Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Golden Puck Predictions 2012


The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League will hold their annual Golden Puck Awards Show tonight at some hotel in downtown Montreal.

Several members of the Saint John Sea Dogs are nominated again this year. Nathan Beaulieu is nominated for the Émile “Butch” Bouchard Trophy which is awarded to the league’s best defenseman, Gerard Gallant is nominated for the Ron-Lapointe Trophy for a third straight year which is awarded to the coach of the year, and Jonathan Huberdeau is up for the Paul-Dumont Trophy as personality of the year.

Sea Dogs goaltender Mathieu Corbeil will also be awarded the Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy for having the QMJHL’s best goals against average.

At last year’s event, Simon Despres was named Defenseman of the Year, Gallant Coach of the Year, Mike Kelly General Manager of the Year, and Jacob DeSerres received the Jacques Plante Trophy.

Here are our predictions for tonight’s awards show.

Michel-Brière Trophy - Most Valuable Player
Yanni Gourde - Victoriaville Tigres
Mikhail Grigorenko - Québec Remparts
Zach O’Brien - Acadie-Bathurst Titan

Prediction: Yanni Gourde – he led the league in points by a wide margin, recording 124 points in 68 games. He helped setup 87 of Victoriaville’s league high 311 goals.

RDS Cup - Rookie of the Year
François Brassard - Quebec Remparts
Anthony Duclair - Quebec Remparts
Zachary Fucale - Halifax Mooseheads
Mikhail Grigorenko - Quebec Remparts
Nathan MacKinnon - Halifax Mooseheads
Brandon Whitney - Victoriaville Tigres

Prediction: Mikhail Grigorenko – we see this as a three horse race between Grigorenko, MacKinnon and Fucale. We’ll go with Grigorenko since he led all rookies in scoring and is a MVP candidate.

Émile “Butch” Bouchard Trophy - Best Defenseman
Nathan Beaulieu - Saint John Sea Dogs
Jérôme Gauthier-Leduc - Rimouski Océanic
Xavier Ouellet - Blainville-Boisbriand Armada

Prediction: Jerome Gauthier-Leduc – led all defensemen in scoring with 74 points in 62 games. In the words of Pierre McGuire, he’s a monster.

Frank-J.-Selke Trophy - Sportsman of the Year
Ben Duffy - PEI Rocket
Zach O’Brien - Acadie-Bathurst Titan
Sébastien Trudeau - Acadie-Bathurst Titan

Prediction: Zach O’Brien – in just over two seasons in the QMJHL, Zach O’Brien has not taken a penalty. Not one. Not a single roughing or delay of game or anything penalty in 126 career games. He should probably have an award named after him some day.

Michael-Bossy Trophy - Top Professional Prospect
Martin Frk - Halifax Mooseheads
Mikhail Grigorenko - Quebec Remparts
Brandon Whitney - Victoriaville Tigres

Prediction: Mikhail Grigorenko – he’ll be an early first round pick at this year’s NHL draft.

Marcel-Robert Trophy - TELUS Scholastic Player of the Year
Jonathan Brunelle - Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
Patrick Delisle-Houde - Moncton Wildcats
Jean-Philippe Mathieu - Rimouski Océanic
Michaël Bournival - Shawinigan Cataractes
Yanni Gourde - Victoriaville Tigres

Prediction: No idea.

Ron-Lapointe Trophy - Coach of the Year
Gérard Gallant - Saint John Sea Dogs
Jean-François Houle - Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
Patrick Roy - Quebec Remparts

Prediction: Jean-Francois Houle – it pains me not to give this award to Turk but, man, how can you not pick Jean-Francois Houle? This guy has done an unreal job with the Armada. A team many, including us, predicted to finish dead last ended up finishing third overall and are now on their way to the second round of the playoffs.

Maurice-Filion Trophy - General Manager of the Year
Joël Bouchard - Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
Martin Mondou - Shawinigan Cataractes
Patrick Roy - Quebec Remparts

Prediction: Martin Mondou - As much as we dislike Martin Mondou (although that article in the Telegraph last week made us like him just a little bit) he did turn the Cataractes into a respectable Memorial Cup host. Last summer, things weren’t looking that great. But now, Shawinigan is a legit contender for the national title.

Paul-Dumont Trophy - Personality of the Year
Mikhail Grigorenko - Quebec Remparts
Jonathan Huberdeau - Saint John Sea Dogs
Nathan MacKinnon - Halifax Mooseheads

Prediction: Jonathan Huberdeau - Not even sure what this award means so we’ll give it to Huberdeau.

Humanitarian and Community Involvement Trophy
Konrad Abeltshauser - Halifax Mooseheads
Vincent Barnard - Québec Remparts
Cédrick Henley - Val-d'Or Foreurs

Prediction: No clue. 

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