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Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Notebook: McCluskey pushes Bearcats to first round MHL series win

UNB Athletics
HALIFAX - Former Saint John Sea Dogs forward Carter McCluskey played a key role in getting the Truro Bearcats into the second round of the Maritime Hockey League playoffs.

McCluskey, who appeared in 22 games with the Cape Breton Eagles earlier this season, recorded four goals and two assists in just three games, helping lift the Bearcats to a 4-2 series win over the Valley Wildcats.

Those numbers included scoring the overtime winner in Game 5 on Sunday.
McCluskey, Cael MacDonald and the Bearcats will face Ben Roode and the Yarmouth Mariners in the next round.

The other series will feature the Edmundston Blizzard (Brandon Casey) facing either the Summerside Western Capitals or Campbellton Tigers (Connor Richard and Dawson Stairs). The Capitals host the Tigers in a Game 7 on Friday.

FINAL RANKINGS
The Gatineau Olympiques finished the regular season fourth in the QMJHL standings but have been ranked No. 1 in the final edition of the CHL Top 10.

Three other QMJHL teams were ranked as well.
ONE YEAR LATER
How did the four teams that participated in last year's Memorial Cup in Saint John fare this season?

In the QMJHL, the President Cup winning Shawinigan Cataractes had a respectable post-championship campaign, finishing fifth overall in the Western Conference with a 29-34-3-2 record. The host Sea Dogs, meanwhile, finished ninth in the Eastern Conference with a 24-38-5-1 record - again, a respectable record considering how far the team went all in last year.

Like the Cataractes and Sea Dogs, the defending OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs qualified for the playoffs. The Bulldogs, who will be relocating to Brantford for at least three seasons during the summer, finished fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 33-30-5-0 record.

Things weren't so pretty out west where the reigning WHL champion Edmonton Oil Kings went just 10-54-4-0, finishing last overall with 29 points. The Spokane Chiefs, who finished in the spot above the Oil Kings, had 40 points.

This year's Memorial Cup hosts, the Kamloops Blazers, had a 48-13-4-3 record, finishing second in the WHL's Western Conference behind a stacked Seattle Thunderbirds team. The Blazers will face the Vancouver Giants in the opening round of the playoffs.

READINGS
Some pre-series reading from the Gatineau side of things.
The Slush Puppie Centre will be a busy building with the Sea Dogs setting up shop for a few days along with the OHL's Ottawa 67's, who will be playing their first round games in Gatineau due to arena availability issues at TD Place. The 67's host the Oshawa Generals on Thursday and Sunday.

NEW POD EPISODE
This week on The Hockey News on the Q, Will MacLaren and I are joined by Cory Arsenault, one of the long-time voices of the Charlottetown Islanders/PEI Rocket, to discuss the QMJHL's playoffs.
OTHER THINGS
  • RDS' Stephane Leroux shares his predictions for the first round of the QMJHL playoffs - which include a couple upsets.
  • The Quebec-based writers are all predicting a Gatineau sweep over Saint John.
  • The CHL website previews the QMJHL playoffs.
  • How can you watch the QMJHL playoffs? The CHL website has details on what's up with CHL TV post-season packages.
  • Regina Pats forward Connor Bedard won the CHL's scoring race with 143 points, edging Halifax's Jordan Dumais who had 140. The OHL points leader was Matthew Maggio of the Windsor Spitfires with 111.
  • Bedard also led the CHL in goals with 71. Halifax's Alexandre Doucet was second with 58.
  • The OHL's Kingston Frontenacs have released a statement regarding their disappointment about the CHL's choice of 2024 Memorial Cup host.
  • Former Sea Dogs defenseman Jakub Zboril hasn't seen much action this season, appearing in just 18 games with a deep Boston Bruins team. “I mean, his attitude has been incredible while he wasn’t playing a lot,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said last week following a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
  • Former Sea Dogs forward Dawson Theede is back with the National Lacrosse League's Halifax Thunderbirds now that the Saint Mary's Huskies men's hockey season is over. The Thunderbirds are in a fight for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with four games remaining.
  • The Prince George Cougars, who feature former Sea Dogs bench boss Josh Dixon as an associate coach, finished fourth in the WHL's Western Conference with a 37-24-6-1 record. They'll face the Tri-City Americans in the first round.
  • The Saskatoon Blades had their first sellout ever at SaskTel Centre (and yes, that includes the 2013 Memorial Cup) on March 19 when they hosted the Regina Pats, welcoming 14,768 fans. Now the two provincial rivals are set to clash in the opening round of the WHL playoffs - and tickets are selling fast for the first two games in Saskatoon.
  • The Prince Albert Raiders will pick first overall (and second and seventh) in May's WHL Prospects Draft. The Erie Otters will select first overall in April's OHL Priority Selection.
  • St. Stephen native Ross MacDougall has signed with the ECHL's Indy Fuel. MacDougall, who played with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and Quebec Remparts during his QMJHL career, recently helped the UNB Reds win the University Cup.
  • It's been a season of exits for the ECHL's Trois-Rivieres Lions. Head coach Eric Belanger left the club earlier this season to take over the Drummondville Voltigeurs' bench; Hugo Bernier, the team's vice president, corporate partnerships, recently joined the Moncton Wildcats front office; and now president Mark Weightman will be leaving the club next month to become the president of the CFL's Montreal Alouettes. 
  • Speaking of the Lions, entering play Wednesday, former Sea Dogs forward Ryan Francis sat second in team scoring with 43 points (19 goals and 24 assists). Nicolas Guay was fifth with 40 points.
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