Moncton and Rimouski clash in Game 1 of QMJHL Final
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The Moncton Wildcats and Rimouski Oceanic begin their battle in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Championship Series on Saturday for the right to lift the Gilles-Courteau Trophy.
With the Memorial Cup host Rimouski advancing to the QMJHL Championship Series, both Moncton and Rimouski will advance to the Memorial Cup tournament in Rimouski, Que., beginning May 22.
Moncton entered the QMJHL playoffs with the league's best record of 53-9-2 and cruised through the playoffs after only losing one game, a Game 3 loss to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in Round 2.
They have been led by 2025 NHL top prospect Caleb Desnoyers, who finished fifth in league scoring during the regular season with 35 goals and 84 points.
In the playoffs, he has continued to dominate offensively with nine goals and 24 points, which ties him for the lead in postseason scoring.
Desnoyers was listed at No. 6 in TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie’s most recent rankings while TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button had him at No. 7 on his last list.
“He’s always been the lead guy throughout his hockey career,” said Button. “At this time last year, he was helping Canada win a gold medal at the under-18 World Championship as a 17-year-old on a line with [phenom] Gavin McKenna and [fellow top prospect] Porter Martone.
“He’s always been in the front line, he’s always been a leader, he’s always been a difference maker, and he’ll be that way in the NHL too.”
Helping to provide secondary scoring has been Utah Mammoth prospect Gabe Smith and St. Louis Blues draft pick Juraj Pekarcik.
Smith had a breakthrough year in the regular season, recording 20 goals and 39 points in 52 games, which is a 16-point difference from his sophomore season.
The 6-foot-5 centre has continued to improve in the playoffs recording four goals and 17 points in 13 games, which is good for second on the Wildcats.
Pekarcik was acquired from the Acadie-Bathurst Titan last off-season after he was selected second overall by the Titan in the 2023 CHL Import Draft.
The 6-foot-2 forward came over to Moncton after playing with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL last season.
The Slovakia native recorded 24 goals and 67 points in 53 games during his first season in the QMJHL and has added six goals and 14 points in the playoffs.
In net, the tandem of star netminder Mathis Rousseau and first-year goaltender Rudy Guimond have stood tall in the playoffs with both goalies splitting the time in net.
Rousseau was traded to Moncton at the Canadian Hockey League trade deadline after spending parts of four seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads.
Rousseau, 20, was one of the QMJHL's best in 2023-24, going 31-8-4 and led the league with a .925 save percentage and a 2.27 goals-against average. He also represented Canada at the 2024 World Juniors in Sweden, going 3-2 with a .912 save percentage and 2.00 GAA in a fifth-place finish.
After going 9-16-5 on a struggling Mooseheads team to begin the season, Rousseau joined the Wildcats and went 11-4-0 the rest of the season. He has gone 5-1 in the playoffs with a 2.59 GAA and .912 save percentage.
Guimond joined Moncton in November after beginning the season with the USHL's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.
The Detroit Red Wings prospect had a strong first year in the QMJHL, going 16-0-0 with a 1.73 GAA and .940 save percentage while sharing the net with Rousseau and Jacob Steinman, before he was traded to Halifax.
Guimond has remained perfect in the playoffs, going 7-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .927 save percentage.
Rimouski enters the QMJHL Final after a dramatic Game 7 victory over the Shawinigan Cataractes that saw trade deadline acquisition Eriks Mateiko score the game-winner in double overtime.
The Oceanic entered the playoffs with the league's second best record at 46-14-4 and injuries have been a factor in their run to the final.
Last year's QMJHL MVP Mathieu Cataford has only appeared in six playoff games and missed a month of action due to injuries, but returned for Game 7 against the Cataractes.
Meanwhile, star defenceman Spencer Gill has missed the entire QMJHL playoffs with a lower-body injury and Mateiko and regular season scoring champion Jonathan Fauchon has been in and out of the lineup throughout the postseason.
Rimouski's success has mostly been due to their depth and one of the main cast that has stepped up is captain Mathieu Joseph, who is tied with Desnoyers for the lead in playoff scoring with 13 goals and 24 points.
When you lose someone like Cataford, you know you have some depth to fall back on like Mathieu," said Button. "He isn’t a name guy who catches the attention the attention of everyone, but he personifies Rimouski as a good balanced team. He’s the poster boy for that.
"Rimouski isn’t a team that’s built on star power but a team that’s built on good, balanced play. Obviously, you bring in guys like Cataford and Fauchon in order to give this group a real capability to contend for a Memorial Cup."
A huge reason for Rimouski's playoff success has been the play of rookie goaltender Mathis Langevin, who was acquired from the Titan prior to the deadline.
The 6-foot-4 netminder appeared in 20 games split between the Titan and Oceanic, going 12-7 with a 2.55 GAA and .912 save percentage. In the playoffs he has a 10-2 record and leads the league with a 1.38 GAA and .947 save percentage.
“I always try to break things down to the final four teams when I’m projecting the playoffs,” said Button. “[Rimouski and Moncton] are really, really good teams. When you have a scenario where you have the two best teams in the QMJHL playing in the final, it’s great for the Memorial Cup and it’s great for the league."
Game 2 of the QMJHL Championship Series is set to take place on Sunday in Moncton before the series shifts to Rimouski for Game 3 on Monday.
The CHL on TSN continues on Saturday when the London Knights battle the Oshawa Generals in Game 2 of the OHL Final at 7 p.m. ET/4p.m. PT on TSN3/4, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.