Second round ready to go

After Chicoutimi's 4-3 overtime win over Bathurst in Game 6 Sunday night, the second round of the playoffs is set to go.

The No. 1 Saint John Sea Dogs will play the 13th-seeded Baie-Comeau Drakkar, who upset the Victoriaville Tigres 4-0. The series starts Friday April 6 in Saint John with Game Two going on Saturday. The series will switch to Baie-Comeau for games three, four and five on April 10, 11 and 13 respectively. Games six and seven will be back in Saint John on April 16 and 17.

Shawinigan will play the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

Shawinigan won their first-round matchup against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 4-0.

The series gets underway Friday April 6 and April 7 in Shawinigan.

The third series includes the third-placed Blainville-Boisbriand Armada taking on the seventh-seeded Rimouski Oceanic.

Armada won their series against Gatineau 4-0. Rimouski swept Val-'d'Or in four games.

The series kicks off Friday April 6 in Blainville.

Last but not least, the Quebec Remparts will battle against the Halifax Mooseheads. This series will feature Mooseheads' Nathan MacKinnon going up against Remparts' Mikhail Grigorenko.

Quebec swept Drummondville in the first round and Halifax swept rival Moncton Wildcats.

This will be the second series in the second round to have a 2-3-2 format. Quebec gets games one and two on Friday and Saturday, and Halifax gets games three to five. Games six and seven will come back to Quebec if necessary.

Stay tuned for The Q Spot's second round predictions.

Click here for playoff bracket.

nolan@theqspot.ca

Moosheads survive tough road trip

The Halifax Mooseheads returned home after a successful road trip which concluded Sunday evening in Victoriaville, Que. The Mooseheads earned five points out of a maximum of eight despite playing some of the league’s top teams in a span of five days.

It started Wednesday night in Baie Comeau against the Drakkar. This game featured a lot of publicity of all the wrong reasons as there was a controversial, although quite successful, marketing campaign targeting 16-year-old star Nathan MacKinnon. In front of a very detestable crowd, MacKinnon would score the game’s first goal. Halifax eventually lost 2-1 in a shootout.

Friday night in Chicoutimi was a rematch of the January tilt which was aired nationally on Rogers Sportsnet. The Moose lost that game 7-4 but were able to exact some revenge Friday thanks in part to Matt Boudreau’s two goals, one of which came on the power play. The Moose would go on to win 4-1.

Saturday saw the Memorial Cup hosts Shawinigan prove too strong for the depleted and weary Mooseheads. Shawinigan won the game 5-2 outshooting Halifax 43-17 in the process. Despite Shawinigan carrying the play most of the night, Halifax kept the score close until the final minute when Shawinigan scored two goals in the empty net.

Halifax’s roadtrip came to a conclusion Sunday afternoon in Victoriaville. Andrew Ryan scored his seventh of the season and Alex Grenier scored in the shootout to give Halifax a 2-1 victory.

The Mooseheads (30-18-2-4) won’t have much time to rest after what could be their toughest road trip of the season. They play back-to-back games at home starting Thursday night against the sixth-place Rimouski Oceanic (34-22-0-0). Then on Friday, the Moose will once again play the fourth-place VictoriavilleTigres (35-16-1-3).

Game Previews-February 3rd, 2012

Game of Interest:

Saint John (36-13-0-2) at Drummondville (21-25-2-4)- Something has to give. Both teams have winning streaks; Drummondville has a four game streak going, while Saint John is riding a five game streak. This is a definite game of interest.

Players to Watch

Jonathan Oligny (Drummondville) & Ian Saab (Saint John). Oligny and Saab are one and two respectively in penalty minutes and major penalties. Expect them to drop the gloves tonight.

Other games on the Q schedule tonight:
Moncton (23-23-3-2) at Halifax (27-16-2-3)

Cape Breton (20-28-0-2) at P.E.I. (16-31-2-2)

Rimouski (31-21-0-0) at Quebec (32-12-4-2)

Victoriaville (33-16-1-2) at Baie-Comeau (24-22-1-3)

Gatineau (19-23-4-4) at Blainville-Boisbriand (27-20-2-1)

Rouyn-Noranda (16-29-2-3) at Chicoutimi (26-16-3-6)

Val-d’Or (21-26-0-4) at Shawinigan (34-11-2-3)

Ouellet, Asselin and Girard named Telus stars of the month

Xavier Ouellet, Guillaume Asselin and Gabriel Girard have been named the TELUS three stars for the month of January the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced today.

Xavier Ouellet, 18, of the Blaineville-Boisbriand Armada is the first star of the month.

The Terrebonne, Que. native had points in 10 of 11 games this month. He also registered five games with two points or more. In total, Ouellet scored four goals for 16 points and a plus-8 rating in 11 games over the course of January.

The month's second star is Chicoutimi Sagueneens right-winger Guillaume Asselin.

Asselin ended the month with the most goals of any player with 12, equalling Titan's Zach O'Brien. In addition, 19 of his 21 points were collected on the road. He registered at least two points a game for seven games while scoring three game-winning goals. The 19-year-old Quebec City, Que., native finished with a plus-7 rating.

The third star of the month is Shawinigan Cataractes goaltender Gabriel Girard.

Girard, 20, registered a goals-against average of 1.71, which was the best amongst league goaltenders. He won seven of eight games and finished behind Roman Will of the Moncton Wildcats with a save percentage of .934.

nolan@theqspot.ca

Reid on the Rocket: Sagueneens blast Rocket

The Chicoutimi Sagueneens struck five times in the second period and put the game away in an 9-1 win over the P.E.I. Rocket Saturday afternoon in Chicoutimi, Que.

After holding a 1-0 lead after the first period, the Sagueneens scored five times in the second and added three more in the third period.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (2-3) led the way for Chicoutimi with five points.

Ben Duffy had the lone goal for the Rocket.

The loss for the Rocket drops them to a season record of 13-29-2-2.

Pageau opened the scoring in the first period at 14:58 to give Chicoutimi the 1-0 lead.

In the second period, Chicoutimi struck 20 seconds in with a goal from Steve Lebel to give the Sagueneens a 2-0 lead. Charles Hudon scored on the powerplay at 7:18 to make it a 3-0 game. Jeremy Gregoire, Charles Hudon and Guillaume Asselin, powerplay, added goals for Chicoutimi to increase the lead to 6-0.

Duffy's 26th of the year put the Rocket on the board at 18:58.

The scoring continued in the third period. Etienne Brodeur gave Chicoutimi a 7-1 lead before Lebel scored shorthanded at 12:26 to make it 8-1. Pageau capped off the scoring with a powerplay goal at 15:13.

Chicoutimi used the powerplay to their advantage, going 3-for-6 on the night, The Rocket on the other hand were 0-for-3 on the powerplay.

Maxime Lagace made 38 saves in goal for the Rocket. Christopher Gibson picked up the win for the Sagueneens making 21 saves.

The Rocket travel to Victoriaville Sunday afternoon to battle the former captain, Matt Hobbs and the Tigres. Gametime 5 p.m. EST.

Alex Beauregard reportedly diagnosed with thyroid cancer

Chicoutimi Saguenéens winger Alexandre Beauregard reportedly has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

Chicoutimi's medical staff noticed a lump on the thyroid gland of Beauregard, 20, and then referred him to a specialist.

"Alex will soon be going home to Montreal to be operated on. The duration of his absence has yet to be determined". Remarked Francois Savard, the team's physician.

Beauregard, a member of the Memorial Cup champion Saint John Sea Dogs last year, has every intention of coming back to play, and to help Chicoutimi to a berth in the Memorial Cup.

"This news came as quite a shock" said Beauregard "Though, I don't think this is the end of the world. My goal is to return in order to help the team during the playoffs"

Not only has this affected Beauregard and his Saguenéens teammates, but fans from Chicoutimi, as well as his former team in Saint John have shown an outcry of support. Beauregard has been a fan favorite in both cities. Chicoutimi fans have signed a get-well card for him, and there has been a lot of chatter that Saint John would do something similar.

Beauregard has 14 points and 90 penalty minutes in 27 games for Chicoutimi.

Halifax Mooseheads: Numbers Game

The Halifax Mooseheads have won two of their past three games, defeating Drummondville 6-2 on Thursday night before losing to Chicoutimi by a score of 7-4 on Friday in a game seen nationally on Rogers Sportsnet. The Moose then traveled to Cape Breton where they required a third period comeback in order to secure a 6-4 victory. Here’s ten other numbers you need to know about the past three games.

Halifax gave up only two goals on 18 powerplay opportunities. Both were surrendered to Chicoutimi.

Three Fights in a single game versus Chicoutimi. They play again, in Chicoutimi, Feb. 10,

Jonathan Drouin led the Herd with six points. He now has 10 in nine games.

Brad Cuzner scored his 10^th goal of the season, Shorthanded, against his former club Sunday afternoon. It was the eventual game winner. Four of those 10 goals have come at the expense of the Screaming Eagles.

Nathan MacKinnon scored his team leading 22^nd goal Friday night on Rogers Sportsnet. That’s three less than 17-year-old Quebec Rempart standout Mikhail Grigorenko.

Halifax currently sits at 26 wins, six more than they achieved all of last season.

The Moose powerplay pitched in at 33 per cent, up from their 24 per cent seasonal average.

Chicoutimi amassed 50 shots against the Moose. That’s the most allowed by Halifax this season.

Zach Fucale played 60 minutes against Drummondville. The only game not to feature a Mooseheads goalie swap.

It took Chicoutimi 82 seconds to score three goals in the third period, blowing Friday night’s game wide open. Brodeur scored two of the goals, completing his hat trick.

Bonus Number: 12,265 Fans packed the Metro Center for the Mooseheads two home games.

Whos Hot - Whos Not: January 9th -15th

This week in the Q was filled with a multitude of high scoring games which leads to a few players putting up some big numbers in points and other putting up minus numbers in +/-.

The week's hottest player Guillaume Asselin of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens put up four goals and four assists in three games with a plus-1 rating helping his team to a 2-1 record through the week.

Next up are a couple of defencemen who are putting up some big numbers since being traded just before the deadline. Jérémie Blain, now playing with the Victoriavillie Tigres, had one goal and chipped in five helpers in three games over the week as the Tigres went 3-0. The former Titan player has three goals and for 10 points in seven games. The final hot for the week is the blue line duo of a couple Prince Edward Island natives who have been logging significant minutes for the Memorial Cup hosts Shawinigan Cataractes. Brandon Gormley and Morgan Ellis have proved to be great acquisitions since being traded from Moncton and Cape Breton respectively, Ellis has chipped in four goals and five assists with a plus-7 rating since moving from the Eagles, while Gormley has been solid on the blue line adding two assists on the island and a plus-4 rating, these two will play big roles in Shawinigan bringing the Memorial Cup back to the Q.

Shawinigan gets the nod for the hottest team of the week. Someone might need to call the fire department when this team returns home. The team picked up three wins over the week the biggest one coming against the highly touted Saint John Sea Dogs, a 4-1 victory in Saint John, as well as romping the Rocket 8-2 and edging Bathurst 2-1 in a shootout. It will be interesting to see how the teams caps off a 6 game road swing in the following week.

Quebec was ice cold last week losing two important games to Val-d'Or and Victoriaville both on home ice. The team was ranked fourth overall in the recent Week 16 CHL Top 10 Rankings and although the team didn't struggle to score they didn't manage to pick up a point.

This week's cold player hasn't produced much since returning from the World Junior Championships. Saint John Sea Dogs forward Jonthan Huberdeau has struggled to make ends meet since returning, a problem he has been having all season long. Huberdeau has battled injury for most of the season. He only managed one assist for the Sea Dogs this past week, Expect him to up his game in the coming weeks as his team makes a final plug for first overall in the league.

Reid on the Rocket: Currie scores two as Rocket double up Sagueneens

Josh Currie's two third period goals throttled the P.E.I. Rocket to a 6-3 win over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens Saturday night at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

Currie's goals broke a 3-3 tie after two periods en-route to P.E.I.'s 13th win of the season for a record of 13-27-2-2.

It was a great game, said Currie who was named team captain during a brief team meeting after the game.

"We came to play. Yesterday was a terrible game…so tonight we re-grouped, we put that game in the past and it showed. We played a really good game."

After Friday night's 8-2 thumping by Shawinigan, Currie said this win was huge.

"They're a really good team over there and for us to come out like that after a hard fought game last night, it shows a lot of character by our guys and very proud of our team tonight."

The Rocket held a 2-1 lead after the first period with goals from Olivier Croteau and Ben Duffy after Chicoutimi's Jean-Gabriel Pageau opened the scoring 36 seconds in on a powerplay goal.

Chicoutimi took a 3-2 lead in the second period with goals from Yoan Pinette and Lukas Sedlak before Matej Beran's 19th of the season tied the game at three.

Currie scored back-to-back goals in the third period for his 17th and 18th goals of the season before Marc-Andre Levesque capped off the scoring with a powerplay goal.

"We came into the room, you know 'we got 20 miles boys to re-group, go back at them and keep pushing' and we did we were lucky to end up with three goals that period," said Currie on the third period.

Chicoutimi's 11th day away from home benefitted the Rocket, said Currie.

"We knew they were tired and we only played one game so we just had to keep going and keep putting pressure and we did."

Antoine Bibeau made 25 saves in goal for the Rocket to pick up the win.

Christopher Gibson, who represent Team Finland at the recent World Junior Championships, made 22 saves in the loss for Chicouitmi.

In eight games since the Christmas break, the Rocket have posted five wins and three losses. Everybody came back focused, said Currie.

"We knew it wasn't going to be easy, it was only going to get harder. We came with the right mind set…and it's really shown out there on the ice."

The Rocket head out on the road on Friday Jan. 20 against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. On Saturday Jan. 21, they travel to Chicoutimi to battle the Saugeneens again and wrap up Sunday Jan. 22 against the Victoriaville Tigres.

The Rocket return home Friday Jan. 27 against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

nolan@theqspot.ca

Mooseheads Weekend Preview

It has been a rocky start to 2012 for the Halifax Mooseheads so far. After losing two straight, the sixth place Mooseheads (24-13-1-3) hope to get back to their winning ways with a matchup against the 14th place Drummondville Voltigeurs (17-22-2-3) on Thursday night. It promises to be an entertaining battle at the Metro Centre as Halifax hasn't lost three straight games since the 2010-11 season, but Drummondville has gained momentum after their home ice win last week over the West Division leading Armada.

The Mooseheads may be leading the season series 2-0, but both of those games were decided by a single goal. Meanwhile, Drummondville is coming off a loss against the Wildcats Wednesday evening.. Alex Emond scored their lone goal. He has three goals in his last two games.

The last time the Mooseheads met Drummondville ended in a 2-1 Halifax victory with goals from Luca Ciampini and Matthew Boudreau along with Nathan MacKinnon chipping in two assists. The Moose power play went one for six that night and they killed off all three Voltigeurs advantages.

Expect a large crowd at the Metro Centre Thursday night as members of the Toronto Blue Jays will be in attendance. Roberto Alomar, Eric Thames, J.P. Arenciebia and Brett Cecil will be signing autographs to any game ticket holders from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. as the East Coast portion of their Winter Tour kicks off in the city.

After Thursday, the Moose will then go national on Friday night against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens (21-14-3-5) to conclude their five game homestand. Rogers Sportsnet will be televising the game nationally to all Sportsnet subscribers as part of their Friday Night hockey programming. To accommodate Rogers programming schedule, the game has been pushed back to 8:00 p.m. The two clubs have yet to meet this season and fans should expect an already tough Chicoutimi squad to play even tougher than their current 9th place standing would suggest with the additions of Mathieu Gagnon, Christian Ouellet and Jean-Gabriel Pageau who are now third, fourth and fifth in team scoring. Chicoutimi got their East Coast swing started Wednesday night in Cape Breton with a 6-0 victory. Pageau and Ouellet each had three points.

The Moose will take a day off before concluding a busy weekend on Sunday when they travel to Centre 200. This will be the seventh meeting between Halifax and Cape Breton this season with the series currently tied 3-3. The Mooseheads are narrowly outscoring the Screaming Eagles 23-22 in that span. Expect the Moose to be led by centre Matthew Boudreau and Brad Cuzner, who always seem to get an added boost against the Screaming Eagles. Boudreau has scored nine points in six games including six goals against Cape Breton this season. Cuzner has nine goals on the season since being waived by the Screaming Eagles. Three of those nine goals have come against his former team this season.

Their last meeting on Dec. 30 resulted in a 6-4 Moosehead victory. The Mooseheads' powerplay has been very efficient at 23 per cent in the six games versus Cape Brenton this season, but Coach Ducharme will look to get a little more out of their penalty kill which has only been 76 per cent efficient.

Halifax has only won five times in their last ten games.

36 QMJHL players listed in midterm rankings

Quebec Remparts forward Mikhail Grigorenko tops the NHL Central Scouting's midterm rankings for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Yesterday, the Canadian Hockey League announced that 145 CHL players appear on the list.

The domestic rankings list a total of 210 North American skaters including 120 from the CHL, also listing and additional 36 North American goaltenders which includes 25 that currently compete in the CHL.

The QMJHL has 36 representatives on the rankings, with Grigorenko at spot number two, below Nail Yakupov of the Sarnia Sting who is number one.

The highest ranked goaltender for the QMJHL is Victoriaville's Brandon Whitney at number three.

Here is the list of QMJHL players that made the rankings
NORTH AMERICAN SKATERS
RK Name Team
2 Mikhail Grigorenko, Quebec Remparts
25 Martin Frk Halifax, Mooseheads
59 Matej Beran, P.E.I. Rocket
62 Francis Beauvillier, Rimouski Oceanic
64 Andrew Ryan, Halifax Mooseheads
65 Tomas Hyka, Gatineau Olympiques
87 Vladislav Shalimov, Val-d'Or Foreurs
89 Ryan Culkin, Quebec Remparts
93 James Melindy, Moncton Wildcats
96 Charles Hudon, Chicoutimi Sagueneens
102 Liam O'Brien, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
116 Justin Hache, Shawinigan Cataractes
126 Tomas Pavelka, P.E.I. Rocket
128 Anton Zlobin, Shawinigan Cataractes
130 Taylor Burke, Gatineau Olympiques
138 Dillon Fournier, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
168 Loic Leduc, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
173 Tomas Filippi, Baie-Comeau Drakkar
177 Raphael Corriveau, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
186 Sven Andrighetto, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
190 Alexandre Leclerc, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
193 Jeremie Fraser, Acadie-Bathurst Titan
196 Luca Ciampini, Halifax Mooseheads
207 Domenic Poulin, Chicoutimi Sagueneens

NORTH AMERICAN GOALTENDERS
RK Name Team
3 Brandon Whitney, Victoriaville Tigres
6 Francois Tremblay, Val-d'Or Foreurs
13 Etienne Marcoux, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
16 Francois Brassard, Quebec Remparts
18 Maxime Lagace, P.E.I. Rocket
25 Jacob Brennan, Acadie-Bathurst Titan
30 Roman Will, Moncton Wildcats
33 Philippe Trudeau, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

Full list can be viewed here.

nolan@theqspot.ca

Trade Deadline Winners and Losers

Gormley Watch.

That was the distinct theme of this year's QMJHL trade deadline.

19-year-old defensemen Brandon Gormley, from Murray River, P.E.I. is in his fourth and likely final season in the Q. He’s expected to play on the Phoenix Coyotes farm team in Portland next season.

That’s one reason it was widely speculated that Gormley, who has played four seasons for the Moncton Wildcats, would be dealt to a contender.

Gormley was dealt to Memorial Cup host Shawinigan Cataractes in a monster deal.

But this was far from the only noteworthy deal on Saturday.

Who were the big winners and losers of the 2012 trade deadline? Here are my picks.

WINNERS

Shawinigan- Not only did they secure Gormley, but they also secured another P.E.I. defensemen in Morgan Ellis. Ellis, from Ellerslie, P.E.I. has two goals and three assists in two games since coming over from Cape Breton.

What makes these acquisitions so great for Shawinigan is not just the pure skill they have, but their leadership qualities as well. Both Gormley and Ellis were captains of their former clubs.

Oh, did I mention that just prior to Christmas, they also acquired stud defensemen Jonathan Narbonne? Regardless of the sheer amount of draft picks Shawinigan had to give up for these three, they are going all out to win the Memorial Cup in their arena, and that, on top of these three impact players makes them winners.

Chicoutimi- I talked to a few people around the league, and they were shocked that the Sags were buyers this year. However, the moves General Manager Marc Fortier have a loud “next season” tone to them. Fortier went out and acquired Christian Ouellet and Mathieu Gagnon from Gatineau, the Olympiques two leading scorers at the time. Fortier then acquired Jean-Gabriel Pageau, the player most talked about aside from Gormley.

While Ouellet is a 20-year-old and won’t be of any use next season, acquiring Gagnon, a great powerplay quarter-back, and Pageau, is huge for the team going into next season.

LOSERS

Quebec- Quebec did virtually nothing to push them over the top. With a plethora of young players, I expected much more from Patrick Roy et al. They are in a tough battle for tops in the Q, and considering the moves some of the other teams made, they may slip a bit in the second half.

P.E.I.- Ah, good ol’ P.E.I. They made a couple of moves leading up to Saturday, but nothing on the actual deadline day. For a rebuilding team, I really expected at least one of the overagers (Levesque, Bernard) to go for a draft pick or two. P.E.I. was on their annual late season surge when the trade deadline came, so it’s no wonder they stayed status quo. I for one, would like to have seen some players go, so the Rocket could finally get a top two draft pick (expansion team Sherbrooke automatically gets the first overall selection). Hopefully they continue to compete, but hopefully they don’t fall just short of the post season, thus eliminating them from a chance at securing an impact player yet again.

A Bit of Both

Moncton- The Wildcats held on to Brandon Gormley almost up until the 1 p.m. deadline. He ended up going to Shawinigan for 17-year-old Michael Matheson & two 2012 fifth-round picks, a 2013 first-round Euro draft pick, a 2013 third and fifth-round pick, and a 2014 second-round pick.

In part, this is highway robbery for Shawinigan, but in part this is pure genius for Danny Flynn. Gormley is worth at least an A++ 16-year-old, plus a couple first-round picks. Especially given his top defensemen honors at this years WJC tourney, Moncton should have gotten much more.

The genius in this is the sheer quantity of picks Flynn received, that he won’t have to protect at the upcoming expansion draft.

So, what do you think? Agree? Disagree? Tweet me @jonathan_dunphy and let me know!

Gormley traded to Shawinigan; Pageau to Sags

Today Moncton Wildcats Head Coach and General manager Danny Flynn announced that defenseman Brandon Gormley has been traded to the Shawinigan Cataractes for Micheal Matheson and six draft picks.

Draft picks included in the deal are:

Fifth-round of 2012(Shawinigan)

Fifth-round of 2012(Lewiston)

Third-round of 2013(Shawinigan)

Fifth-round of 2013(Shawinigan)

First-round euro pick of 2013(Shawinigan)

2nd round of2014(Shawinigan)

"This is a very difficult trade for our organization andfor me personally but we think long term this is the best move for the Moncton Wildcats at this time," said Flynn. "This move is in the best interest of the Wildcatslong term future. We want to congratulate Gorms on a tremendous World Junior Tournament and a great career here with Moncton. We wish him the best of luck as Shawinigan prepares to host the Memorial Cup."

According to the Wildcats website, Flynn will be available to speak to the media after tonight's gameagainst the Screaming Eagles at the Coliseum. Game starts at 7 p.m.

PAGEAU TRADED

The Gatineau Olympiques have traded captain Jean-Gabriel Pageau and a third-round pick in 2013 to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens for goaltender Alexandre Michaud, two second-round picks(BLB in 2013 and CHI in 2014) and a second-round pick in 2014.

DOUBLE DEBUT

Both Charlie Coyle and newly acquired defenseman Brandon Gormley are expected to make their debuts for the Saint John Sea Dogs and Shawinigan Cataractes, respectively, on Thursday at Harbour Station.

Sagueneens acquire Gagnon and Ouellet

The Chicoutimi Sagueneens have acquired defenceman Mathieu Gagnon and forward Christian Ouellet from the Gatineau Olympiques.

In return, Chicoutimi sends 17-year-old forward Mickael Beauregard, Armada's third-round pick in 2012, Cape Breton's fourth-round pick in 2012, a first-round pick in 2013 and a second-round pick in 2013.

Gagnon, 19, has six goals and 40 points in as many games this season with the Olympiques. He was a third-round pick in 2008 by Gatineau.

Ouellet, 20, has 15 goals and 40 points in as many games with the Olympiques this season.

Beauregard had a goal and two points in 19 games with Chicoutimi this season.

Sagueneens General Manager Marc Fortier said the team was very happy to land experienced players, in a press release.

"It certainly helped in our decision to make the move, and we haven't touched any of our core players in the deal. We gave up some picks, but we have been selecting in the top three rounds the past few and we are at a point where we wanted players."

nolan@theqspot.ca

The Q back in action tonight

After breaking for Christmas over a week ago, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League kicks back into gear tonight with six games on the schedule.

First on the list is the struggling P.E.I. Rocket (8-24-2-2) visiting the Halifax Mooseheads (22-11-1-2) at 7 p.m.

Next on the board is the Victoriaville Tigres (21-13-0-2) visiting the Drummondville Voltigeurs (14-18-2-3) at 8 p.m. Atlantic Time.

Third on the night is the Quebec Remparts (28-6-2-1) hosting the Rimouski Oceanic (22-17-0-0) at 8 p.m.

Fourth on the list is Shawinigan (25-9-2-2) hosting the Armada (20-14-2-0) at 8 p.m.

Next up is the Chicoutimi "Sags" (17-11-3-5) visiting the Baie-Comeau Drakkar (19-15-1-1) at 8 p.m.

And finally, the Val-d'Or Foreurs (15-19-0-4) visit their arch-rivals, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (12-25-1-1) at 8 p.m.

Trade updates
On Dec. 21, Saint John acquires Danny Chiasson (1992-09-23) and 12th round pick in 2012 from the Baie-Comeau Drakkar for an 11th round pick in 2012.

On Dec. 21, Acadie-Bathurst traded defenceman Garrett Clarke (1992-11-03) to the Gatineau Olympiques for a fifth-round pick in 2012 (via P.E.I) and a ninth-round pick in 2012.

On Dec. 20, Gatineau acquired Olivier Daoust from Moncton for Baie-Comeau's 2012 third-round pick.

To view a list of transactions so far, click here.

WJC Today - Day 2 Preview

There are only 2 games on the World Junior Championships schedule today. Game one has Denmark taking on Czech Republic. The second and final game of the day will be Saint John Sea Dogs forward Tomas Jurco and the Slovaks against Latvia.

Both Slovakia and Czech Republic have yet to play a game in this years tournament, while Denmark and Latvia both suffered blowout losses in yesterdays opening day action. See our recap of all the opening day action here.

Along with Jurco, Baie-Comeau forward Lukás Cingel and Gatineau Defenseman Adam Janosik will play for Slovakia.


The Czech also have a huge quantity of Q' players on there team. These five players are: 
Jakub Culek - Rimouski
Petr Straka - Rimouski
Tomas Filippi - Baie-Comeau
Tomas Hyka - Gatineau
Lukas Sedlak - Chicoutimi

Check back later for a full recap of today's action from our newest writer/reporter Bradey Williston.

Follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/TQS_Blog for more WJC coverage throughout the tournament.

Huberdeau shines in Team Canada win

Saint John Sea Dogs captain Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and four helpers to help lead Team Canada to an 8-1 win over Team Finland on Monday.

Huberdeau assisted on all three of Brandon Wheat King's forward Mark Stone's three goals, who was named player of the game for Team Canada after adding an assist for four points.


Moncton Wildcats defenceman Brandon Gormley and Sea Dogs defenceman Nathan Beaulieu also chipped in with assists each.

Stone opened the scoring in the first period at 2:14 on a beautiful feed from Huberdeau behind the net. Brendan Gallagher then scored at 4:25 to give Canada the 2-0 lead.

In the second period, Finland's Alexander Ruutu got the Finns on the board with a goal 1:21 into the period. But moments later, Stone had his second goal of the game at 3:02 to regain Canada's two-goal lead. Huberdeau scored a powerplay goal at 9:24 to give Canada the 4-1 lead before Dougie Hamilton added another Canadian powerplay goal at 12:54 to give Team Canada a 5-1 lead.

In the third period, Tampa Bay's Brett Connolly made it 6-1 just 52 seconds into the period. Gormley drew an assist on the goal. Stone completed the hat-trick at 4:05 giving Canada the 7-1 lead. Ryan Strome added a goal at 7:18 to round out the scoring.

Mark Visentin made 16 saves in net for Canada.

Christopher Gibson, who plays for the Chicoutimi Saugeneens, made 19 saves in net for Finland.

Team Canada plays the Czech Republic Wednesday night.

Game Summaries from opening day can be found here.

Busy weekend heading into Christmas break

There are quite a few games slated for this weekend as we enter the final week of action before the league breaks for Christmas.

Tonight, there are eight games in action tonight, combining for 16 of the the league's 17 teams.

First on tonight's schedule are the mighty Saint John Sea Dogs (26-10-0-1) visiting the struggling Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (14-20-0-1) at 7 p.m.

Second on tonight's schedule is the Halifax Mooseheads (21-10-1-2) visiting the Moncton Wildcats (17-16-2-0) at 7 p.m.

The P.E.I. Rocket, the other Maritime Division team in action tonight, are in Quebec to take on Patrick Roy and Mikhail Grigorenko's Remparts. The Rocket are in last place with an 8-22-2-2 record, as the Remparts are in first with an impressive 26-6-2-1 record. Gametime is 8 p.m.

Other Quebec teams in action tonight consist of the Gatineau Olympiques (16-14-2-3) visiting the Drummondville Voltigeurs (13-17-2-3) at 8 p.m, Baie-Comeau Drakkar (17-15-1-1) at Victoriaville Tigres (21-11-0-2), Chicoutimi Sagueneens (16-10-3-5) visiting the Rimouski Oceanic (20-17-0-0), Blainville-Boisbriand Armada(18-14-2-0) at Rouyn-Noranada Huskies (12-23-1-1) and the Shawinigan Cataractes (23-9-2-2) visit the Val-d'Or Foreurs (15-17-0-4).

The schedule loosens up on Saturday with only five games on the board.

The P.E.I. Rocket travel to Rimouski to battle the Oceanic, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan (17-17-2-2) travel to Victoriaville, the Olympiques host the Drakkar, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies host Shawnigan and the Armada visit the Foreurs.

On Sunday, only three games are on the schedule with Bathurst visiting Quebec, Halifax in Cape Breton, and Saint John visiting arch-rival Moncton Wildcats.

The trading period opens up on Monday Dec. 19.

In other news, it has been reported that Charlie Coyle will be reporting to the Saint John Sea Dogs. Coyle has left Boston University and is likely to sign with the Sea Dogs. Coyle's departure is due to academic issues.

Coyle, an East Weymouth, M.A., native had three goals and 14 points in 16 games with Boston University this season. The 19-year-old was selected 28th overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. His rights were traded to the Minnesota Wild.

The Q Review for Friday Nov. 18

A busy night was on hand for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Friday night with six games on the schedule.

It was an interesting night as all visiting teams were victorious.

The Saint John Sea Dogs continued their winning ways with a 2-1 win over the struggling P.E.I. Rocket.

Tomas Jurco and Danick Gauthier scored powerplay goals for the Sea Dogs as Matej Beran had the lone goal for P.E.I.

In goal for the Rocket was Maxime Lagace making 32 saves in the loss. Sea Dogs goaltender Mathieu Corbeil made 28 saves to earn first star honours in the win.

The second game on the schedule was the Victoriaville Tigres coming back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Acadie-Bathurst Titan 6-4.

Yannick Dube (1-1), Philippe Halley (1-1), Phillip Dannault (1-1), Yanni Gourde, Stefan Fournier and Carl-Antoine Delisle had goals for the Tigres.

Scoring for Bathurst were Matthew Bissonnette (2-1), Christophe Losier, and Zach O'Brien (1-2). Sebastien Trudeau chipped in with assists on all four Titan goals.

David Honzik made 23 saves for Victoriaville in the win as Jacob Brennan took the loss for Bathurst with 37 saves.

In the third game of the night, it was the Halifax Mooseheads being 2-1 winners over the Drummondville Voltigeurs.

Luca Ciampini and Mathew Boudreau scored for the Mooseheads. Nathan MacKinnon chipped in with two assists.

Jonathan Oligny had the lone goal for the Voltigeurs.

Zachery Fucale, Halifax, made 19 saves. Domenic Graham, Drummondville, made 23 saves in the loss.

The first game to see extra action Friday night was the Val-d'Or Foreurs edging the Gatineau Olympiques 3-2 in a shootout.

Michael Beaudry and Benjamin Casavant scored in regulation for the Foreurs. Christian Ouellet had both goals for the Olympiques, and added the shootout winner.

Francois Tremblay made 23 saves in the win as Francois Lacerte took the loss with 31 saves.

The second game to see extra action was the Shawinigan Cataractes beating the Chicoutimi Sagueneens 4-3 in overtime.

Michael Bournival (2-0) scored 28 seconds into the extra frame to give the Cataractes the extra point. Also scoring for Shawinigan were Kirill Kabanov and Anton Zlobin. Scoring for Chicoutimi were Charles Hudon (1-2), Guillaume Asselin(1-1) and Mikael Beauregard.

Alex Dubeau made 31 saves for Shawinigan and Christopher Gibson stopped 24.

The last game on the night was the Quebec Remparts beating the Rimouski Oceanic 4-3.

Remparts had goals from Mikhail Grigorenko (1-1), Alexandre Comtois, Owen Werthner and Vincent Montreuil. Louis Domingue made 36 saves.

Rimouski had goals from Jakub Culek (1-2), Francis Beauvillier and Alexis Loiseau. Jacob Gervais-Chouinard made 20 saves.