Monday, May 19, 2025

Wildcats win Gilles-Courteau Trophy

QMJHL
MONCTON
– For the first time since 2010, the Moncton Wildcats are Gilles-Courteau Trophy champions.

The Wildcats secured the 2025 QMJHL title with a 3-2 win over the Rimouski Oceanic on Monday afternoon at Sun Life Financial Colisee, taking the series in six games. Both teams had already secured spots in the Memorial Cup tournament with Rimouski hosting.

This is the third QMJHL championship for the Wildcats in franchise history. Along with the 2010 title, they also won in 2006.
The Wildcats were up 3-0 in the series before the Oceanic dominated Game 4 and then edged the Wildcats on home ice on Saturday, forcing a Game 6 on holiday Monday.

Much like the past two games, the Wildcats struggled to get their offense going. Finally, at 6:30 of the second period, Gabe Smith broke the ice to make it 1-0. That goal seemed to give the Wildcats a lift as they went on to outshoot the Oceanic 19-7 in the period and took a 3-0 lead into the third.

As has been the case in this series, the Oceanic would not go away easily. Jonathan Fauchon scored at 7:11 of the third and then Jacob Mathieu connected on a power play at 11:32. But the Oceanic struggled to get things going in the final minutes, even with Mathis Langevin pulled for an extra attacker.

Overage goaltender Mathis Rousseau made 24 saves to finally get his QMJHL championship.

Caleb Desnoyers, with 30 points this post-season, was named playoff MVP.

While there are no former Saint John Sea Dogs players on the Wildcats, they do have a few connections.

  • The Wildcats are, of course, led by Gardiner MacDougall behind the bench, who guided the Sea Dogs to the 2022 Memorial Cup title. MacDougall has now won seven straight league championships (he helped UNB win six straight AUS titles before joining the Wildcats).
  • Defenseman Natan Grenier was a first-round pick of Saint John in the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft but never played a game for the team. He was traded to Moncton is the massive Philippe Daoust deal at the 2022 deadline.
  • In addition to MacDougall, Moncton's coaching staff includes two other former Sea Dogs coaches: Paul Boutilier (defensive consultant) and Mike Eagles (faceoff coach).

Moncton's roster also includes forward and Utah Mammoth prospect Gabe Smith, a St. Andrews native who played at Rothesay Netherwood.

The Oceanic, meanwhile, feature former Sea Dogs captain Eriks Mateiko, who finished the playoffs with seven goals and four assists in 18 games. He missed a few games due to an injury.

Both teams will now prepare for the Memorial Cup, which begins Friday with the Oceanic taking on the WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers. The next day sees the Wildcats face the OHL champion London Knights.

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