Saturday, May 3, 2025

Notebook: QMJHL Cup concludes

Vincent Ethier/QMJHL
Team Daigle won the QMJHL Cup last weekend.

The tournament, which features the top prospects for the upcoming QMJHL Entry Draft split into four teams, came to a close on April 26 and saw Team Daigle defeat Team Savage 3-2.

Team Daigle had a fairly loaded roster, featuring top prospects like James Scantlebury, Benjamin Veitch and Malik L'Italien.

Veitch and Emrick Nolette-Robidoux finished in a tie for the team scoring lead with four goals and three assists in four games.

Scantlebury, considered to be one of the top prospects in this year's draft, posted three goals and three assists.

Alexis Joseph, who played with Team Talbot, registered three goals and four assists, finishing in a tie for third in tournament scoring.

The QMJHL Entry Draft takes place June 6-7 in Quebec City. The Saint John Sea Dogs own the first overall pick.

SCANTLEBURY NEWS
Even after the announcement that he has signed a USHL tender agreement with the Chicago Steel, there appears to still be hope that James Scantlebury will choose the QMJHL route.

Hadi Kalakeche of Elie Prospects shared the below earlier this week.
We'll see how this plays out. In recent years, some players in this situation have continued down the USHL route while others opted for the QMJHL.

AKKOUCHE TO U SPORTS
Former Sea Dogs forward/defenseman Danny Akkouche has signed with the Nipissing Lakers men's hockey team, the U Sports school announced this week.

Akkouche spent his overage season captaining the Fort McMurray Oil Barrons where he registered 19 goals and 30 assists in 54 regular season games. He added a goal and an assist in five AJHL playoff games.

"I'm a two-way forward with my skating and hockey IQ as strengths," Akkouche said in a Lakers news release. "I expect myself to be a player coaches trust to play in every situation and who's going to help the team win games. I chose Nipissing University to play hockey because of the strong program and the opportunity to compete at a high level while pursuing my education. The team culture and supportive coaching staff also played a big role in my decision, making it feel like the perfect fit for both my athletic and academic goals."

The Lakers are based in North Bay and share an arena with the OHL's North Bay Battalion.

Akkouche spent parts of two seasons with the Sea Dogs, appearing in 98 games with the club.

LONG WINS FOURTH TERM
Former Sea Dogs president Wayne Long won a fourth term as MP for the riding of Saint John-Kennebecasis on Monday.

Long sported a 2011 Sea Dogs Memorial Cup championship hat during Monday night's election. His election night party was held uptown at O'Leary's Pub.
Long wasn't expected to run in this election but put his hat back in the ring after Mark Carney replaced Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader.

It's the fourth time Long has won the federal riding after victories in 2015, 2019 and 2021.

SIMEK RETURNS HOME
Former Sea Dogs forward Pavel Simek is returning home, signing with Mountfield HK of the Czech league for the 2025-26 season.
Simek played for the program's under-17 and under-20 teams before making the jump to the QMJHL in 2022-23. He spent two seasons with the Sea Dogs before splitting this past year between the Rimouski Oceanic and Charlottetown Islanders.

Simek was a first-round pick of Saint John in the 2022 CHL Import Draft.

OTHER THINGS
  • Just about every piece of merch is available at a reduced price on the Sea Dogs online store right now.
  • The Halifax Mooseheads website looks at 10 of the top prospects available for this year's QMJHL Entry Draft.
  • The Colorado Eagles website has a feature on former Sea Dogs forward William Dufour. Dufour did not play in the Eagles' playoff opener on Friday night.
  • It sounds like we'll start hearing more about CHL players heading to the NCAA in the coming weeks. As was expected, NCAA teams are finding a number of CHL players don't have the required courses completed in order to make the jump.
  • At the time of this writing, we're still waiting on schedules for the OHL and QMJHL finals. The teams for the OHL final have been locked in since Thursday while we know the Wildcats will have home ice advantage in the QMJHL.
  • The Wildcats are averaging 5,671 fans per game in these playoffs. They averaged 5,218 fans per game in the regular season.
  • In Bob McKenzie's draft lottery rankings, Wildcats forward Caleb Desnoyers was ranked sixth. The NHL's Draft Lottery takes place Monday night.
  • Desnoyers currently leads the QMJHL in playoff scoring with 24 points (nine goals and 15 assists) in 13 games.
  • One of the biggest surprises this post-season has been the play of Moncton forward and Utah prospect Gabe Smith. The St. Andrews native sits fourth in playoff scoring with 17 points in 13 games. He had 39 points in 52 regular season contest.
  • Wildcats goaltender Rudy Guimond looked a bit shaky in his QMJHL debut way back on Dec. 8 in Saint John. He's not looking shaky anymore. The Detroit Red Wings prospect, in the regular season and playoffs combined, is now 23-0 with a 1.82 GAA and .936 SV%.
  • The Grand Forks Herald broke down the top-25 attended North American hockey teams outside the NHL. The QMJHL's Quebec Remparts were fifth (9,805) while the Mooseheads were 11th (8,221). The NCAA's North Dakota Fighting Hawks were first (11,614).
  • A look inside the new rink on the Dalhousie University campus.
  • The USHL final is set. Tynan Lawrence, the younger brother of Josh Lawrence, and the Muskegon Lumberjacks will take on Brady Peddle, the younger brother of Tyler Peddle, and the Waterloo Black Hawks. The best-of-five series begins next weekend.
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