Playoff format announced

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League unveiled its playoff format on Wednesday.

As previously reported, the first three rounds will be best-of-five series while the President Cup Final will be a traditional best-of-seven.

The changes to the format are due to the league wanting to squeeze in its full 68-game schedule. The regular season is currently scheduled to end on May 1.

From the league's news release:

The round of 16 will oppose the eight teams from each conference, based on their position in the final regular season standings (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5). This round will be played from May 5 to 12.

In the second round, the four winning teams of each conference will compete against each other to clinch a berth in the semifinals. Once again, their seeding will be determined by their position in the final standings. The second round will be held from May 15 to 22.

The semifinals will feature the four remaining winning teams. They will be reseeded according to their position in the overall standings, but this time they will not automatically play within their conference. The two best-of-five series will occur between May 25 and June 1.

Finally, the President Cup Final series will be played from June 4 to 15. It will feature both winners from the semifinals.

The 2022 Memorial Cup is scheduled to be held June 20-29 in Saint John.

The Saint John Sea Dogs currently sit third in the Eastern Conference, which would only guarantee them home ice advantage in the first round. It's possible for them to move up, but it will be challenging.

If the season ended today, the Sea Dogs would play the Moncton Wildcats in the opening round.