Sea Dogs, Oceanic playoff series confirmed; Dufour wins goal scoring race

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

MONCTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs will face the Rimouski Oceanic in the opening round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs.

The series was confirmed Sunday with the Oceanic falling 6-2 to the Quebec Remparts and the Halifax Mooseheads defeating the Cape Breton Eagles 5-4. The results clinched the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference for the Oceanic, meaning they'll take on the No. 3 seeded Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs were 1-1-0-0 against the Oceanic in the regular season.

Here's a look at the Eastern Conference first round matchups:

1) Quebec vs 8) Chicoutimi

2) Charlottetown vs 7) Moncton

3) Saint John vs 6) Rimouski

4) Bathurst vs 5) Halifax

And the Western Conference:

1) Sherbrooke vs 8) Baie-Comeau

2) Gatineau vs 7) Val-d'Or

3) Shawinigan vs 6) Rouyn-Noranda

4) Drummondville vs 5) Blainville-Boisbriand

The Baie-Comeau Drakkar clinched the league's final playoff spot on Sunday and will crossover to the Western Conference. The reigning President Cup champion Victoriaville Tigres and the Cape Breton Eagles are the only clubs that did not qualify for the post-season.

The Remparts clinched first overall in the QMJHL standings, edging the Charlottetown Islanders by a single point. The Sea Dogs finished third overall, six points back of Quebec.

A few other things were confirmed on the final day of the regular season:

• William Dufour finished first in QMJHL goal scoring with 56. Charlottetown's Patrick Guay (who had a goal Sunday) and Quebec's Zachary Bolduc (who had a hat trick) finished right behind him with 55 each.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Joshua Roy won the scoring race with 119 points. Dufour finished second with 116.
• With 70 assists, Josh Lawrence finished in a tie with Bathurst's Riley Kidney and Halifax's Jordan Dumais for the league lead.
• The Sea Dogs won the Luc Robitaille Trophy for having the best goals for average in the regular season. It's the third time the team has won the trophy (2009-10 and 2010-11) but the first since the league switched the award to best goals for average instead of simply goals for.
• Thomas Couture finishes the regular season as the league leader in wins with 29. Who would have predicted that in the fall?
• William Villeneuve was a league best +60. He was a -52 his rookie year.
• As mentioned, with Sunday's victory, the Sea Dogs also secured third-place in the overall QMJHL standings, which could be important down the road.