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.

Season finale of "Rising Tide" released

The season finale of "Rising Tide" has been released.

The series gives a behind the scenes look at the 2023-24 Saint John Sea Dogs, much like what many NHL teams have been producing in recent years.

Episode four begins with a focus on Matteo Mann and his return to Chicoutimi followed by Mathis Gauthier returning to Rimouski. The second half of the episode features general manager Anthony Stella explaining some trade deadline moves and what making the playoffs meant to the group.

The full episode can be seen below.

The first episode was released in December, the second episode in January and the third last month.

Third round series are set

Cape Breton Eagles

The third round of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League playoffs is locked in.

The Drummondville Voltigeurs finished off the Sherbrooke Phoenix in six games on Sunday, officially ending the second round. The Volts join the Victoriaville Tigres, Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Cape Breton Eagles in the third round.

The teams are reseeded based on the overall standings in the third round — but this year that keeps teams within their conferences. The Drakkar will face the Eagles while the Voltigeurs will take on the Tigres.

Baie-Comeau and Cape Breton have had smooth rides through the playoffs so far. The Drakkar swept the Charlottetown Islanders and Acadie-Bathurst Titan while the Eagles, meanwhile, needed just five games to eliminate the Rimouski Oceanic before sweeping the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

No matter who wins, we're getting a team in the league final that we haven't seen there in some time. The Drakkar's last QMJHL final appearance was in 2014 (a seven-game series loss to Val-d'Or) while the Eagles have never made it past the third round.

Victoriaville and Drummondville are located just 45 minutes from each other, so this is a fun series before it even starts. The Tigres swept the Shawinigan Cataractes in the first round before needing just five games to eliminate the high powered Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the second round. The Voltigeurs swept the Saint John Sea Dogs in the first round and, somewhat surprisingly, went six games in the second round against the pesky Phoenix after going up 3-0. 

The Tigres won the President Cup in the bubble in 2021 while the Voltigeurs haven't been to the league final since winning it all in 2009.

The Eagles/Drakkar series begins Thursday in Baie-Comeau. The Tigres/Voltigeurs series begins Friday in Drummondville.