On Tuesday night, the Halifax Mooseheads and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan became the final two teams from the first round of the playoffs to move on.
Acadie-Bathurst needed overtime to dispose of the PEI Rocket 4-3 to take their series in seven games while Halifax needed two overtimes to eliminate last year’s President’s Cup winners, the Moncton Wildcats, 3-2 to take their series four games to three.
In second round play which got underway Friday night, Cape Breton extended their win streak to five in the playoffs as they shutout Acadie-Bathurst 3-0. Lewiston also extended their playoff win streak to five games as they doubled Halifax 8-4, and Rouyn-Noranda routed Drummondville 8-3.
On Saturday, Lewiston and Cape Breton continued on their collision course towards a third round meeting as Cape Breton beat Acadie-Bathurst 8-3, and Lewiston defeated Halifax 4-1 to take 2-0 leads in their series. In Telus Division action, Drummondville beat Rouyn-Noranda 4-1 to tie their series at one game apiece, and Baie-Comeau edged Val-d’Or 5-4 to take a 1-0 lead in their series.
In the lone game on Sunday, Val-d’Or needed overtime to beat Baie-Comeau 4-3 to even their best of seven series at one game each.
QMJHL Hall of Fame Inductees
On Wednesday night, Pat Burns, Jacques Cossette, Pierre Lacroix, and Luc Robitaille were inducted into the QMJHL Hall Of Fame. Burns coached the Hull Olympiques from 1984-87 and was 113-91-6 in 200 games. He was named a third team all-star in 1984-85 and a first-team all-star in 1985-86. The 1985-86 season saw the team win a club-record 54 games, including 22 straight at home, and they won the Jean-Rougeau Trophy as the regular season champions with 108 points. They won the league championship that same year when they went 15-0 to win the President’s Cup for the first time.
Burns coached the Montreal Canadiens from 1988-89 to 1991-92. Montreal finished first in the Adams Division and went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals before losing to Calgary. His early successes earned him the first of his three Jack Adams trophies. He won the Jack Adams trophy in 1988-89, 1992-93, and 1997-98 and is the only coach to win three. Burns coached the Toronto Maple Leafs (1991-92 to 1995-96), the Boston Bruins (1997-98 to 2000-01) and the New Jersey Devils (2002-03 to 2003-04). In 2002-03, New Jersey won their third Stanley Cup.
Jacques Cossette played for the Sorel Éperviers from 1972-73 to1973-74. He was a first-team all-star both years. In 1973-74, he played on a line with Pierre Larouche and Michel Déziel and scored 97 goals and assisted on 117 others as the Éperviers won the Jean-Rougeau Trophy, awarded to the regular season champions. Only Guy Lafleur (130) has more goals by a right winger than Cossette in a regular season.
Cossette was selected 27th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1974 NHL entry draft and 20th overall by the Vancouver Blazers in the WHA entry draft. In 64 NHL games with Pittsburgh (1975-76, 1977-78, and 1978-79), he scored eight goals and added six assists. In the 1978-79 NHL playoffs, he had one assist in three games.
Pierre Lacroix was a defenseman from 1975-76 to 1978-79 with the Quebec Remparts and the Trois-Rivières Draveurs. He was a key contributor on three President Cup winning teams (Quebec 1975-76, and Trois-Rivières (1977-78 and 1978-79). In 1978-79, he had 37 goals and 100 assists which still is the single-season record for a defenseman. That same year he was MVP of the QMJHL and CHL and made the QMJHL all-star first team.
The Quebec Nordiques selected him in the fifth round of the 1979 NHL entry draft, 104th overall, where he played for four seasons from 1979-80 to 1982-83 before he was sent to the Hartford Whalers. He scored 24 goals added 107 assists in 274 NHL games.
Luc Robitaille played for the Hull from 1983-84 to 1985-86 where he scored 155 goals and added 269 assists in 197 games. In 15 playoff games from 1984-85 to 1985-86, he scored 21 goals and added 29 assists, and Hull won the President’s Cup in the 1985-86 campaign. That same season he won the Guy-Lafleur Trophy as the playoff MVP and the CHL regular season MVP.
In 1984-85, the Los Angeles Kings drafted him in the ninth round, 171st overall. In his 1986-87 season, he won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie after scoring 45 goals in 79 games. He went on to score 40 or more goals for the next seven seasons. He is thought to be the most prolific goal scorer in NHL history as a left-winger (668 goals). With 1,394 points, he is 19th on the all-time scoring list and was an NHL first team all-star five times.
Golden Puck Award Winners
MVP: Mathieu Perreault, Acadie-Bathurst Titan (41 goals, 78 assists, +28 rating), third in league scoring race – Michel-Brière Trophy.
Best defenseman (Emile Bouchard Trophy), top defensive defenseman (Kevin Lowe Trophy), and Personality of the Year (Paul Dumont Trophy): Kristopher Letang, Val-d’Or Foreurs (14 goals, 38assists, +19 rating)
Scholastic Player of the Year (Marcel-Robert Trophy, $1300 check from league partner Telus, and the $6000 Guy Lafleur student athlete bursary): Alexandre Picard-Hooper, Baie-Comeau Drakkar
Top Scorer (Jean Beliveau Trophy): François Bouchard, Baie-Comeau Drakkar, 125 points
Best GAA (Jacques-Plante Trophy): Ondrej Pavelec, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, a 2.52 GAA along with a .908 save percentage in 43 starts.
Most Sportsmanship (Frank J. Selke Trophy): David Desharnais, Chicoutimi Saguenéens.
Humanitarian Award: Roger Kennedy, Halifax Mooseheads for taking initiative and presenting positive messages to the community’s youth in subjects such as the importance of literacy, saying no to drugs, following your dreams, bullying and good sportsmanship.
RDS Rookie of the Year: Jakub Voracek, Halifax Mooseheads. He had 23 goals and 86 points in 59 games. He was also awarded the Michel-Bergeron Trophy as the league’s top offensive rookie during an on-ice ceremony held in late March.
Top Pro Prospect (Mike Bossy Trophy): Angelo Esposito, Quebec Remparts. Esposito had 27 goals and 79 points this season and is a projected top ten pick in the 2007 NHL entry draft.
Coach of the Year (Ron Lapointe Trophy): Clément Jodoin, Lewiston MAINEiacs. Lewiston finished in first-place overall with 50 wins and 106 points in 70 games.
Sea Dogs Will Draft First
The Saint John Sea Dogs will have the first overall pick in the 2007 QMJHL entry draft on June 2nd at the Marcel Dionne Centre in Drummondville. They won the draft lottery on Thursday in Montreal. It is the third consecutive year that they will draft first overall.
Leaders of the Pack
In the playoff scoring race, Halifax right winger Jakub Voracek is the leader both overall and in the rookie scoring race with six goals and 14 assists for 20 points in nine games. His teammate, center Logan MacMillan is second in the overall race with seven goals and 17 assists in nine games followed by PEI center Brett Morrison who has eight goals and eight assists in seven games.
Lewiston center David Perron is second overall in the rookie scoring race as he has two goals and eight assists in six games followed by PEI right winger Martin Latal who has three goals and four assists in seven games.
Cape Breton’s Ondrej Pavelec and Lewiston’s Jonathan Bernier are two key reasons why the Screaming Eagles and MAINEiacs are on a third round collision course. Pavelec is the top netminder with his 6-0 record, 1.24 GAA, and a 0.949 SAV % and Bernier is second with his 6-0 record, 2.49 GAA, and 0.901 SAV %. Telus division leader and third place overall finisher Val-d’Or’s Jeremy Duchesne is third with his 5-1 record, 2.69 GAA, and 0.890 SAV %.
Among first year netminders with a minimum of three games played, Halifax’s Mark Yetman is tops as he has a 4-3 record, a 3.69 GAA, and a 0.876 SAV %. Acadie-Bathurst’s Antoine Tardif is second with a 1-2 record, a 3.95 GAA, and a 0.901 SAV %. Moncton’s Nicola Riopel is third with a 1-3 record, a 5.19 GAA, and a 0.842 SAV %.
Upcoming Games
Tuesday, April 10th
Lewiston @ Halifax
Cape Breton @ Acadie-Bathurst
Drummondville @ Rouyn-Noranda
Wednesday, April 11th
Lewiston @ Halifax
Cape Breton @ Acadie-Bathurst
Val-d’Or @ Baie-Comeau
Drummondville @ Rouyn-Noranda
Thursday, April 12th
Val-d’Or @ Baie-Comeau
Friday, April 13th
* Lewiston @ Halifax
* Acadie-Bathurst @ Cape Breton
Rouyn-Noranda @ Drummondville
Saturday, April 14th
Val-d’Or @ Baie-Comeau
Sunday, April 15th
* Cape Breton @ Acadie-Bathurst
* Drummondville @ Rouyn-Noranda
* If necessary
Count on Lewiston and Cape Breton meeting for the league championship; they were the top two teams in the QMJHL overall this season.
