2023 Road to the Memorial Cup: QMJHL Championship Series preview

The top two teams from the QMJHL’s regular season will fittingly meet to determine the Gilles Courteau Trophy winner.

After the Quebec Remparts and Halifax Mooseheads topped the QMJHL standings with 109 and 107 points respectively, the two clubs will now faceoff to determine who will represent the league at the 2023 Memorial Cup presented by Kia.

Since this iteration of the Remparts formed in 1997, they’ve yet to claim a QMJHL title while the Mooseheads seek their second championship after they were victorious in 2013.

(1) Quebec vs. (2) Halifax

Twelve up, 12 down thus far for the Remparts.

Patrick Roy’s squad made it a third consecutive sweep as they took out Gatineau, the no. 1 ranked Kia CHL Top 10 club, in four games. Kassim Gaudet and James Malatesta (CBJ) had overtime winners in Game’s 2 and 3 respectively while the Remparts scored 16 times throughout the series.

Malatesta scored four times while Nathan Gaucher (ANA) had a team-high six points. William Rousseau posted a 2.29 GAA in four starts alongside a .928 save percentage.

The Remparts, who won a franchise best 53 games in the regular season, had swept Charlottetown and Rimouski in the first two rounds and have averaged 4.67 goals per game during the playoffs. The club’s 23 goals against are the best in the QMJHL.

Justin Robidas (CAR) leads the Remparts with 19 postseason points while Malatesta’s nine goals are a team best. From the blue line, Charle Truchon’s nine points are tied for the fourth most in the QMJHL among d-men. In 12 games, Rousseau has posted a 1.84 GAA and .929 save percentage between the pipes.

Halifax will compete for the QMJHL title for the fifth time in franchise history after they rattled off four straight wins to eliminate Sherbrooke in Game 6.

The club lost star forward Jordan Dumais (CBJ) after Game 2 but that didn’t faze the Mooseheads who outscored the Phoenix 16-4 during their four wins after they had fallen behind 2-0 in the series. Mathis Rousseau was sensational in goal for Halifax as he posted back-to-back shutouts in Game’s 5 and 6 and has not conceded a goal in 133:05 of action. Offensively, Alexandre Doucet (DET) led the charge with four goals and seven points while Josh Lawrence had the game-winner in a 1-0 Game 6 victory.

Halifax, who hit the 50-win mark for just the second time in franchise history, swept Cape Breton in Round 1 before they took out Moncton in five games in the second round. The Mooseheads’ 61 goals this postseason are the sixth most in the CHL

Lawrence’s 25 points are the second most in the QMJHL playoffs while Doucet and Zachary L’Heureux (NSH) have also passed the 20-point threshold. Brady Schultz’s 12 points are the third most by a Q defenceman in the playoffs. Rousseau’s 1.96 GAA and .935 save percentage rank sixth and fourth respectively among all CHL goaltenders this postseason.

Season series: Halifax won series 2-0-0

Schedule:

Game 1 — May 12 — HAL @ QUE — 7pm ET / 4pm PT
Game 2 — May 13 — HAL @ QUE — 7pm ET / 4pm PT
Game 3 — May 16 — QUE @ HAL — 7pm ET / 4pm PT
Game 4 — May 17 — QUE @ HAL — 7pm ET / 4pm PT
Game 5* — May 19 — HAL @ QUE — 7pm ET / 4pm PT
Game 6* — May 21 — QUE @ HAL — 4pm ET / 1pm PT
Game 7* — May 22 — HAL @ QUE — 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT
*if necessary

TSN will air the OHL, QMJHL and WHL Championship Series from Game 3 onward while RDS will provide complete coverage of the QMJHL Championship Series from Game 1.

Furthermore, every game can be seen live on CHL TV.