QMJHL's final four set; Mateiko scores in U-18 Latvia loss

HALIFAX - The top four teams from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's regular season will all play in the semifinals of the Gilles Courteau Trophy playoffs.

The Halifax Mooseheads secured the final semifinal spot on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Moncton Wildcats 7-3 to complete a 4-1 series win. Former Saint John Sea Dogs forward Josh Lawrence had an empty net goal in the third period.

The Wildcats, who feature former Sea Dogs forward Connor Trenholm, were without Yoan Loshing, Oscar Plandoswki, Jonas Taibel and a couple others for this game due to injuries. Moncton hung around as best they could despite being heavily outshot most of the game. Moncton got within two in the third period but couldn't get any closer, struggling to get shots on net.

Lawrence and the Mooseheads will face Joshua Roy and the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the semifinals, a 2-2-1-1-1 series that begins Saturday night at Scotiabank Centre. Roy currently sits second in QMJHL playoff scoring with 21 points.

The other semifinal will feature Charles Savoie and the Quebec Remparts taking on Cam MacDonald and the Gatineau Olympiques. That series begins Friday in Quebec City.

After a fairly uneventful second round, these two series should have a real playoff feel to them. All four teams loaded up and are threats to win the Gilles Courteau Trophy.

Some other notes...

• St. Andrews native Gabe Smith scored his first career QMJHL playoff goal in the third period. A few minutes later, it was announced that somebody from St. Andrews won the 50/50.
• Connor Trenholm finishes the playoffs with three assists in 12 games.
• Moncton's Etienne Morin leaves the playoffs as the league's scoring leader amongst defensemen with an impressive 17 points (two goals and 15 assists) in 12 games.
• At the IIHF World Under-18 Championship in Switzerland, Sea Dogs forward Eriks Mateiko scored Latvia's only goal in a 5-1 loss to the host Swiss. The Latvian captain had three shots in 18:42 of ice time. Latvia faces Norway on Monday.
• Pavel Simek and Team Czechia fell 2-0 to Sweden on Sunday. Simek had one shot in 13:52 of ice time. On Saturday, Team Czechia defeated Germany 7-1. Simek had an assist and two shots in 15:46 of ice time. Czechia plays Canada on Tuesday.