Wildcats tumble in draft lottery

The Moncton Wildcats suffered yet another loss on Thursday.

After finishing the 2016-17 season dead last in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with a record of 14-51-2-1, the Wildcats had the best odds - 43% - of winning the draft lottery. Much like the Wildcats' season, things did not go well.

Moncton fell as far as they could under the lottery rules and will now select third overall. The Rimouski Oceanic, who had a 14% chance of winning, will now select first overall.

The top five picks are as follows:

1. Rimouski Oceanic
2. Sherbrooke Phoenix
3. Moncton Wildcats
4. Halifax Mooseheads
5. Val-d’Or Foreurs

Here is the full order (as of now):

First round draft order as of now #QMJHL L'ordre de repêchage de la 1ère ronde présentement #lhjmq pic.twitter.com/5ohcp8LHel

— Jérôme Bérubé (@Jerome_Berube) April 6, 2017

The 2017 QMJHL Entry Draft will take place June 3 at Harbour Station.

The good news for the Wildcats is that this is expected to be a good draft. Alexis Lafreniere, who had 83 points in 36 games in Quebec midget AAA this season, is expected to be taken first overall.

Chabot, Flynn win QMJHL awards

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The Saint John Sea Dogs were big winners at the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Golden Puck Awards, which were held Wednesday evening in Quebec City.

Thomas Chabot won the Émile "Butch" Bouchard Trophy as the QMJHL's Defenceman of the Year and the Paul-Dumont Trophy as the league's Personality of the Year.

Thomas Chabot dédie son trophée à @SeaDogsDK et @OFelixson. Classy. Pas juste bon. Une bonne personne aussi. #LHJMQ

— Mikaël Lalancette (@MLalancetteTVA) April 6, 2017

Chabot is the second Sea Dog to win the Defenceman of the Year honour, joining Simon Despres who won in 2011. Jonathan Huberdeau won the Personality of the Year award in 2012.

The 20-year-old (although is junior hockey age is 19) Chabot is very likely in his final year with the Sea Dogs. He posted 10 goals and 45 points in 34 regular season games with Saint John and added another three goals and 10 points in the first round of the playoffs.

Sea Dogs head coach Danny Flynn also picked up an award Wednesday, winning the Ron-Lapointe Trophy as QMJHL Coach of the Year. Flynn previously won the award with the Moncton Wildcats in 2009.

This is the third time a Sea Dogs coach has won the award. Gerard Gallant won in 2010 and 2011.

Both Chabot and Flynn are now nominated for CHL awards in their respective categories. The national awards will be handed out during Memorial Cup week in Windsor.

UPDATE: Chabot was also named to the QMJHL's first all-star team. Simon Bourque and Mathieu Joseph made the second team.

Quispamsis native Anderson MacDonald of the Sherbrooke Phoenix was named to the all-rookie team.

Eagles advance; Memorial Cup hosts done

The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles are moving on to the second round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs.

The Screaming Eagles advanced to the next round after winning their series against the Gatineau Olympiques in seven games. After blowing a 3-0 series lead, the Eagles managed to clinch the series with a 5-4 overtime win Tuesday night at Centre 200.

CENTRE 200 LOSES IT! @CBSEHockey MOVES ON! 5-4 EAGLES!!! pic.twitter.com/kd51wEOJL7

— Amy MacNeil (@AmyLMacNeil) April 5, 2017

The Eagles' win extends the QMJHL career of former Sea Dog Olivier Leblanc. The Olympiques' loss ends the junior career of ex-Dog Daniel Del Paggio.

Tuesday's result means we now know who will play who in the second round. Here are the matchups:

Saint John (1) vs Val-d'Or (14)

Rouyn-Noranda (2) vs Chicoutimi (8)

Charlottetown (4) vs Cape Breton (7)

Blainville-Boisbriand (5) vs Bathurst (6)

The second round begins Thursday in Charlottetown and Boisbriand.

In the OHL, the Memorial Cup hosting Windsor Spitfires had their season come to an end, falling 3-2 to the London Knights in Game 7 of the Western Conference quarterfinals. London will now face the Erie Otters in the second round, setting up another huge matchup.

And in related news, the OHL's playoff format is ridiculous and needs to be changed.

Sea Dogs to face Foreurs in next round

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The Saint John Sea Dogs will face the Val-d'Or Foreurs in the second round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs.

This will be the first ever playoff meeting between the two.

The Foreurs surprisingly advanced to the second round by upsetting the third-seeded Shawinigan Cataractes in six games. The 14th-seeded Foreurs got excellent goaltending from Etienne Montpetit (2.35 GAA and .937 SV%) and he'll need to be great again if they hope to pull off another upset.

Saint John swept the Rimouski Oceanic in the opening round, having little trouble other than a hard fought Game 4.

On paper, this should be an easy series win for Saint John. The Sea Dogs are the No. 1 seed, finishing with 102 points. The Foreurs finished with 61 points and didn't secure their playoff spot until the final week of the regular season. But, Val-d'Or upsetting Shawinigan is big, and, as we've seen in the past, teams like the Foreurs can often give teams like Saint John a good challenge in the second round (remember Victoriaville in 2011). It could end up being another easy series for the Dogs - but it could also be quite a challenge.

The Sea Dogs won both regular season meetings against the Foreurs, recording a 4-2 road win on Oct. 15 and a 4-1 home win on Oct. 21.

Val-d'Or features former Sea Dogs defenceman Jason Bell and goaltender Alex Bishop. Saint John features former Foreurs star forward Julien Gauthier.

Game 1 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night at Harbour Station.

The Foreurs-Sea Dogs series was confirmed on Monday night with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies eliminating the Halifax Mooseheads. Another second round series has also been confirmed: the Acadie-Bathurst Titan will face the Blainville-Boisberiand Armada.

The Huskies, Charlottetown Islanders and Chicoutimi Sagueneens have also already advanced to the second round.

There is still one first round series that has yet to end. The Gatineau Olympiques, who were once down 3-0 in the series, have forced a Game 7 on Tuesday against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

Injured Sens looked into Chabot recall

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Injuries on the Ottawa Senators blue line forced the team to look into the possibility of reaclling Saint John Sea Dogs defenceman Thomas Chabot recently.

In an interview with TSN Radio 1200 on Monday, Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said that league rules prevented the NHL club from making the roster move.

Dorion admits the Sens called league office when Ceci got hurt to see if they could call up Thomas Chabot.

— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) April 3, 2017

From TSN.ca:

"The exact rule is, we had eight defencemen on our roster at the trade deadline," Dorion said. "So, we would need four injuries to fall into an emergency status, in your second emergency status, then at that point in time, you can recall Thomas Chabot... When it comes to these things we always look at every possibility and everyone that's under contract that could come and help us. 

"In theory, when we look at it, one of our other guys would have to go down, then we'd have four healthy bodies and we'd be in second emergency, then we call up Thomas Chabot. I don't think the Saint John Sea Dogs would like it a lot."

Dorion went on to call Chabot arguably the best defenceman currently outside the NHL.

Chabot started the year with the Senators, playing in one game.

The 20-year-old recorded 10 goals and 45 points in 34 games with Saint John during the regular season. He is currently tied for the league lead in playoff scoring with three goals and 10 points in just four games.

It's either Halifax or Val-d'Or for Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs could find out who their second round playoff opponent is tonight.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's two remaining first round series - Gatineau vs Cape Breton and Halifax vs Rouyn-Noranda - could both end this evening. Cape Breton and Rouyn-Noranda lead those series 3-2, respectively.

If a Game 7 is needed in either series, it will be played on Tuesday.

Who will the Sea Dogs play in the next round? It's down to two possibilities. Saint John is the top seed, meaning they will play the lowest remaining seed throughout the playoffs. If Halifax comes back to win their series, the Dogs will play the 15th-seeded Mooseheads. If Halifax loses, the Dogs will play the 14th-seeded Val-d'Or Foreurs.

The Sea Dogs went 6-2-0-0 against the Mooseheads this season and 2-0-0-0 against the Foreurs.

The Foreurs pulled off a major upset last night, eliminating the third-seeded Shawinigan Cataractes in six games. It was one of the biggest playoff upsets in league history.

Confirmé : les Foreurs éliminent les Cataractes en 6 matchs. 4e plus grosse surprise de l'histoire dans une série #LHJMQ (29 points).

— Mikaël Lalancette (@MLalancetteTVA) April 2, 2017

The Cataractes, who have a long history of underperforming in the playoffs, made it to the league final last season (beating Saint John in the semifinals along the way) and were one of the top teams in the QMJHL all year long.

No matter who the Sea Dogs play in the second round, games one and two will be on Friday and Saturday night, respectively, at Harbour Station.

On a side note, the Shawinigan elimination means the only way the Sea Dogs and Charlottetown Islanders can meet in the playoffs is if they both make it to the league final.