#CHLStats: As the CHL’s No.1-ranked team, the Moncton Wildcats put together a historic 2024-25 regular season in the QMJHL
In what was Gardiner MacDougall’s first season behind the bench with the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), the No.1-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) put together one of the best seasons in recent memory.
Having registered a 53-9-2-0 record during the 2024-25 campaign, the Wildcats finished with an .844 points percentage, which sits eighth all-time in QMJHL history (see complete list below). When looking at points percentages across the CHL since 2000 for clubs who have played a minimum of 50 games, Moncton’s .844 mark in a single season ranks tenth in the 21st century (see complete list below).
Driving their strong record and success on the ice was, at least in part, due to their exceptional ability to keep the puck out of their net. Averaging a CHL-best 2.25 goals-allowed-per-game in 2024-25, the Wildcats rank as one of the best teams defensively not only in QMJHL history but in recent memory in the CHL.
Moncton’s average of 2.25 goals-allowed-per-game this season ranks fifth all-time in the QMJHL (see complete list below), while their 144 goals allowed is the second-fewest among QMJHL clubs going back to the league’s first season in 1969-70.
Additionally, the 144 goals given up by the Wildcats during the 2024-25 campaign ranks tied for the eleventh-fewest forfeited in a single season by a club in CHL history (see complete list below).
Ultimately, following their third 50-win campaign in franchise history, Moncton secured the Jean-Rougeau Trophy as the 2024-25 QMJHL Regular Season Champions – marking only the second time they’ve achieved this feat and for the first time since 2005-06.
In addition to leading the CHL in points percentage, goals allowed, and goals-against average, the Wildcats ranked first in regulation losses (9), goal differential (+150), and penalty kill percentage (86.4%) among the CHL’s 60 teams in 2024-25. The Wildcats also set several franchise records this season, including for wins (53), points (108), regulation losses (9), goals against (144), and points percentage (.844), all of which they hope will translate into the club’s first QMJHL Championship title and Memorial Cup appearance since 2010.
🔥 We wrapped up a very special regular season in exciting fashion! 🔥
1st overall, plus tops in the @QMJHL in many team categories.
We set some franchise records along the way (in gold).Many thanks to the best fans in hockey!
See you in the Playoffs! #JGS📸 @DanielStLouis pic.twitter.com/G1RBRCp71t
— Moncton Wildcats (@monctonwildcats) March 22, 2025
Having strung together an impressive 15-game winning streak to close out the 2024-25 campaign, the Wildcats wrapped up 2024-25 as the No.1-ranked club in the CHL’s Top-10 Rankings. It’s a spot that they held in each of the last four weeks and a total of nine times this season. The Wildcats are also one of just three teams in the CHL to have been ranked among the CHL’s Top-10 all season long.
Over the year, Moncton has showcased the depth of its roster as key players such as 21-year-old forward Markus Vidicek (38G-26A in 64 GP), Calgary Flames prospect Étienne Morin (14G-44A in 62 GP), and German forward Julius Sumpf (26G-39A in 58 GP) have all provided important contributions at crucial times this season. For instance, Vidicek registered a goal in 10 consecutive games from February 8 to March 7 to set a new Wildcats record, while Sumpf’s +61 plus/minus rating stands as the best of any Moncton player in franchise history.
There’s no doubt, however, that the Wildcats have been led by promising 2025 NHL Draft prospect Caleb Desnoyers (35G-49A in 56 GP), who finished tied for fifth in QMJHL scoring with 84 points and led all QMJHL skaters with 11 game-winning goals in 2024-25. Desnoyers was the highest-ranked skater from the QMJHL in NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm Rankings, as he came in at No. 7 on their list.
Meanwhile, the addition of Detroit Red Wings prospect Rudy Guimond (16-0-0-0 record, 1.73 GAA, .940 SV% & 3 SO in 16 GP) earlier in the year by the Wildcats has provided Moncton with one of the CHL’s best goalie tandems alongside veteran netminder Mathis Rousseau (20-20-5-0 record, 2.88 GAA, .905 SV% & 2 SO in 45 GP). Having been acquired by the Moncton Wildcats this past November after spending two seasons with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL, Guimond comes into the playoffs tonight still unbeaten, having won all 16 of his starts thus far, marking a new franchise record for consecutive wins by a Wildcats’ goalie.
All of the latter has taken place under the careful watch of head coach Gardiner MacDougall, who completed his first full campaign in the QMJHL as a head coach in 2024-25. Before arriving in Moncton, MacDougall spent 24 seasons coaching the University of New Brunswick men’s hockey team, leading the team to nine national championships. A year ago, MacDougall went undefeated, holding a perfect 52-0 record behind the bench during the 2023-24 season between coaching the University of New Brunswick (UNB) and Team Canada to gold at the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championship (exhibition & pre-tournament games included).
Despite having never coached a regular-season game in the QMJHL or across the CHL before 2024-25, MacDougall does have a Memorial Cup title to his name, having famously led the Saint John Sea Dogs to a Memorial Cup championship in 2022 after briefly taking the reins as the team’s bench boss during that tournament.
BEST POINTS PERCENTAGE IN A SINGLE SEASON IN THE CHL SINCE 2000 (MIN. 50 GP)
T1. Halifax Mooseheads – 2012-13 – .882
T1. London Knights / OHL – 2004-05 – .882
T3. Saint John Sea Dogs – 2010-11 – .875
T3. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies – 2018-19 – .875
T5. Soo Greyhounds / OHL – 2017-18 – .853
T5. Barrie Colts / OHL – 2009-10 – .853
7. Calgary Hitmen / WHL – 2008-09 – .847
T8. Winnipeg ICE / WHL – 2022-23 – .846
T8. Windsor Spitfires / OHL – 2008-09 – .846
10. Moncton Wildcats – 2024-25 – .844
FEWEST GOALS ALLOWED IN A SINGLE SEASON IN CHL HISTORY
T1. London Knights / OHL – 2004-05 – 125 (68 games)
T1. Kelowna Rockets / WHL – 2003-04 – 125 (72 games)
3. Everett Silvertips / WHL – 2018-19 – 130 (68 games)
T4. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies / QMJHL – 2018-19 – 137 (68 games)
T4. Kootenay Ice / WHL – 2004-05 – 137 (72 games)
6. Kelowna Rockets / WHL – 2004-05 – 139 (72 games)
7. Everett Silvertips / WHL – 2006-07 – 142 (72 games)
T8. Flin Flon Bombers / WHL – 1967-68 – 143 (60 games)
T8. Medicine Hat Tigers / WHL – 2004-05 – 143 (72 games)
T8. Vancouver Giants / WHL – 2006-07 – 143 (72 games)
T11. Seattle Thunderbirds / WHL – 2004-05 – 144 (72 games)
T11. Moncton Wildcats / QMJHL – 2024-25 – 144 (64 games)
BEST GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE IN A SINGLE SEASON IN QMJHL HISTORY
1. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies / QMJHL – 2018-19 – 2.00 (137/68)
2. Val-d’Or Foreurs / QMJHL – 2020-21 – 2.07 (76/36)
3. Moncton Wildcats — 2008-09 – 2.11 (145/68)
4. Charlottetown Islanders – 2020-21 – 2.22 (89/40)
5. Moncton Wildcats – 2024-25 – 2.25 (144/64)
BEST POINTS PERCENTAGE IN A SINGLE SEASON IN QMJHL HISTORY
1. Halifax Mooseheads – 2012-13 – .882 (68 games)
2. Québec Remparts – 1970-71 – .879 (62 games)
T3. Saint John Sea Dogs – 2010-11 – .875 (68 games)
T3. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies – 2018-19 – .875 (68 games)
T3. Charlottetown Islanders – 2020-21 – .875 (40 games)
6. Val-d’Or Foreurs – 2020-21 – .861 (36 games)
7. Trois-Rivières Draveurs – 1978-79 – .847 (72 games)
8. Moncton Wildcats – 2024-25 – .844 (64 games)
9. Sherbrooke Phoenix – 2019-20 – .841 (63 games)
10. Sorel Éperviers – 1973-74 – .836 (70 games)
