SaltWire E-Edition

Islanders picked to advance in playoffs

WILLY PALOV wpalov@herald.ca @Ch_willypalov

Since it's now been three weeks since the Halifax Mooseheads and Cape Breton Eagles shut down their season, it's easy to forget the QMJHL playoffs are still in full swing.

The league is set to launch the second round and you could make a case all but one of the match-ups is a tossup. That's usually a good sign for the upcoming entertainment value.

Starting with the only best-of-five involving teams from the Maritimes Division, here's a look at the four quarter-finals, with overall regular season finishes in parentheses:

CHARLOTTETOWN (1) VS. BATHURST (4)

The most intriguing part of this one is trying to make a head-to-head evaluation when there is such a scarcity of first-hand material to work with. Not only did these teams only meet once this season on October 31, they haven't even faced a common opponent since mid-november. We all know the Islanders only played the Mooseheads and Eagles the past five months, while the Titan haven't played a game outside of New Brunswick in the same time frame.

What that means first for the Islanders - with no disrespect to the rebuilding Mooseheads and Eagles - is they haven't faced a veteran team in the same competitive realm since the Fall. That isn't meant to devalue their incredible 35-5-0-0 regular season record because winning that consistently and convincingly takes tremendous talent and execution. But the Titan have a level of depth and veteran talent Halifax and Cape Breton do not.

Now what we'll see is the Charlottetown core of goalie Colten Ellis, forwards Cedric Desruisseaux, Thomas Casey, Brett Budgell and Patrick Guay, defencemen William Trudeau, Oscar Plandowski, Noah Laaouan and Lukas Cormier tested by a more comparable group. Bathurst can roll out QMJHL playoff scoring leader Riley Kidney, vastly underrated forwards Mathieu Desgagnes and Bennett Macarthur, a solid defence and highly-touted rookie European goalie Jan Bednar, to name a few.

All that said, as much as I like the make-up of the Titan, I saw the Islanders play 19 times this year and can't remember a bad outing.

Prediction: Charlottetown in five

VAL-D'OR (2) VS. RIMOUSKI (15)

This is a massive mismatch on paper and in reality. The Oceanic have a history of rising to the occasion in the playoffs and they did that again this year with a firstround upset of the Shawinigan Cataractes. But that doesn't change the fact they're in the early phase of a rebuild and their best player - Zachary Bolduc - is injured.

Up in Val-d'or, the Foreurs have assembled a group that almost reads like an all-star roster. Over the past year they traded for stars Jakub Pelletier, Jordan Spence, Samuel Poulin, Nathan Legare and Maxim Cajkovic to bolster an already good team.

The Foreurs just have too much firepower for this one to be close.

Prediction: Val-d'or in three

CHICOUTIMI (3) VS. QUEBEC (8)

Since all playoff games involving Quebec-based teams will be played inside a bubble at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City from this point on, the Remparts are the only team with a true homeice advantage. That will be downgraded somewhat by the lack of fans but it still helps that they're in their own city and rink.

The Remparts are also a talented young team on the rise with nothing to lose. Their 'go for it' years are still ahead of them so there's a certain freedom in knowing any wins now are a bonus.

By comparison, the Sagueneens went all in last year but didn't get to play a single playoff game because of the pandemic. Still, they returned several excellent pieces, such as Dawson Mercer, Hendrix Lapierre, Samuel Houde, Artemi Kniazev and Alexis Shank, and made calculated veteran additions like Pierrick Dube and Felix Lafrance.

Prediction: Chicoutimi in five

VICTORIAVILLE (6) VS. BLAINVILLEBOISBRIAND (7)

The Tigres didn't empty the cupboards during the mid-season trade period but made some shrewd additions, namely Alex Beaucage and Shawn Element. Those two snipers are about as good as they come in the Q.

Imports Mikhail Abramov

and Egor Serdyuk, along with a handful of other quality secondary scorers, make Victoriaville a legitimate darkhorse to go deep.

Interestingly, the description of the Armada's make-up is almost identical. Halifax's Luke Henman and Mathias Laferriere are every bit the one-two punch up front as the Victo duo and the rest of the Armada forwards give them solid support.

But if there is an edge in this match-up it's on the blueline. Victoriaville can't match the high-end talent of Blainville-boisbriand's Miguel Tourigny and Christopher Merisier-ortiz, and that kind of edge can sometimes make all the difference in a short series.

Prediction: Blainville-boisbriand in five

SPORTS

en-ca

2021-05-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://saltwire.pressreader.com/article/282196538827080

SaltWire Network