Quebec wins bronze at Canada Games

Emma Stewart/Canada Games

SUMMERSIDE, PE - The male hockey tournament of the 2023 Canada Winter Games came to a close Saturday with Ontario defeating Saskatchewan 3-2 in double overtime to win gold.

Earlier in the day, Quebec, which featured a lot of the top prospects for June's QMJHL Entry Draft, defeated British Columbia 7-3 in the bronze medal game.

A few notes and takeaways from the tournament...

• Quebec's roster included 16 players who were given an "A" rating by QMJHL Central Scouting in December's initial listing.
• Quebec's top line of Shawn Carrier, Caleb Desnoyers (the younger brother of Elliot Desnoyers - who coincidently made his NHL debut on Saturday) and Emile Guite was very good in Sunday's bronze medal game.
• According to the Canada Games website, Guite (six goals and three assists), Carrier (four goals and five assists), Desnoyers (one goal and eight assists) and Olivier Lampron (two goals and seven assists) all finished the tournament with nine points each.
• Yukon's Gavin McKenna, the first overall pick in last year's WHL Prospects Draft by the Medicine Hat Tigers, set a Canada Games record with an absurd 29 points (14 goals and 15 assists). The 15-year-old McKenna, who isn't eligible for the NHL Draft until 2026, has eight points in the 11 games he has played in with the Tigers this season.
• McKenna helped Yukon to their best finish ever at a Canada Games, placing 10th. Nova Scotia was seventh, New Brunswick eighth, Newfoundland and Labrador ninth and PEI 11th.
• Newfoundland's Ty Peddigrew, who is playing US prep school hockey this year, and PEI's Kayden McGuigan of the Charlottetown Knights finished third and fourth, respectively, in tournament scoring with 12 points each.
• A teammate of Peddigrew's with the Bishop Kearney Selects is Brady Peddle of Antigonish, an "A" prospect for this year's draft. Peddle's older brother, Tyler, plays for the Drummondville Voltigeurs while is father, Brad, is the coach of the StFX X-Men. Peddle had a goal and four assists at the Canada Games.
• Cole Chandler, who plays for Steele Subaru in the Nova Scotia under-18 league, led Nova Scotia in scoring with six goals and three assists. Chandler is an "A" prospect for this year's draft.
• Liam Kilfoil, also an "A" prospect, led New Brunswick in scoring with four goals and four assists. The Quispamsis native is playing US prep school hockey at Salisbury this season. 
• Sea Dogs forward Peter Reynolds led New Brunswick in scoring at the 2019 Canada Games.
• Here's Sea Dogs assistant coach Mark Lee, who was the head coach for Newfoundland and Labrador, discussing his team's performance. Of course, it will be interesting to see how many Newfoundlanders the Sea Dogs pick in this year's draft with Lee's (and head coach Travis Crickard's) connections.

The list of top scorers from the 2019 Canada Games has proven to be an all-star list of junior hockey players.

The 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft will take place June 10 in Sherbrooke.

Notebook: Canada Games hockey begins

Bimal Grewal/Canada Winter Games

If the last Canada Winter Games are any indication, there will be some serious talent on the ice across Prince Edward Island this week.

The top-10 scorers from the 2019 Canada Winter Games have become very familiar names.

The 2023 edition of the male hockey tournament gets underway Sunday and many of the top prospects for upcoming CHL drafts will be suiting up. Each province and territory has a team, so QMJHL followers will want to keep a close eye on Quebec and the four Atlantic teams. HockeyProspect.com has a preview of those five squads.

One non-Quebec/Atlantic player to pay attention to is Yukon's Gavin McKenna, the first overall pick in last year's WHL draft. In 11 games with the Medicine Hat Tigers this season, McKenna has eight assists while still only 15-years-old.

Saint John Sea Dogs assistant coach Mark Lee will be the head coach for Newfoundland and Labrador while Sea Dogs head coach Travis Crickard is listed as an assistant.

NON-MARITIME NUMBERS

Friday night's game against the Sherbrooke Phoenix was Saint John's last match of the regular season against an opponent from outside the Maritimes Division.

The Sea Dogs will finish the season with an 8-16-0-0 record against teams from outside the Maritimes. They went 2-6-0-0 against East Division teams; 4-4-0-0 against West Division clubs; and 2-6-0-0 against Central Division teams.

The Sea Dogs could, of course, face a non-Maritimes team in the first round of the playoffs if they qualify.