Ouellet, Bouvet-Morrissette and Zlobin named Telus three stars of the week

Xavier Ouellet, Andre Bouvet-Morrissette and Anton Zlobin were named the Telus three stars of the week on Monday night by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The week is the period spanning from March 5 to March 11, 2012.

Blainville-Boisbriand Armada defenceman Xavier Ouellet is the week's first-star after collecting four points in three games.

The 18-year-old Detroit Red Wings prospect collected a goal in a 4-3 win over Victoriaville on Wednesday. On Friday, the Terrebonne, Que. native collected two assists in a 5-0 win over the Rouyn-Noranada Huskies. Lastly, on Saturday, Ouellet recorded a goal in a 4-2 win over Rimouski.

The Armada captain has 21 goals and 58 points in 61 games this season.

The second star of the week is Drummondville Voltigeurs forward Andre Bouvet-Morrissette after collecting four goals and six points.

On Wednesday in a 7-3 loss to Quebec, the 20-year-old scored a pair of goals. On Friday, he added a goal in a 3-1 win. Then, on Saturday he added a goal and a pair of assists in a 6-1 win over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

The Becancour, Que. native is in his overage season in the Q and has 39 goals and 71 points in 61 games.

Last but not least, Shawinigan Cataractes forward Anton Zlobin was named the third-star of the week.

The 18-year-old Russian collected three goals and six points in two games.

On Thursday in a 4-2 win over the Huskies, Zlobin had a goal. On Sunday against the No. 1 ranked Saint John Sea Dogs, Zlobin scored a pair of goals and added three assists.

Zlobin is draft eligible for the upcoming 2012 NHL Entry Draft. He has 39 goals and 74 points in 64 games this season.

nolan@theqspot.ca

Gourde, Graham and Bernard named TELUS three stars of the week

Yanni Gourde, Domenic Graham and Jessyko Bernard were named the Telus three stars of the week today.

The week is the period spanning from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5.

The first star of the week is Victoriaville Tigres left-winger Yanni Gourde. On Wednesday in an 8-7 loss to Rimouski, the 20-year-old collected four assists. On Friday in a 6-1 win over Baie-Comeau, the St-Narcisse, Que. native was named first star with two goals and four points.

Gourde finished the week with two goals and eight points in two games.

Gourde currently sits first overall in scoring, just one point shy of 100 and has an 11 point lead over Zach O'Brien of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

The second star of the week is Drummondville Voltigeurs goaltender Domenic Graham. On Friday, the 17-year-old made 43 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss against the Saint John Sea Dogs. On Saturday, Graham made 27 saves in a 2-1 win against the Rimouski Oceanic.

The third star of the week belongs to P.E.I. Rocket forward Jessyko Bernard. On Tuesday in a 4-1 win over the Moncton Wildcats, the 20-year-old forward had a goal and an assist. On Thursday in a 9-6 win over Cape Breton, Bernard collected a goal and a pair of assists and had the game winner. On Friday in a 4-2 win over Cape Breton again, the Dalhousie, N.B. native added the game-winning goal.

Bernard finished the week with three goals and six points and helped the Rocket move out of last place.

nolan@theqspot.ca

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)

Game Previews: January 22nd

SAINT JOHN AT BATHURST: Saint John comes into the game having won two straight and six of their last 10. They should not take Bathurst lightly, especially with the league’s leading scorer, Zach O’Brien on the team. Oh, and Bathurst has a streak of their own: four straight wins.

Players to Watch

Saint John: Charlie Coyle- Since joining the Sea Dogs, Coyle has four goals in three games-an impressive start for any rookie.

Bathurst: Zach O’Brien- Coming off an impressive four-goal performance against Moncton, should be interesting to see what he can accomplish against their other New Brunsiwick counterpart.

MONCTON AT CAPE BRETON: Moncton will be looking to get back on track against Cape Breton. Both teams have only four regulation wins in their last 10 games.

Interesting Fact

Both teams traded their team Captains to the Memorial Cup host Shawinigan Cataractes. Even more interesting is that both players (Ellis & Gormley) hail from P.E.I.

RIMOUSKI AT BAIE-COMEAU: Rimouski has won four straight games, and seven out of their last 10, the second best streak in the league. It’s safe to say that David Rose and the Drakkar will have their hands full in this one.

Players to Watch

Rimouski-Jerome Gauthier-Leduc- The Oceanic’s stud defensemen has had another solid year. Once thought to be surely dealt, stayed in Rimouski, and their fans have been beyond happy.

Baie-Comeau- Jonathan Lessard- To say that Lessard is a pure goal scorer is an understatement. Lessard is second in team goal scoring, but only tenth in overall points.

DRUMMONDVILLE AT BLAINVILLE-BOISBRIAND: The Surprising Armada are tops in their division, 10 points ahead of Drummondville. While it’s unlikely the Voltigeurs catch up to the Armada, you can bet this will be a chippy affair.

Players to Watch

Drummondville-Alexandre Veronneau- There was a lot of questions when Veronneau was acquired, and the questions continue. He has a Goals Against Average greater than six with the Volts. Should be interesting to see how many he lets in tonight.

Blainville-Boisbriand-Etienne Marcoux- The 18-year-old goalie has been one of the best this season, unlike Veronneau. Marcoux is top 10 in every major category for goaltenders this season.

VAL-D’OR AT ROUYN-NORANDA: Val-d’Or have won three straight, while their opponent has lost fourstraight. With Val-d’Or battling for first in the West, you can bet they’ll be hungry.

Stat of the Game

Foreurs’ player Mathieu Guertin is second in the league in minor penalties taken, with 38.

P.E.I AT VICTORIAVILLE: PEI wraps up its latest swing through Quebec hoping for a win. It has been an incredibly rough trip for the Rocket, who have been outscored 15-2 so far. A win may be too much to ask of the Rocket, as Victoriaville is on a four-game winning streak.

Players to Watch

P.E.I. - Ben Duffy- Earlier this season Duffy broke the franchise’s all-time points record. Duffy has been one of the lone bright spots for P.E.I. this year

Victoriaville- Matthew Hobbs- Hobbs, traded from PEI to Victoriaville last month, has been one of the Tigres' best defensemen.

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.

Mathieu traded to Rimouski

Late last night, the Drummondville Voltigeurs traded 20-year-old defenceman Jean-Philippe Mathieu to the Rimouski Oceanic for 20-year-old defenseman and local product Alex Emond and 16-year-old prospect Guillaume Gauthier. Also involved were a third-round pick in 2013 going to Rimouski and a fifth-round pick in 2012 going to Drummondville.

What it means - time to scratch your head. Rimouski traded a local captain for a slightly better defenceman who was captain of Drummondville. The problem here is, if the trade is as stands, they've paid a ridiculous fee to do it. Gauthier is a former third-overall pick, who was seen by some as someone who would have been a first-overall pick in any of the last three years. Emond brings the same defensive game that Mathieu does with slightly less offense. The fact it is a 2013 pick suggests there is another player involved from Drummondville, but even then, it has to be a good one to make even value in this move for Rimouski.

Screaming Eagles active on trade floor today

There were a few moves made today during a pretty quiet trade period so far.

The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles were very active today, making three trades.

The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles sent 18-year-old goaltender Alexandre Veronneau to the Quebec Remparts for a seventh-round pick in 2012.

The Laval, Que. native has posted an 8-26 career record with the Screaming Eagles along with a 4.71 goals-agaist-average.

The Screaming Eagles made another deal on the day, sending 19-year-old Belarusian defenceman Raman Hrabarenka to the Drummondville Voltigeurs for a sixth-round pick in 2013, originally owned by Blainville-Boisbriand.

Hrabarenka skated in 80 career games for Screaming Eagles, collecting three goals and 15 points.

Last but not least for Cape Breton, they sent 17-year-old Samuel Hodhod to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada for 19-year-old goaltender William Racicot.

Hodhod was a second-round pick by the Shawinigan Cataratces in 2010 and had seven goals and 16 points in 47 with Shawinigan last season.

Racicot, has posted an 8-9-1 record for a 3.43 goals-against-average with the Armada this season.

The Saint John Sea Dogs acquired forward Maxime Villemaire from the Drummondvile Voltigeurs in-exchange for a second-round pick in 2012 and a sixth-round pick in 2013.

Villemaire, 19, has played 90 career games with the Volts, collecting 14 goals and 27 points.

The Sea Dogs sent their first-round pick in 2012 to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for Saint John's second-round pick in 2012, Quebec's fourth-round pick in 2012 and Rimouski's first-round pick in the 2012 CHL Import Daft.

For a list of trades, click here.

Photo courtesy of Cape Breton Post.

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.

Few trades made on opening day of trade period

Only four trades were made on Dec. 19, when the annual trading period opened up.

The biggest trade of the day was defenceman Jonathan Narbonne being sent from the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada to the Shawinigan Cataractes for a first-round pick in 2012 as well as a third-round pick in 2012, previously owned by Victoriaville.

Narbonne, 19, had six goals for 19 points in 27 games this season.

The second biggest deal of the day was Baie-Comeau trading forward Alexandre Durette and a first-round pick in 2012 (Victoriaville) to the Val-d'Or Foreurs for forward Jean-Francois Leblanc.

Durette, 19, had 10 goals and 39 points in 36 games this season. Leblanc, 18, who had an impressive rookie season last year with 19 goals and 51 points in 63 games, is off to a slow start this season with only a goal and four helpers in 33 games.

The third deal of the day was the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles acquiring 18-year-old defenceman Mikael Langlois from the Baie-Comeau Drakkar for a seventh-round pick in 2012.

Langlois had two assists in 10 games this season. He had eight goals and 21 points last year in 57 games.

A minor trade was also made between Drummondville and Acadie-Bathurst. The Titan sent a 2013 fourth-round pick, originally owned by Drummondville, to the Voltigeurs for a fifth-rounder in 2013.

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.