Islanders, Cataractes to play in QMJHL final

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The Shawinigan Cataractes are heading back to the President Cup final.

The Cataractes advanced to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's championship series with a come-from-behind 5-3 victory over the Quebec Remparts Wednesday night, winning the best-of-five semifinal series in five games.

Playing in front of 14,563 fans at Videotron Centre, the Cataractes erased a 3-1 deficit in the victory. Shawinigan tied the game at 3-3 early in the third period and then Pierrick Dube scored on a power play at 19:12 to make it 4-3. Dube added an empty netter to complete the hat trick and make it a 5-3 final.

Pierrick Dubé a le compas dans l'oeil!!

Revoyez son deuxième du match!!

⚡️ pic.twitter.com/Vyg44oWqca

— Cataractes de Shawinigan (@Cataractes_Shaw) June 2, 2022

The Cataractes' woes have been long documented. The franchise dates back to 1969 but has never won a President Cup championship. This will be their first trip to the final since 2016.

Shawinigan, who finished seventh overall in the regular season thanks to a season filled with injuries, will face the No. 2 seed Charlottetown Islanders in the President Cup final. Like the Cataractes, the Islanders have never won a league championship.

The Islanders will be without Xavier Simoneau in Game 1. Simoneau was suspended one-game for a boarding major he took in Game 4 of Charlottetown's semifinal series against Sherbrooke.

The Islanders have home ice advantage for the final. The best-of-seven (yes, seven) series begins Saturday in Charlottetown. 

The Ontario Hockey League final is also set. The Windsor Spitfires defeated the Flint Firebirds 4-0 in Game 7 Wednesday night, advancing to the league final. The Spits will now face the 12-0 Hamilton Bulldogs.

The best-of-seven series begins Friday in Hamilton.

The Sea Dogs previously faced the Spitfires at the 2017 Memorial Cup.

In the Western Hockey League, the Seattle Thunderbirds advanced to the league final with a 3-2 Game 7 win over the Kamloops Blazers Tuesday. The Thunderbirds will battle the powerhouse Edmonton Oil Kings for the WHL title.

The best-of-seven series - which will follow an odd scheduling format - begins Friday in Edmonton. According to the WHL website, "the 2022 WHL Championship Series will follow a 2-2-3 format as a result of facility conflicts due to graduations at the accesso ShoWare Center in Seattle. Game 6, if necessary, will serve as Seattle’s third home game of the 2022 WHL Championship Series."

The Sea Dogs have previously faced both teams - the Thunderbirds in 2017 and the Oil Kings in 2012.

TSN will be broadcasting all three championship series from Game 3 onward.

The winner of each league championship advances to the 2022 Memorial Cup in Saint John.