Notebook: New dates for QMJHL Entry Draft

With the Canadian Hockey League season extended a couple weeks, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has pushed its annual Entry Draft.

The two-day event will now take place July 4-5, which is the Monday and Tuesday following the final week of the 2022 Memorial Cup in Saint John. From the QMJHL:

The 2022 Entry Draft was initially scheduled to take place on June 17-18, 2022. However, with the recent schedule adjustments, the draft’s first round will now take place on the evening of Monday, July 4, while rounds 2-14 will occur the next day.

As originally planned, the QMJHL Entry Draft will once again, sadly, be virtual rather than on an arena floor.

Of note, the 2022 NHL Draft is scheduled to be held just a few days later, taking place July 7-8 in Montreal.

DUFOUR EARNS HONOURS

William Dufour: he's still pretty good.

The Sea Dogs forward was named the QMJHL's player of the week on Monday. He's the first Sea Dog to win the award this season, although defenseman Vincent Sevigny did win the honour twice already this year while he was a member of the Victoriaville Tigres.

Dufour was also named to the QMJHL's team of the week.

The New York Islanders prospect recorded three goals and five assists during Saint John's three-game road trip in Quebec last week. He had a 20-game point streak and seven-game goal streak come to an end last Friday in Rimouski.

BIG SAVE

Here's that big time save from Nikolas Hurtubise during last Friday's game in Rimouski.

WHAT A SAVE! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/Glyy6bN4DO

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) February 12, 2022

RECORDS UPDATE

The QMJHL website has a rundown of some of the records that could be broken around the league this season. William Dufour has a couple within his reach.

From the league:

Right-winger William Dufour, a New York Islanders draft pick, is proving that they made the right decision by selecting him in the 2020 Entry Draft. The forward leads the QMJHL in scoring with 58 points in 33 games and could rack up close to 120 points by season’s end if he maintains his current pace. That means the Quebec City native could surpass Jonathan Huberdeau’s franchise record of 105 points that was set in 2010-11.

Dufour, now with 28 goals in 33 games, also has a shot at breaking Danick Gauthier's team record for most goals scored in a single season (47).

Dufour's seven-game goal streak tied Ryan Tesink and Sam Povorozniouk for the longest in team history. Dufour's 20-game point streak is tied with Nathan Noel for the third longest in team history behind Mathieu Jospeh (28) and Zack Phillips (22).

Jeremie Poirier, now with 147 career points, is inching closer to Thomas Chabot's team record for most career points by a Sea Dogs defenseman (153).

SEVIGNY COMES CLOSE

Speaking of records, Vincent Sevigny came real close to tying the QMJHL record for most consecutive road games with a goal by a defensemen.

That's wild. Sevigny's streak, like Dufour's, ended last Friday in Rimouski.

EAGLES BACK IN ACTION

The Cape Breton Eagles finally returned to play last weekend which meant the return to play of Charles Savoie and Carter McCluskey. The Sea Dogs traded both forwards to the Eagles in the Connor Trenholm deal.

Savoie scored in his debut with the Eagles on Feb. 11. He has since added an assist to give hime two points in four games.

McCluskey, meanwhile, has two goals and a helper in four games with his new club.

The Eagles and Sea Dogs meet on March 5 in Saint John.

EASTLINK SCHEDULE

If you have Eastlink Community TV, the following Sea Dogs games will be coming to your television screen.

Friday, Feb. 18: Saint John at Halifax

Friday, March 11: Saint John at Charlottetown

Eastlink's Friday Night Hockey lineup for February and March was unveiled earlier this week.

JERSEY CONCEPT

If you missed it on Twitter, what do you think, folks?

Saint John Sea Dogs Jersey Concept@SJSeaDogs @qmjhl #hockeytwitter pic.twitter.com/Bi4V5omIRa

— marissa (@maripiizza) February 13, 2022

IT'S LIT
Charlottetown's Eastlink Centre has, at long last, upgraded its lighting. Rejoice, QMJHL photographers.

The new lighting system is half way completed. What a difference! pic.twitter.com/b8BuYp3OAP

— Eastlink Centre Charlottetown 😷 (@EastlinkCtrPEI) February 8, 2022

The facility had new boards and glass installed over the off-season.

OTHER THINGS

• The Charlottetown Islanders have not lost a game since the league returned from its extended holiday break. Dating back to December, the Isles have won eight straight games and nine of their last 10. They sit first overall in the QMJHL standings with a 26-7-2-0 record for 54 points.
• The Islanders were ranked second in the CHL Top 10 this week, sitting behind the WHL's Winnipeg Ice.
• Friday's CHL on TSN game features Joshua Roy and the Sherbrooke Phoenix visiting the Rimouski Oceanic.
• Only seven players from the QMJHL were invited to the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, which takes place March 23 in Kitchener. It's not going to be the greatest of NHL Drafts for the QMJHL this year.
• The WHL announced Thursday that its regular season will now end on April 17, which is still two weeks earlier than the QMJHL. The WHL plans to play its championship series June 3-14. The Memorial Cup is scheduled to begin June 20.
• CTV Atlantic has a story on how preparations are going for the 2022 Memorial Cup in Saint John.
• If you're a fan of Dallas Smith, it looks as though the new Memorial Cup dates won't interfere with his June 17 show at TD Station.
• The QMJHL is determined to play its entire regular season and playoffs, writes Willy Palov in the Chronicle Herald.
• It's not official yet, but it looks like the 2022 world juniors will indeed be played this August in Alberta.
• Very odd play by Elliot Desnoyers in the Wildcats/Mooseheads game the other night.
• Speaking of the Mooseheads, it's now been over two years since the infamous Classified concert incident. The pre-COVID times were fun!
• Sea Dogs fan Roger Blaquier is the QMJHL's fan of the week.