Three QMJHL teams make the cut for BMO Top 10 rankings

Three Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams made the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings for week 22 which were announced today by the Canadian Hockey League.

The Saint John Sea Dogs, Shawinigan Cataractes and the Quebec Remparts have all made the cut.

Saint John sits at spot No. 2 on the rankings with an impressive 42-14-0-2 record. The mighty Sea Dogs are currently in the midst of 12-game winning streak. Their last loss came back on Jan. 12 when they lost 4-1 to Shawinigan.

Shawinigan sits at No. 5 with a 39-12-3-4 record, behind Tri-City Americans and in front of the Portland Winterhawks. The 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup hosts have gone 6-4 in their past ten games.

Patrick Roy's Quebec Remparts have secured the final spot at No. 10 with a 36-15-5-2 record. Quebec has won their last two games by shutting out their opponents.

The Victoriaville Tigres were honourable mentions yet again with a 37-17-1-3 record.

BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings - Week 22
1. London Knights, OHL (42-13-0-1)
2. Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL (42-14-0-2)
3. Kamloops Blazers, WHL (41-14-1-3)
4. Tri-City Americans, WHL (41-15-1-2)
5. Shawinigan Cataractes, QMJHL (39-12-3-4)
6. Portland Winterhawks, WHL (42-15-2-1)
7. Edmonton Oil Kings, WHL (39-14-3-4)
8. Plymouth Whalers, OHL (37-17-2-1)
9. Ottawa 67's, OHL (36-15-5-1)
10. Quebec Remparts, QMJHL (36-15-5-2)

nolan@theqspot.ca

Delisle-Houde, Rogers handed suspensions

The disciplinary prefect of the Quebec Major Junior League handed down two lengthy suspensions today.



Moncton Wildcats left-winger Patrick Delisle-Houde was suspended five games for his hit to the head on Quebec Remparts' Adam Erne last Saturday.



Reasons for the suspension as listed by the league are as follows:


-Hit his opponent who was no longer in possession of the puck.

-Made contact simultaneously with his body and head.

-Did not try to avoid total contact.

-Was his first offence.



Connor Rogers, a defensemen with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles was suspended for 10 games for his knee-on-knee hit on Rimouski Oceanic player Jean-Francois Plante.



Reasons for his suspension are as follows:


-Even though the player at fault was gliding, he had a certain speed.

-He extended his leg to hit his opponent.

-The contact was done with force on the knee.

-Was his first offence.



You can see the hit at the 18 second mark with the video below.



Thanks to Chris Phillips of HockeyFights.com for the video.

jonathan@theqspot.ca

2012 Marcel-Robert Trophy finalists revealed

The 17 team candidates, along with the five finalists for the 2012 Marcel-Robert Trophy were revealed today.

The award, is for scholastic player of the year, and will be given out on April 4, 2012 at the Golden Pucks Gala.

Here is the list of the candidates from each team.

Acadie-Bathurst, Sébastien Trudeau
Baie-Comeau, Alexandre Chênevert
Blainville-Boisbriand, Alex Micallef
Cape Breton, Jonathan Brunelle
Chicoutimi, Dominic Poulin
Drummondville, André Bouvet-Morrissette
Gatineau, Rock Régimbald
Halifax, Luca Ciampini
Moncton, Patrick Delisle-Houde
PEI, Josh Currie
Québec, Vincent Barnard
Rimouski, Jean-Philippe Mathieu
Rouyn-Noranda, Steven Mercier
Shawinigan, Michaël Bournival
Saint John, Kevin Gagné
Val-d’Or, Thierry Comtois
Victoriaville, Yanni Gourde

Here is the list of the 5 finalists

Cape Breton, Jonathan Brunelle
Moncton, Patrick Delisle-Houde
Rimouski, Jean-Philippe Mathieu
Shawinigan, Michaël Bournival
Victoriaville, Yanni Gourde

The award is very prestigious. The five finalists will now go through an intense interview process, which measures their analytical skills, as well as their understanding of current events.The interview plays a key role in determining the winner, and will be held in Montreal on Feb. 27, 2012.

Each of the 17 nominees get a $400 scholarship. The five finalists receive an additional $400 scholarship, and the winner receives a $500 bursary.

Big difference between East and West divisions

While looking at the standings, it's quite obvious there's a huge amount of disparity between divisions in this league.

Take a quick look at the Telus East Division. See how five of the six teams have X's beside them? That means they've clinched a playoff birth.

Now take a look at the Telus West Division. Only one team has clinched a playoff birth thus far.

Just that alone, tells you the Telus East Division has teams that are much better than those of the Telus West Division. But the standings only tell part of the story.

The fifth best team in the East Division, if placed in the West, would be second.

The East Division has a combined winning percentage of .629, compared to the West, who doesn't even have a team at the .600 mark, and has a combined winning percentage of .474, a full 155 points less than the East.

So what does all this mean?

Well, for one, the East would be a tougher division to get wins, given that the majority of games are played within the division. Teams constantly need to be on their "A" game. Coaches need to work that much harder to get the most out of their players game in and game out.

The same isn’t necessarily true for teams in the West Division. In my opinion, and many others, wins come easier within an easier division.

General manager's need to be constantly working the phones to keep their teams ahead of the curve.

Their scouts need to work extra hard, to ensure their teams can keep up with the talent level in their division in particular.

It also means that their fans are treated to the highest caliber of games, given that the majority of games are played within the division.

And it shows.

Five of the six teams in the Telus East division are in the top 10 in attendance. Quebec tops the league, as well as the entire CHL with a staggering average of 11,352 (Attention Gary Bettman!)

To the West's defense, they do have two teams in the top 10, Blainville-Boisbriand at seventh, and Gatineau at ninth.

There really isn't anything the league brass can do to even out the competitive playing field of these two divisions (trust me, I'm in P.E.I), so the responsibility falls on the management of the West Division teams to attempt to be more competitive with not only the other teams in the West, but the other teams in the Q.

Hopefully they will look into it. Their fans deserve it.

jonathan@theqspot.ca

Halifax Mooseheads battle Sea Dogs in Saint John tonight

The two longest winning streaks in the QMJHL will be on the line tonight in Saint John as the Halifax Mooseheads visit Harbour Station.

The powerhouse Saint John Sea Dogs (41-14-2-0) boast an impressive 11 game winning streak and have only lost one game in 2012. Expect to see their high flying offence on display tonight in front of their hometown fans. Saint John has scored 21 goals in their last three games.

The Mooseheads (33-18-2-4) will be in tough trying to shut down first round selections Jonathan Huberdeau and Nathan Beaulieu. Each have nine points in their past three games. If that weren’t enough for the Mooseheads defenders to think about, Charlie Coyle and Tomas Jurco each have six points in those same three games.

Halifax has been impressive themselves lately, winners of four straight and six of their past 10. Halifax will be hoping for their leading scorer, Nathan MacKinnon, to return from a thumb injury. He will be a game time decision.

The Mooseheads last played in Bathurst where they exploded for six second period goals before allowing five in the third to set up a tense final minute.

The Sea Dogs lead the season series 5-1 and outscoring Halifax by a margin of 31-15. Their last match was a 7-3 Sea Dog victory. In that game, Coyle and Jurco each scored two goals and Huberdeau added two assists.

Who to watch tonight:

Jonathan Huberdeau (Saint John) – 26GP -19G -33A -52PTS, Has scored five points in three games against Halifax this season.

Zach Fucale(Halifax) – 47GP-3.11GAA -.892S%, Has given up more than three goals only twice in his last seven games.

Who's Hot, Who's Not: Feb. 13th - 19th

The who’s hot who’s not has a very Maritime feel this edition with three of the four players hailing east of Quebec.

Zach O’Brien of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan continues to find the back of the net with ease in 2012.  In the 12 games since the start of the New Year O’Brien has scored 14 goals.  He also has 10 assists for 24 points in that time.  He’s the hottest player on a team that boasts three of the top four in league scoring.

South of Bathurst, the first round selection of the San Jose Sharks, Charlie Coyle continues his hot play for the Saint John Sea Dogs.  Since defecting to Saint John from Boston College prior to the World Junior Champions, Coyle has picked up 17 points in 12 games.  Coyle has 9 goals and 8 assists and has failed to pick up points only twice since joining the Dogs.  Impressive numbers for a player adjusting to a heavier schedule and a new team.

Ben Duffy’s lack of production lately is doing nothing to help the PEI rocket out of the QMJHL’s basement. Since starting February with two straight multi point games, Duffy has managed only one assist in the five games since.  The Rocket have lost those five games by a combined score of 28-5.

 Yanni Gourde is a surprise entry into the not category.  Gourde is running away with the league scoring title with 103 points on the season.  Still, Gourde only has one goal and one assist in his past four games and a minus two rating in that time.  As with Duffy in P.E.I, the Tigres are struggling with along with Gourde picking up only two wins in the past four games and scoring more than three goals only once.

The Saint John Sea Dog’s continue to roll in 2012.  The additions of Charlie Coyle and Charles-Olivier Roussel, Stanislav Galiev recovering from injury, and Jonathan Huberdeau, Nathan Beaulieu, and Tomas Jurco returning from national team duty has propelled the Sea Dogs on an impressive run.  The Sea Dogs have won 11 straight games and 12 of 13 since the start of 2012.  They are showing that once again, they are the team to beat in the QMJHL.

The Chicoutimi Sagueneens were expected to be a power house after the trade deadline.  They started out hot, having 6 straight wins prior to the February 10^th matchup against the Halifax Mooseheads.  The Mooseheads won that game 4-1 starting a four game losing streak for the Sagueneens.   The Sags have been held to only one goal only twice in that span.

Your favorite player heating up and get left out?  Think your favorite team is hotter than the Sea Dogs? Let me know in the comments section below. And check back next week for a Who’s Hot Who’s Not update.

Roy, Huberdeau and Will named Telus three stars of the week

Frederick Roy, Jonathan Huberdeau and Roman Will have been named the Telus three stars of the week the league announced today.

The week is the period spanning from Feb. 13 to Feb. 19.

Frederick Roy of the Quebec Remparts is the week's first-star after collecting three goals and 11 points in four games.

The 20-year-old Montreal, Que. native had a goal and four assists on Tuesday Feb. 14 in a 9-1 win over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. On Friday, he collected an assist in a 4-1 loss to the Sea Dogs. The next day, he netted the only two goals in his team's 2-0 victory over the Moncton Wildcats. On Sunday, he added three helpers in a 6-0 win over the P.E.I. Rocket.

The second-star of the week is Saint John Sea Dogs superstar and captain Jonathan Hubderdeau after collecting two goals and seven points in two games.

In a 10-1 win over the P.E.I. Rocket on Wednesday, the 18-year-old Florida Panthers prospect had a pair of goals and a pair of assists. On Friday, he added three assists in a 4-1 win over the Quebec Remparts.

Moncton Wildcats netminder Roman Will is the week's third-star after allowing two goals on 65 shots over the course of two games.

On Friday, the 19-year-old Czech Republic native made 34 saves in a 3-1 win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. On Saturday, he allowed one goal and made 29 saves, despite a 2-0 loss against the Quebec Remparts.

nolan@theqspot.ca