Ice Rink Problems in the Q

The QMJHL was once again faced with an ice rink problem over the weekend, as game 2 of the Finals was postponed between the Shawinigan Cataractes and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. The full details:

Game 2 of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League President Cup final between the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Shawinigan Cataractes was postponed on Friday.

The game was postponed due to a problem with the pipes under the ice at the Aréna Iamgold in Rouyn-Noranda, Que.

According to the QMJHL, the rule 1.5.6, rescheduling of a game, in the case where 20 minutes or more have been played, the game will continue and be clocked with the remaining time before the original game was stopped.

With that, if Game 2 gets back underway at 4 p.m. on Saturday, the game will start in the second period with Rouyn-Noranda leading Shawinigan 2-1.

Mind you, this wasn't the first time ice rink problems  have plagued a QMJHL game, as a February match between the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and the Charlottetown Islanders was called in the third period in which the Islanders would take it 5-2 in a rather strange way to end the game. The story to that can be found here.

If there's something for all of the teams in the QMJHL to sort out, getting your home ice situation under control would be a great start. Oh, and Rouyn-Noranda would win the game and now have a 2-0 series lead over Shawinigan.

The Big(ger) Awards Ceremony

photo by Steve Hiscock

The OHL, QMJHL, and WHL all handed out their respective awards earlier in the month, but with the Memorial Cup final set for tomorrow, the Canadian Hockey League, which houses all three leagues, handed out their own awards, as the winners in each league's categories were the finalist for the overall awards.  So, here are the awards, with the winners in bold.

Jack Link's Top Prospect of the Year: Darnell Nurse (Sault Ste. Marie), Seth Jones (Portland), Jonathan Drouin, (Halifax)

FRAM Sportsman of the Year: Tyler Graovac (Belleville), Dylan Wruck (Edmonton), Zach O'Brien (Acadie-Bathurst)

Chrysler Dodge Top Scorer of the Year: Vince Trocheck (Plymouth), Nic Petan (Portland) and Brendan Leipsic (Portland), Ben Duffy (PEI)

Home Hardware Humanitarian of the Year: Ben Fanelli (Kitchener), Cody Sylvester (Calgary), Konrad Abeltshauser (Halifax)

Subway Scholastic Player of the Year: Darnell Nurse (Sault Ste. Marie), Josh Morrisey (Prince Albert), Charles-David Beaudoin (Drummondville)

Old Dutch Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year: Mike Vellucci (Plymouth), Ryan McGill (Kootenay), Dominique Ducharme (Halifax)

BMO Rookie of the Year: Connor McDavid (Erie), Seth Jones (Portland), Valentin Zykov (Baie-Comeau)

Vaughn Goaltender of the Year: Jordan Binnington (Owen Sound), Patrik Bartosak (Red Deer), Etienne Marcoux (Blainville-Boisbriand)

Post Defenseman of the Year: Ryan Sproul (Sault Ste. Marie), Brenden Kichton (Spokane), Kevin Gagne (Rimouski)

CCM Player of the Year: Vince Trocheck (Plymouth), Adam Lowry (Swift Current), Jonathan Drouin (Halifax)

Playoffs Update: All the Junior Leagues

I thought about doing a Winterhawks Weekly in this space today, but since the championships are closer to being determined, today will be about the updates for all the junior league championships going on this week.  First, the USHL, where the Dubuque Fighting Saints beat the Youngstown Phantoms in the Eastern Conference Final to advance to the Clark Cup Final.  They await the winner of the Sioux Falls Stampede/Fargo Force matchup, as that series is going to be decided next game.  The QMJHL sees the Halifax Mooseheads still without a loss in the playoff season, as they are currently up 2-0 over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar while the OHL finals has the Barrie Colts and London Knights tied 1-1, with game three tonight in Barrie.  The WHL finals sees the Portland Winterhawks tied with the Edmonton Oil Kings 1-1 as the series shifts to Edmonton for game three tomorrow.

Memorial Cup Spots on the Line

I will get to the Portland-Edmonton series on Friday, when I make my predictions.  However, there are two other spots on the line for the Memorial Cup tournament, and those will be taken by the champions in the OHL and the QMJHL.

OHL Championship (J. Ross Robertson Trophy)

(1) London Knights vs. (2) Barrie Colts

The Knights had little trouble getting to this point, sweeping Saginaw in the opening round, disposing of Kitchener in the following round, and beating Plymouth on the way to defending their championship.  The best team on offense and the third-ranked team on defense (only Owen Sound and Belleville posted better numbers), the Knights have some players, as Max Domi, Seth Griffin, and Chris Tierney lead the way up front while Olli Maatta and Scott Harrington lead a stout blue line.  Anthony Stolarz has shined in his first season with the Knights.  The Knights are coached by Dale Hunter, who briefly led the Washington Capitals to a playoff berth last year.

The Colts led the Eastern Conference in goals scored while being tied for fourth in the league in goals against.  Sweeps against Kingston and Oshawa were followed by a hard fought seven game series win against Belleville, and the Colts are lead by Mark Schiefele, Zach Hall,  and Mathias Niederberger.  Dale Hawerchuk is the head coach of the Colts.

QMJHL Championship (President Cup)

(1) Halifax Mooseheads vs. (2) Baie-Comeau Drakkar

The Mooseheads are the only team in all three leagues to not have lost a playoff game so far.  Sweeps against Saint John, Gatineau, and Rouyn-Noranda have led the Mooseheads to an almost certain spot in the Memorial Cup.  It's no secret that the Mooseheads are led by potential first overall picks in Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon, as a whopping 347 goals in the regular season (13 more than the Winterhawks) will attest.  But don't sleep on the defense, as they led the league in that category, too, and Zachary Fucale, another 2013 NHL Draft prospect, is a major reason for that.  Dominique Ducharme is the head coach of the Mooseheads.

The Drakkar were tied for second in offense and were second in defense, and had a slightly harder time getting to this point.  Sherbrooke and Victoriaville were victims of sweeps before the Drakkar were taken to six games by Blainville-Boisbriand in the semifinals.  Zach O'Brien led the team in points while Philipe Cadorette helped backstop the team to victory.  Eric Veilleux is the head coach.

Rematch!

With the Edmonton Oil Kings finally putting away the Calgary Hitmen last night, that sets up a rematch of last year's WHL finals...only this time, the Winterhawks have home ice advantage.  The Oil Kings won that match-up 4-3 and represented the WHL in the Memorial Cup.  This year, the Winterhawks hope to change that, and with a high-scoring offense, this is the best of the three finals happening that will determine Memorial Cup spots.  The other match-ups are the London Knights vs. Barrie Colts in the OHL, and the Halifax Mooseheads vs. Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the QMJHL, and Halifax is the only team to not have a loss in this year's playoffs.  Predictions will come Friday, as tomorrow will be a recap of the WHL awards that will be handed out tonight.