the Moose in game one at home by a score of 7-3.

We outplayed the Moose in the first period but were down 2-1 going into the intermission. We fell apart in the second period and the poor play continued into the third. Once the Moose scored their third goal, it seemed to me that the Cats lost all discipline. We deserved the loss. Hopefully we can come back tomorrow night.......

fenwick16 · #36 Posted **Apr 11, 2015, 9:06 AM**

It is good to see that the Mooseheads have another competitive hockey team. It is too bad that one team will have to lose the series between the Wildcats and Mooseheads.

I haven't been following the QMJHL closely during the season so I had to look up Conor Garland of the Wildcats on Wikipedia (and couldn't find an entry for him). Hopefully he will be able to succeed in the NHL at 5" 8".

JHikka · #37 Posted **Apr 11, 2015, 8:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenwick16

I haven't been following the QMJHL closely during the season so I had to look up Conor Garland of the Wildcats on Wikipedia (and couldn't find an entry for him). Hopefully he will be able to succeed in the NHL at 5" 8".

He had a tremendously good season as a 19 year old whilst playing with a tremendously strong player in Barbashev, who will be in the NHL at some point. I wouldn't hold my breath for Garland right now but it's still possible.

MonctonRad · #38 Posted **Apr 11, 2015, 8:57 PM**

Garland is only 18.

I have heard he might be a second round draft pick this year.

fenwick16 · #39 Posted **Apr 12, 2015, 12:01 PM**

The Mooseheads have won the first two games in Moncton and are up 2 games to none against the favoured Wildcats. The Mooseheads are on fire according to the Metronews - http://metronews.ca/sports/1337621/f...ax-mooseheads/

JHikka · #40 Posted **Apr 12, 2015, 5:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Garland is only 18.

DOB is March 11th, 1996.

He's ranked #86th by Central Scouting for North American skates, which slots him somewhere around the fourth/fifth round. Because he's smaller he'll be looked-over by most teams. I'm sure he'll get picked up late, but that's no guarantee he'll play an NHL game in the next few years.