Second round QMJHL playoff predictions

Cape Breton Eagles

The second round of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League playoffs start tonight with all four series kicking off.

There were a couple upsets in the opening round with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan's sweeping of the Halifax Mooseheads being the only major upset. The Chicoutimi Sagueneens eliminating the Moncton Wildcats was officially an upset, but the two teams finished quite close in the standings.

Only one series in the opening round went longer than five games. Hopefully the second round provides some better entertainment.

I correctly picked seven of eight first round series. Here are my picks for the second round:

Eastern Conference

1. Baie-Comeau vs 7. Bathurst — Drakkar in 4

At this point, it seems like a bad idea to bet against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan after a masterful opening round against Halifax. But the Mooseheads were a team the Titan had figured out in the second half. They don't have the same familiarity with the Drakkar and Baie-Comeau is the No. 1 seed for a reason. I hope the Titan can make a good series out of this, but I have doubts.

4. Cape Breton vs 6. Chicoutimi — Eagles in 7

There's potential for this to be the best series of the playoffs. Two teams that had tremendous ends to the regular season and kept rolling in the first round. Neither team has a ton of playoff experience, which adds to the fun and intrigue. Cape Breton is buzzing again for the Eagles and an electric Centre 200 could be the extra push needed to get them into the third round.

Western Conference

1. Drummondville vs 4. Sherbrooke — Voltigeurs in 4

Sherbrooke needed seven games to defeat the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the opening round while Drummondville was fairly dominant in their sweep of the Saint John Sea Dogs. I don't see the Volts having much trouble with the Phoenix.

2. Rouyn-Noranda vs 3. Victoriaville — Huskies in 6

I went back and forth on this one and expect this to be a good series. These are two of the top teams in the league and were separated by nine points. This feels more like a third round matchup, honestly. Hard to pick against Nathan Darveau in the Victoriaville net — but it's also hard to pick against Memorial Cup champion William Rousseau in the Huskies net. This series could be fun.