Voltigeurs eliminated from Memorial Cup

Eric Young / CHL

The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League's run of Memorial Cup championships has come to a close.

The QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs had their Memorial Cup hopes come to an end on Tuesday, falling 5-3 to the Western Hockey League's Moose Jaw Warriors. The Volts leave Saginaw with an 0-3 record, becoming the first QMJHL team to go winless and not reach at least the tournament semifinal since the 2010 Moncton Wildcats in Brandon.

Moose Jaw scored the game-winner while shorthanded with 1:34 remaining in the third period. Shots ended 52-28 in favour of Drummondville with 26 of the Volts' shots coming in the third.

QMJHL teams have won the past four Memorial Cups, a stretch that began with the 2018 Acadie-Bathurst Titan and continued with the 2019 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, 2022 Saint John Sea Dogs and 2023 Quebec Remparts. There were no tournaments held in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic.

History says it's not often teams recover from bad starts at the Memorial Cup – and the Voltigeurs were victims of that. Drummondville dropped their opener 4-0 to the powerhouse London Knights and then blew 2-0 and 3-2 leads in a 4-3 loss to the host Saginaw Spirit.

Drummondville's lineup included former Saint John Sea Dogs forward Noah Reinhart and Quispamsis native Sam Oliver. The two played together on the team's third line.

Moose Jaw, 1-2, will play in Friday's semifinal game against the loser of Wednesday's London/Saginaw game. The winner of Wednesday's tilt earns a bye through to Sunday's final.

The last OHL team to win the Memorial Cup was the 2017 Windsor Spitfires. No WHL team has won the trophy since the 2014 Edmonton Oil Kings.

Notebook: Beaten by the champs

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs can at least say they were eliminated from this year's QMJHL playoffs by the eventual champions.

The Drummondville Voltigeurs took down the Sea Dogs in a four game sweep in the opening round en route to a league championship. It's the third time in franchise history that the Sea Dogs were eliminated from post-season play by the league champion.

2010: Moncton Wildcats (league final)

2013: Halifax Mooseheads (first round)

2024: Drummondville Voltigeurs (first round)

Saint John, although they did win the 2022 Memorial Cup tournament, has not won a playoff series since the 2017 QMJHL final.

ROUGH PLAYOFFS

In terms of entertainment, this was a rough post-season in the QMJHL. There was only one Game 7 and, remarkably, only two series went six games or longer. There were eight sweeps.

What an incredibly disappointing #QPlayoffs from an entertainment standpoint. Only two of 15 series make it past Game 5 👎

— David McKnight (@mcknight_david) May 15, 2024

The situation is probably a one off but, even before this year, there was a valid conversation to be had about adjusting the league's playoff format, whether that be returning to the 1vs 16 setup or simply reducing the amount of teams that get in.

It wasn't a great year of playoff hockey across the CHL, as Ken Campbell of The Hockey News points out. There are high hopes for this year's Memorial Cup given how each champion earned their spot via sweep in the league final.

Field set for 2024 Memorial Cup

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The field is now set for the 2024 Memorial Cup.

The London Knights and Moose Jaw Warriors secured their spots in the tournament on Wednesday night, joining the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs and host Saginaw Spirit. The tournament begins next Friday in Michigan.

All four championship series ended in sweeps, which is a CHL first. Drummondville and London had fairly easy times with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Oshawa Generals, respectively, while Moose Jaw had a few close games with the Portland Winterhawks.

🗓️ Plan accordingly! #MemorialCup

📺💻📱TSN | RDS | NHL Network (🇺🇸) | #CHLTV (🌍) pic.twitter.com/vF65CknKdZ

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) May 16, 2024

Both Saginaw and Moose Jaw will be making their Memorial Cup debuts. This was the first WHL championship for the Warriors despite their franchise dating back 40 years.

Drummondville will be making their fourth appearance and first since 2009.

London, meanwhile, has been no stranger to this tournament over the past 20 years. The Knights will be playing in their sixth Memorial Cup since 2005 and will be looking for a third title. They'll likely be favourites going into this given how they handled the OHL with relative ease this season – which included eliminating Saginaw in the third round of the playoffs.

All three league champions will have over a week to prepare for the Memorial Cup. Saginaw hasn't played since May 5.

The QMJHL has won the past four Memorial Cups. The OHL last won it in 2017 (Windsor Spitfires) while no WHL team has won since 2014 (Edmonton Oil Kings).

League finals set; Memorial Cup host out early again

OHL

Winning the Memorial Cup as the host team? That's hard. Winning your league as the Memorial Cup host team? That's proven to be even harder.

The Saginaw Spirit, the host of this year's Memorial Cup tournament, were eliminated from the Ontario Hockey League playoffs in the third round by the London Knights. The Spirit's last game was on May 5 and they won't play again until May 24 when they host the Western Hockey League champions.

Remarkably, Saginaw's elimination means no Memorial Cup host team has won their respective league since the 2008 Kitchener Rangers. No host team has won both the Memorial Cup and their respective league since the 2005 London Knights, considered one of the greatest junior teams of all-time.

Here is how each Memorial Cup host has done in their league playoffs since the last host champion (Kitchener) in 2008.... pic.twitter.com/W0Xx0JglIM

— Steve McLean (@SteveMcLean888) May 5, 2024

Since 2008, three host teams have managed to lift the Memorial Cup on home ice: the 2012 Shawinigan Cataractes, the 2017 Windsor Spitfires and the 2022 Saint John Sea Dogs (the Sea Dogs were, oddly, involved in all three of those tournaments).

It's fair to say that this is officially a trend – and can the Rimouski Oceanic stop it by winning the Gilles Courteau Trophy next year?

For the 14th straight CHL season the Memorial Cup host will not win their league title. Last time the host did win their league was Kitchener in 2008.
The longest stretch before this one was 7 seasons on two different occasions, 1988-1994 & 1998-2004.

— Steve McLean (@SteveMcLean888) May 5, 2024

With Saginaw out in the third round, all three league championships will have a berth in the Memorial Cup on the line.

Notebook: COVID and the Cup

Vincent Ethier/CHL

Did you contract COVID-19 at the 2022 Memorial Cup?

If you did, you are certainly not alone.

As Global News reported this week, "in its latest weekly COVID-19 update, Public Health reported 286 COVID-19 cases confirmed by PCR tests, and 483 positive self-reported POCT tests in Zone 2 alone."

COVID (seemingly, anyways) started to become a problem in the second half of the Memorial Cup. With the exception of players and hockey operations staff, everyone at ice level was asked to wear a mask for the final few days of the tournament. That rule was not in place when the event began.

From @BJMCBC: of the 1,915 new COVID-19 cases reported in NB in the past week, 769 are in the Saint John region.

That’s just confirmed/reported cases. The real number is much higher. Mask up buds 😷 https://t.co/gCQcgHMKrQ

— Julia Wright (@thewrightpage) July 5, 2022

Very few masks could be spotted at TD Station, which hosted some of the largest indoor gatherings since the pandemic began. Many fans and tournament attendees have reported their positive cases on social media over the past week.

“I wouldn’t necessarily use the word blame," chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell told Global in an interview on Tuesday. "Again, I think the risks increase when you’re in indoor settings, we’ve always known that, and they decrease in outdoor settings. So, when people make choices about gathering, and who they’re gathering with, and whether they’re wearing a mask, etcetera.”

Stay safe out there, folks.

UP NEXT FOR DUFOUR

In an interview with the New York Post, William Dufour said his goal at New York Islanders training camp this fall is to make the NHL club.

“For sure I’m going for it, going to camp with a purpose,” Dufour said. “Everybody’s going there to make the team for sure. I’m gonna do everything I can to try and have a spot and get the results in September.”

If he doesn't make the big club out of camp, Dufour will likely start the year with the American Hockey League's Bridgeport Islanders.

Sea Dogs sign free agent Quinney

The Saint John Sea Dogs announced a roster move today, signing free agent forward Landon Quinney.

Quinney, 18, played in 69 games with the Moose Jaw Warriors last season after joining the Western Hockey League club as a free agent. A Las Vegas native, Quinney played in the North American Hockey League the season before last.

“We’ve heard a lot of good things about Landon,” said Sea Dogs head coach Danny Flynn in a press release. “Our reports tell us he’s an 18-year-old who plays a gritty, hard-nosed style of game.”

According to the news release, Quinney joined the team earlier this week. He will travel back to Saint John with the club.

Quinney is in Saint John's lineup tonight in Rouyn-Noranda.

Photo via Sea Dogs website