2022 QMJHL Playoffs | Oceanic vs. Remparts Preview
The battle of the St. Lawrence will be in full swing when the Quebec Remparts take on the Rimouski Oceanic in a best-of-five QMJHL quarterfinal series. The action begins on Sunday at Quebec’s Centre Videotron.
After capturing the Jean-Rougeau Trophy as the league’s regular season champions, the Remparts carried that momentum directly into round one and a three-game sweep of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. Scoring six goals in each of the games, not to mention pumping 149 shots on the Sags’ net during the series, the Remparts were led in scoring by a former Oceanic star, Zachary Bolduc, as well as his linemate, Theo Rochette. Each averaged two points per game in the quick set of contests, while eight players posted a point per game.
The vaunted trio of blueliners Louis Crevier, Nicholas Savoie and Evan Nause held the fort defensively while Fabio Iacobo and William Rousseau combined to deliver all three wins between the pipes. This is the second consecutive quarterfinal appearance for the Remparts, who last reached the semifinals in 2015.
The Oceanic engineered the upset of the first round by knocking off the 2022 Memorial Cup host Saint John Sea Dogs in five games. For Rimouski, it was all about key goals at key times, none bigger than the first-ever playoff tally for Alexander Gaudio, the team’s top point producer in the first round, who fired home the series-winner in the deciding game. Two of William Dumoulin’s three markers game in the decisive contest, while Louis Robin scored a pair of goals in his first playoff series.
Though the defense corps didn’t hit the scoresheet with regularity, they held the fort admirably against a steady Sea Dogs attack. In net, rookies Gabriel Robert and Patrik Hamrla were arguably the biggest factors in the Oceanic’s triumph, the latter coming up particularly big in a 1-0 Game 4 shutout victory. The Oceanic is no stranger to the underdog role, having vanquished the heavily favored Shawinigan Cataractes in first-round action last year. The franchise will be looking to punch its ticket to the third round for the second time in four seasons.
The Remparts won the season series between these two teams, five games to three. Five of those games were determined by three goals or more. In the postseason, these two clubs have battled one another on four previous occasions. After both teams emerged from a round robin quarterfinal in 1998, the Oceanic defeated the Remparts in that year’s semifinal. They would lock horns again in 1999, the Remparts coming out on top in those semis. However, the most memorable battle between these two took place in the 2015 President Cup Final, which ended with Rimouski claiming its third title in a Game 7 double-overtime thriller.
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Team Comparison:
Quebec | Rimouski | |
Record | 51-15-2-0 — 104 Pts | 33-26-5-4 — 75 Pts |
Division Ranking | 1st East | 2nd East |
League Ranking | 1st | 9th |
GF | 302 | 228 |
GA | 175 | 204 |
PP (Overall) | (55/228) 24.1% | (58/272) 21.3% |
PK (Overall) | (54/245) 78.0% | (43/194) 77.8% |
Leading Rookie | Komarov (2-17-19) | Robin (11-22-33) |
Leading Scorers | Bolduc (55-44-99) | Cormier (29-39-68) |
Rochette (33-66-99) | Verreault (25-31-56) | |
Gaucher (31-26-57) | Dumoulin (24-29-53) | |
Malatesta (28-25-53) | Brunet (12-34-46) | |
Roy (15-33-48) | Gaudio (15-22-37) | |
Drover (14-23-37) |