Report: QMJHL playoffs to mostly be best-of-five

HALIFAX - We know the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's post-season will look quite different this year.

With the regular season pushed into early May and the Memorial Cup taking place in late June, the league has no other option but to shorten its playoffs. According to Stephane Leroux of RDS, it's likely that we will see three rounds of best-of-five series - instead of the usual best-of-seven - to make up time.

Horaire des series #LHJMQ sera vraisemblablement confirmé la semaine prochaine mais ça devrait ressembler a ça :

3 premières rondes (3 de 5)
Finale (4 de 7)

1re : 5-12 Mai
2e : 15-22 Mai
1/2 F: 25 mai - 1er juin
C. - President : 4-15 Juin

Début Coupe Memorial Lundi 20 juin

— Stephane Leroux (@StephRDSJunior) March 3, 2022

The Saint John Sea Dogs have never played a best-of-five playoff series in team history. Not including last season's provincial championship thing, the Sea Dogs haven't appeared in a true playoff game since 2017.

A best-of-five obviously leaves less room for error than a best-of-seven. Saint John already has the pressure of being Memorial Cup hosts on them, and the team will need to be well prepared to handle the stress of a short series.

There are still some questions to be answered about the playoff format, notably how home/away splits will work and how the seedings will function in each round.

The QMJHL's regular season ends on May 1.