Drakkar take 3-1 series lead

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In a game that took nearly three hours to complete, the Baie-Comeau Drakkar took a commanding 3-1 series lead with an 8-2 win over the Cape Breton Eagles in QMJHL semifinal playoff action on Tuesday at Centre 200.

Justin Poirier, coming off his first pointless performance of the playoffs, recorded four goals and an assist in the win.

The Drakkar jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and led 4-1 after one. Following an emotional end to Game 3 on Monday night, those emotions certainly ran over in this game.

• Cam Squires and Alexis Bernier both received game misconducts for fighting in the first period.
• Cam MacDonald was given a major and match penalty for boarding in the second period.
• Drakkar goaltender Charles-Edward Gravel received a match penalty in the second period. It was originally announced as a major penalty for a trip, but the QMJHL website lists it as a match penalty for "miscellaneous." 
• Jacob Newcombe was given a game misconduct for slashing in the second period.

So Cape Breton's entire first line and Baie-Comeau's starting goaltender were all tossed from this game before the third period even started. That is a rarity at any point in the season but particularly in the post-season.

"We don't want anybody injured, you don't want suspensions. It's an emotional game. I think back in the day that would have been a longer game. There's a fine line between emotion and discipline,"

- @CBEHockey head coach Louis Robitaille on the emotions of Game 4.

— Jeremy Fraser (@CBPost_Jeremy) May 1, 2024

Match penalties typically come with an automatic one-game suspension, so both teams could be without key players in Game 5, which takes place Thursday in Baie-Comeau.

Magog wins Telus Cup

Hockey Canada

The Magog Cantonniers are Telus Cup champions.

Saint John Sea Dogs prospect Kyan Labbé made 19 saves to help the Cantonniers defeat the Brandon Wheat Kings (the other Brandon Wheat Kings) 4-1 in Sunday's championship game in Cape Breton.

THE MAGOG CANTONNIERS ARE 2024 TELUS CUP CHAMPIONS 🏆@CantonniersAAA pic.twitter.com/EtbmN7Z1SJ

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 28, 2024

It's the second straight year a Quebec based team won the national under-18 championship following Séminaire St-François Blizzard's win last year. 

Magog previously won the Telus Cup in 2000. They finished second in 2018, 2019 and 2022.

Labbé, who recently committed to play NCAA hockey at Union College, appeared in five games at this year's tournament, posting a 5-0 record to go along with a 1.60 goals against average and a .944 save percentage. Unsurprisingly, he was named the tournament's best goaltender.

The 16-year-old was previously named the Quebec under-18 league's playoff MVP and top defensive player after posting an 11-3-0 record to go along with a 2.26 GAA and .920 SV%. He was also recently named Canadian Elite Hockey League's goaltender of the year.

The biggest concern about Labbé is his size. The Hockey Canada website lists him at 5'8" and 157 lbs.

A few other news and notes...

• In the QMJHL playoffs, the Drummondville Voltigeurs lead the Victorville Tigres 2-0. The Volts won Game 2 by a final score of 5-1 on Saturday. Former Sea Dogs forward Noah Reinhart had a goal in the win.
• Game 3 of the Baie-Comeau/Cape Breton series takes place Monday night in Sydney while the Drummondville/Victoriaville series resumes on Tuesday.
• At the IIHF World Under-18 Championship, Gardiner MacDougall, Travis Crickard and Team Canada secured top spot in Group B with a solid 8-1 win over Switzerland. Caleb Desnoyers of the Moncton Wildcats was inserted onto the top line for this game, replacing the injured Roger McQueen. Canada wraps up preliminary round play on Monday against Kazakstan. 
• The Miramichi Timberwolves have taken a 3-1 series lead in the Maritime Hockey League final following a 4-3 win over the Summerside Western Capitals on Sunday night. The Timberwolves can clinch the MHL title with a victory in Game 5 on Tuesday in Summerside.
• Charlie Coyle and the Boston Bruins are up 3-1 on the Toronto Maple Leafs in their first round playoff series. Game 5 takes place Tuesday night in Boston.
• Dawson Theede and the Halifax Thunderbirds had their season end with a thud on Sunday, falling 9-3 to the Albany FireWolves in a National Lacrosse League single elimination, first round playoff matchup.

Eagles down 2-0 to Drakkar

CHL TV

The Cape Breton Eagles are coming home down 2-0 in their series against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

The Eagles fell 5-3 in Baie-Comeau on Friday night, blowing 2-0 and 3-2 leads. A late second period goal by the Drakkar that made it 3-3 and an early third period marker that made it 4-3 really turned momentum onto the home team's side.

The captain delivers! Isaac Dufort gives the @DrakkarBAC its first lead of the game! 🚨 #QPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/QnncAnhFY6

— QMJHL (@QMJHL) April 27, 2024

Former Saint John Sea Dogs forward Cole Burbidge opened the scoring for Cape Breton. 

Despite the loss, the Eagles showed they can compete with the top-seeded Drakkar and certainly belong in this series. Obviously, Game 3 at a sold out Centre 200 will be a big one. That game takes place Monday night.

Baie-Comeau won Game 1 on Thursday, 4-0.

In the other QMJHL semifinal playoff series, the Drummondville Voltigeurs defeated the Victoriaville Tigres 2-1 on Friday to take a 1-0 series lead. Former Sea Dogs forward Noah Reinhart had an assist in the win.

A few other news and notes...

• Gardiner MacDougall, Travis Crickard and Team Canada are off to a 2-0 start at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship in Finland following a 6-3 win over Sweden and a 6-0 victory over Czechia. Canada is back in action on Sunday when they play Switzerland.
• Sea Dogs prospect Kyan Labbé and the Magog Cantonniers are now 5-0 at the Telus Cup in Cape Breton. In three starts, Labbé has allowed just four goals on 91 shots. Magog will face the Markham Waxers in Saturday's semifinals. The bronze and gold medal games take place Sunday.
• The Miramichi Timberwolves now lead the Maritime Hockey League final 2-1 following a 4-3 victory over the Summerside Western Capitals on Wednesday. Former Sea Dogs forward Cole Foston had three assists in the win. Game 4 takes place Sunday night in Miramichi. 
• Charlie Coyle and the Boston Bruins are up 2-1 on the Toronto Maple Leafs in their first round series. Game 4 takes place Saturday night in Toronto.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Dawson Theede and the Halifax Thunderbirds have qualified for the National Lacrosse League playoffs. The Thunderbirds visit the Albany FireWolves on Sunday in a first-round, single elimination playoff game.

Sea Dogs land fifth overall pick

Vincent Ethier/QMJHL

Luck wasn't on the Saint John Sea Dogs' side this time – sort of.

The Sea Dogs had the lowest odds of winning the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League's Draft Lottery on Thursday and landed where the math said they would: with the fifth overall pick.

Saint John had just a 5% chance of winning the first overall pick. They've done it before with the same odds – back in 2019 in the Joshua Roy draft – but it wasn't meant to be this year.

The Cape Breton Eagles won the first overall pick with just a 14% chance. They won using a pick acquired from the Sea Dogs in the Connor Trenholm deal.

Here are the full results of Thursday's QMJHL Draft Lottery, which was broadcast on RDS.

5th overall: Saint John (5%)

4th overall: Quebec (10%)

3rd overall: Val-d'Or (43% / 28%)

2nd overall: Val-d'Or (43% / 28%)

1st overall: Cape Breton (14%)

Saint John landed the fifth overall pick in the Cam MacDonald trade with the Gatineau Olympiques. They also pick eighth overall thanks to a pick they acquired from the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

The Sea Dogs have a long history of success in draft lotteries. From the team:

It is the ninth time in franchise history that the Saint John Sea Dogs will be entered into the draft lottery and the third time the Sea Dogs have been involved in the five-team format, which began in 2017. 

Saint John won the five-team draft lottery in 2019 with just one ball in the draw and a five percent chance at the first pick, the same odds the team holds in this year's lottery. The Sea Dogs won the two-team draw in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2014 and 2015 as well.

It's a bit of an odd year for the QMJHL Entry Draft. There isn't a real consensus top pick and it's believed a number of the top prospects are leaning towards playing NCAA hockey.

The 2024 QMJHL Entry Draft will take place June 7-8 at Moncton's Avenir Centre.

QMJHL semifinals predictions

Baie-Comeau Drakkar Facebook

This round of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League playoffs has the chance to be very entertaining.

The issue is that... I'm pretty sure I said that about the last round, too. To put it simply, it hasn't been the greatest of playoffs in the QMJHL in terms of entertainment, epic series and drama. There have been a few upsets, so it hasn't been the worst. But so far, this has hardly been a post-season that will have books written about it.

Crunching some playoff numbers for the CHL
36 series
19 sweeps
10 4-1 series
5 4-2 series
2 4-3 series
29/36 series have finished 5 games or less
QMJHL: 7 sweeps, 3 4-1
WHL: 6 sweeps, 5 4-1
OHL: 6 sweeps, 2 4-1
Lets hope the Conference finals are more compelling!

— Steve Clark (@SteveClarkMedia) April 24, 2024

Could that change this round? It certainly could. Let's quickly break it down and predict.

1. Baie-Comeau vs 7. Cape Breton – Drakkar in 6

I would love to see a tortured/cursed franchise like the Eagles make it to the league final – and they certainly could. They've arguably been the best team in the QMJHL over the past couple months and they've lived up to all expectations in the playoffs. But you can't deny the tremendous season the Drakkar have had, who were close to the regular season pace of past Memorial Cup champions from the league. This series will tell us a lot about both teams.

2. Drummondville vs 5. Victoriaville – Voltigeurs in 7

It's not too often we get two rivals meeting this late in the playoffs. These two cities are just 45 minutes apart, so this is a fun one before the games even start. The Tigres are coming off a very impressive series win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies while the Voltigeurs showed that they are human, needing six games to eliminate the Sherbrooke Phoenix after going up 3-0. These are deep, deep teams but I like the depth and experience of the Volts just a little bit more. Ethan Gauthier and company will have their hands full with Nathan Darveau.

I successfully picked three of the four series in the second round and seven of eight in the first round.

Of note, there hasn't been an all-Quebec final since the bubble in 2022, which the Tigres won. A Maritime team has qualified for the final in five of the past six seasons (that excludes the cancelled 2020 playoffs).

Memorial Cup hosts moving on in OHL

The 2024 Memorial Cup hosts are still alive.

The Saginaw Spirit secured a spot in the OHL's Western Conference Final with a 3-1 victory over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in Game 7 of their second round series on Tuesday. The win pushes the Spirit into the league's final four where they'll face the top-seeded London Knights.

Saginaw led 1-0 after one but the Soo tied it up in the second period. The Spirit heavily outshot the Greyhounds in the third and finally retook the lead midway through the period before securing the win with an empty netter. Shots were 14-5 in favour of Saginaw in the third and 34-17 overall.

CALEM MANGONE DOES IT AGAIN 🫡

The Soo native makes no mistake from Michael Misa's pass to re-take the lead for the @SpiritHockey in Game 7 📽️#OHLPlayoffs | #SAGvsSOO pic.twitter.com/SN8tmV181g

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 24, 2024

Soo seemed to have all the momentum entering Game 7. The Greyhounds posted a statement 5-0 win in Game 6 on Sunday while the Spirit were missing a couple regulars for Game 7.

The Spirit finished with 102 points in the regular season, just two points back of the Knights. The two split the four-game season series.

Winning and hosting the Memorial Cup has been a difficult task over the past 20 years. The host team has not won a league championship since the Kitchener Rangers in 2008. No host has won a league title and the Memorial Cup since the loaded Knights of 2005.

The OHL's Eastern Conference Final will feature the North Bay Battalion taking on the Oshawa Generals.

The third round of the QMJHL playoffs begin Thursday in Baie-Comeau with the Drakkar hosting the Cape Breton Eagles. The other series begins Friday with the Drummondville Voltigeurs hosting nearby rivals the Victoriaville Tigres.

Over in the WHL, the third round will feature the Moose Jaw Warriors taking on the Saskatoon Blades in the east and the Prince George Cougars facing the Portland Winterhawks in the west.

A few other news and notes...

• At the Telus Cup in Sydney, Sea Dogs prospect Kyan Labbé and the Magog Cantonniers are off to a 2-0 start. Labbé, who recently committed to the NCAA's Union College, made 26 saves in Magog's 5-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Monday and followed that up with 27 saves in a 6-1 win over the Markham Waxers on Tuesday.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Cole Foston had a goal in the Miramichi Timberwolves' 5-1 victory over the Summerside Western Capitals on Monday, evening the Maritime Hockey League final at 1-1.
• Charlie Coyle is the lone former Sea Dog playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs this year. Coyle has been held pointless through two games as his Boston Bruins are tied 1-1 in their first round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
• Team Canada begins the IIHF Under-18 World Championship on Thursday when they take on Sweden. Canada's head coach is Gardiner MacDougall while Travis Crickard is an assistant. Canada has played two pre-tournament games, beating Finland 5-1 on Saturday and Norway 4-3 on Tuesday.