It's been an eventful couple of weeks around the QMJHL. Saint John continues to dominate, a World Junior star goes down and the usual frontrunner Gatineau franchise is much lower than they are accustomed too.
As expected the Saint John Sea Dogs lead the way in this first edition of the QMJHL power rankings here at The Q Spot. See them, and the rest of the QMJHL teams below.
#1 Saint John Sea Dogs (40-14-0-2) – Winners of 10 in a row. Their most recent victory was a 10-1 drubbing of the PEI Rocket. Jonathan Huberdeau leads the way with 18 points in that span, followed by Tomas Jurco with 17 points and Charlie Coyle has 16.
#2 Victoriaville Tigres (36-16-1-3) – Points in six straight since losing 6-0 to Shawinigan, including four wins. Victoriaville has scored the most goals in the QMJHL this season with 258.
#3 Chicoutimi Sagueneens (29-18-3-6) – The additions of Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Christian Ouellet and Mathieu Gagnon have made the Sagueneens bonafide contenders this season. Combined with Guillaume Asselin, Charles Hudon, Etienne Brodeur and Lukas Sedlak, the Sag’s have more than enough offence to go around.
#4 Shawinigan Cataractes (37-12-3-4) – Only has two regulation losses in their last 10 games. An injury to Brandon Gormley will hurt the Cataractes down the stretch. Even so, they have more than enough depth on the blue line to still make a lot of noise.
#5 Quebec Remparts (34-14-5-2) – Quebec have been little more than average over the past few weeks but a 9-1 victory over Baie-Comeau looks to have Remparts back on track. In a slump for the potential number one overall pick’s standards, Mikhail Grigorenko still has 11 points in his last 10 games.
#6 Halifax Mooseheads (30-18-2-4) – Brought home five out of eight points on a brutal road trip that saw the Mooseheads play four games in five nights. Injuries to key defenders Steve Gillard, Sawyer Hannay and Austyn Hardie would usually cause a team to be much lower in the rankings. Fortunately for Halifax rookie goaltender Zachary Fucale has been incredible, earning the Telus first star of the week. Nobody wants to play a hot goaltender.
#7 Rimouski Oceanic (34-22-0-0) – The Oceanic have not lost or had a game enter a shootout this season. They are getting hot at the right time with eight wins in their last 10. Any team putting up nine goals in Quebec needs to be taken seriously.
#8 Acadie-Bathurst Titan (27-24-2-3) – Boast three of the league’s top four scorers. Even still they are just over .500 and have won only five of their last 10.
#9 Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (30-21-2-2) – They may be third in the league, but it’s only because they play in by far the weakest division in the QMJHL this season.
#10 Moncton Wildcats (26-24-3-2)- Winners of three straight games. The Wildcats have allowed only one goal five times in the last nine games.
#11 Drummondville Voltigeurs (23-26-2-5)- Have won six of their last 10, losing two in shootouts. One of those shootouts was against the powerhouse Saint John Sea Dogs.
#12 Baie-Comeau Drakkar (26-25-1-3)- Have lost seven of their last 10. Losing Carl Gelinas for five games due to suspension doesn’t help their rankings any.
#13 Gatineau Olympiques (22-24-4-5)- Unusually low ranking to a perennial league favourite. Sold the majority of their offence at the trade deadline and giving up nine goals to Victoriaville and 12 goals to Quebec doesn’t help things.
#14 Val d’Or Foreurs (23-29-0-4)- On the bright side, they have scored 12 goals in their past 3 games.
#15 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (17-32-3-3)- Have had the most goals scored against in the entire league this season.
#16 P.E.I. Rocket (17-34-2-2) – Have the worst goal differential in the league and have scored a league low 170 goals this season. But they have beat Cape Breton twice in their last 10 games.
#17 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles(20-32-1-2)- Have only managed one point in their last six games with loses Val d’or, Rouyn-Noranda, P.E.I., and Gatineau.
Is your favourite team too low? Rival too high? Let me know in the comments section below.
