First round hasn't been easiest for hosts

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

BRUNSWICK, ME - Should we have seen the struggles coming for the Saint John Sea Dogs in their playoff opener? History tells us... maybe?

As brought up on the Wildcast Podcast last week (you should listen to that!), the first round hasn't been the easiest for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey's League's Memorial Cup hosting teams in recent years. The past two host teams - the Halifax Mooseheads in 2019 and the Quebec Remparts in 2015 - needed seven games to win their first round series. Both clubs also dropped their playoff opener.

Here's a quick breakdown of how Memorial Cup hosting teams from the QMJHL have performed in the first round since 2000.

2019: The host Halifax Mooseheads (49-15-2-2) needed seven games to defeat the Quebec Remparts (27-28-7-6) in the first round. The Remparts won the first two games of that series. The Mooseheads went on to lose in the President Cup final to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

2015: The host Quebec Remparts (40-25-1-2) needed seven games to defeat the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (31-31-3-3) in the first round. The Screaming Eagles won the first game of that series. The Remparts went on to lose in the President Cup final to the Rimouski Oceanic.

2012: The host Shawinigan Cataractes (45-16-3-4) swept their first round series against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (24-36-4-4). The Cataractes were eliminated in the second round by the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

Sea Dogs HHOF Stuff On Display

QUEBEC CITY - At the 2015 Memorial Cup, the Hockey Hall of Fame's mobile junior hockey exhibit made an appearance.

The exhibit included the CHL's major awards trophies and quite a bit of memorabilia from past players and teams. There were quite a few Sea Dogs related things on display and I took terrible photos of all of them to share with you. You're welcome.

Here's Gerard Gallant's name on the CHL Coach of the Year trophy.

Memorial Cup Participants Finalized

The four teams that will participate in the 2015 Memorial Cup in Quebec City have been confirmed.

The Oshawa Generals become the final team to book their ticket to the tournament, defeating Connor McDavid and the Erie Otters last night to win the OHL championship.

The Kelowna Rockets won the WHL title earlier this week. The Rimouski Oceanic and Quebec Remparts have already earned spots as well.

Here is the full schedule for this year’s tournament:

Friday, May 22: Kelowna vs Quebec

Saturday, May 23: Rimouski vs Oshawa

Sunday, May 24: Quebec vs Oshawa

Monday, May 25: Rimouski vs Kelowna

Tuesday, May 26: Oshawa vs Kelowna

Wednesday, May 27: Quebec vs Rimouski

Thursday, May 28: Tie-breaker game

Friday, May 29: Semifinal game

Sunday, May 31: Championship game

In the QMJHL final, neither team has yet to win a home game. Quebec took a 3-2 series lead with a 3-2 victory in Rimouski last night. Game six is on Sunday afternoon in Quebec City.

Rimouski To Play Quebec In QMJHL Final

It’s been a fantastic post-season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. But the semifinals… they weren’t so great.

The Quebec Remparts and Rimouski Oceanic both advanced to the President Cup finals with sweeps over the Moncton Wildcats and Val-d’Or Foreurs, respectively. Quebec outscored Moncton 20-5 and Rimouski outscored Val-d’Or 17-5.

Of course, with Quebec hosting this year’s Memorial Cup, Rimouski has automatically earned a berth in the tournament.

Although it’s hard to believe given the regular season success of the Remparts over the past decade, this will be Quebec’s first appearance in the league final since 2006 when they lost to the Wildcats. Rimouski returns to the final for the first time since 2012 where they lost to Saint John.

Rimouski won the regular season series between the two, going 5-2-1-0.

With both teams getting their semifinal series done so quickly, the schedule for the final will be a bit funky.

Game 1 - Tue May 5 | 7:00 PM | Québec @ Rimouski
Game 2 - Fri May 8 | 7:00 PM | Québec @ Rimouski
Game 3 - Sun May 10 | 3:00 PM | Rimouski @ Québec
Game 4 - Wed May 13 | 7:00 PM | Rimouski @ Québec
Game 5 - Fri May 15 | 7:00 PM | * Québec @ Rimouski
Game 6 - Sun May 17 | 3:00 PM | * Rimouski @ Québec
Game 7 - Mon May 18 | 7:00 PM | * Québec @ Rimouski

The Memorial Cup begins on Friday, May 22.

Some other news and notes…

• Marcus Cuomo is the only former Sea Dog taking part in the President Cup final.
• Tomas Jurco and the Detroit Red Wings had their season come to an end last night with a 2-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in game seven of their first round series. Jurco only saw 7:19 of ice time last night, recording one shot.
• The Lightning will now face Nathan Beaulieu and the Montreal Canadiens in the second round. That series begins tomorrow night. Beaulieu has been ruled out for at least the first four games with an upper body injury.
• Simon Despres and the Anaheim Ducks begin their second round series against the Calgary Flames tonight.

Remparts Named Memorial Cup Host

If you haven’t heard, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League awarded Quebec City the 2015 Memorial Cup tournament today.

The Remparts and Chicoutimi Sagueneens were the only teams to bid on the tournament. The selection committee chose Quebec “based on the fact that their bid had all the elements from top to bottom to convince us that they would present an excellent 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup: great hockey team, good organizing committee and superior installations.”

Today’s decision could potentially be huge for the Saint John Sea Dogs. This certainly makes the Remparts an even more attractive destination for players next season. They’ve been able to attract plenty of top talent in the past and you have to wonder if they may try and land Jack Eichel, the American forward who is one of the top prospects for the 2015 NHL Draft.

The Sea Dogs currently hold Eichel’s rights, and although it would be awesome to see him playing in a Saint John jersey, the assets the team would get in return for trading him would be greatly beneficial in the team’s quest to peak in 2017. No matter where Eichel ends up playing next season he is likely in the NHL come the 2015-16 campaign.

But, y'know, maybe Eichel will fulfill his commitment to Boston University and spend the entire season there and none of this speculation will even matter. We shall see.

In related news, the Sagueneens said they are uncertain on whether or not they will bid on the 2017 Memorial Cup. The 2015 tournament will be the third straight time the QMJHL has awarded the tournament to a Quebec city so there will probably be some added pressure on the league to give it to a Maritime city come 2017. 

Sea Dogs Notebook

For those who haven’t seen it, above is what the poutine looks like at Harbour Station.

UP NEXT

The Sea Dogs are on the road this weekend for a pair of games against divisional opponents. Tomorrow night they are in Sydney to take on the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and on Sunday they are in Bathurst to battle the Titan.

The Screaming Eagles sit one point back of the Sea Dogs in the Maritimes Division with a 3-2-0-2 record. They are 3-0-0-1 in their past four games.

The Titan, who host the Moncton Wildcats tonight, sit fourth in the division with a 3-4-0-0 record.

Saint John has not played Cape Breton yet this season but they are 1-1 against Bathurst.

LEADERS

Following a two goal performance on Tuesday night, Michael Abbott has moved back into the team point lead with eight points (three goals and five points). Stephen Anderson is second on the team in points with seven while Olivier LeBlanc and Oliver Cooper each have six.

Abbott, Anderson, and Nathan Noel all share the team goal scoring lead with three each.

Cooper is a team best +4 if you are interested in knowing such things.

MEMORIAL CUP

If you haven’t heard, Quebec City, Chicoutimi, and Moncton are the three teams bidding to host the 2015 Memorial Cup.

As expected, the Sea Dogs did not place a bid. The Times & Transcript writes the “Sea Dogs had stated their intention to submit bids to host both the 2015 and 2017 Memorial Cups. They opted out of the running for 2015 and will focus on 2017.”

According to a league release, “visits to each one of the cities will be schedule for the beginning of 2014 in order to proceed with the final announcement on April 3rd, following the Golden Puck Awards.”

Wednesday Morning Stuff

Some stuff...

• RDS reports that the PEI Rocket/Islanders are for sale. Apparently a local group has until April 26 to purchase the club from the Savard family or the team may be bought and moved to Sorel, Quebec. 
• More on the Rocket/Islanders rumours in The Guardian. The Rocket/Islanders had originally planned to unveil their new logo this week but that has been postponed.
• According to a bunch of Quebec media folks on Twitter, the Remparts will be making a bid to host the 2015 Memorial Cup. They last hosted in 2003. As for the Sea Dogs, they’ve been quite silent about their future plans for some time now.
• The MHL Final began last night with the Summerside Western Capitals taking on the Truro Bearcats. Former Sea Dogs Danny Chaisson, Spencer MacDonald, Jason Seed, and Grant West all had points in the game. The Caps won 4-3. Game 2 is on Friday night.
• One year ago: one of the greatest nights in QMJHL history.
• Wild website had an article on Charlie Coyle last week.
• At Buzzing The Net, Stephen MacAulay compares the 2011 Sea Dogs to this year’s Mooseheads.
• If you’re a hockey card collector and are wondering what’s going on with this year’s rookie class, information on that is here.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation