CHL Coast to Coast: Armada, Pats, Greyhounds overcome first round odds
Wednesday April 7, 2016
Every season has its share of upsets and the 2016 Playoffs have been no different as the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, Regina Pats and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds pulled out first round surprises against higher seeded opponents.
The Armada made QMJHL history, defeating the fourth-seeded Val-d’Or Foreurs who finished the season a full 40 points ahead of them in the standings, marking the widest upset margin in league history.
Florida Panthers prospect Samuel Montembeault turned in a tremendous performance, turning aside 209 shots to record a 2.19 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage to earn Vaughn CHL Goaltender of the Week honours following the six game series.
The Armada turned to overage veteran Philippe Sanche (6-5–11) who led them in scoring while also recording a plus/minus rating of plus-8 over six games. Joel Teasdale scored twice before Sanche scored a Game 6 triple overtime winner to send the Armada to the second round with a 3-2 victory on Sunday.
Blainville-Boisbriand’s playoff path only gets more difficult in the second round as they square off with the top-seeded Rouyn-Noranda Huskies who come off a dominant first round series sweep of the Drummondville Voltigeurs.
Elsewhere in the QMJHL, the Shawinigan Cataractes will face the Charlottetown Islanders, the Saint John Sea Dogs have an east coast battle with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and the Gatineau Olympiques look to build off a first round sweep of Quebec when they take on the Moncton Wildcats.
The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds came through in one of three Tuesday night OHL Game 7 matchups, the most in one round since 2004.
Brandon Halverson made 36 saves to back the Hounds to a 4-3 win in Sarnia, giving them their third road win of the series. Halverson made 236 saves over the seven game series while New Jersey Devils prospect Blake Speers (4-4–8) and Boston Bruins first round pick Zachary Senyshyn (2-6–8) led the way offensively. 2016 NHL Draft prospect Boris Katchouk (4-2–6) had four goals in the series including Tuesday’s game winner while overage veteran Gabe Guertler (4-0–4) scored four as well including a double overtime winner in Game 4 at home.
The Barrie Colts surged for five third period goals including Justin Scott’s second hat-trick of the series to get by the Mississauga Steelheads 5-1 in Game 7 while the North Bay Battalion had two goals and an assist from captain Mike Amadio to prevail over the Peterborough Petes 4-1 on home ice.
Those wins set the stage for a Barrie/North Bay, Kingston/Niagara second round bracket while the Western Conference features the Erie Otters and Soo Greyhounds meeting for a third straight year while a Midwest Division rivalry is rekindled between the London Knights and the Kitchener Rangers.
Moving west, the Kelowna Rockets overcame a BC Division rival as Tomas Soustal scored 7:07 into overtime of Game 7 on Monday to push the Rockets past the Kamloops Blazers on home ice. Michael Herringer’s 24 saves earned him first star honours as the Rockets are headed to the second round for the fourth year in a row.
Playoff leading scorer Adam Brooks (5-9–14) and the Regina Pats were the WHL’s Cinderella story of the first round, overcoming the Central Division Champion Lethbridge Hurricanes in five games. The Pats had a pair of shutouts from goaltender Tyler Brown while draft eligible centreman Sam Steel (4-5–9) and overage vet Cole Sanford (3-5–8) chipped in offensively.
The Eastern Conference sees the Pats taking on the MasterCard Memorial Cup host Red Deer Rebels while the Brandon Wheat Kings are surging after overcoming a 2-0 series deficit in the first round and will now face the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The Rockets meet the Scotty Munro Trophy recipient Victoria Royals in the Western Conference while the Seattle Thunderbirds take on the nearby rival Everett Silvertips in a Washington state clash.
The list has been narrowed from 48 down to 24 as the drive toward the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup in Red Deer intensifies.
Here’s a look at second round playoff matchups across the CHL:
WHL:
Eastern Conference
(1) Brandon Wheat Kings (48-18-4-2) vs. (ED 3) Moose Jaw Warriors (36-27-7-2)
(CD 2) Red Deer Rebels (45-24-1-2) vs. (WC 1) Regina Pats (36-28-3-5)
Western Conference
(BC 1) Victoria Royals (50-16-3-3) vs. (BC 2) Kelowna Rockets (48-20-4-0)
(US 1) Seattle Thunderbirds (45-23-4-0) vs. (US 2) Everett Silvertips (38-26-5-3)
OHL:
Eastern Conference
(1) Kingston Frontenacs (46-17-3-2) vs. (4) Niagara IceDogs (35-26-4-3)
(2) Barrie Colts (43-22-0-3) vs. (3) North Bay Battalion (35-23-6-4)
Western Conference
(1) Erie Otters (52-15-1-0) vs. (7) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (33-27-7-1)
(3) London Knights (51-14-2-1) vs. (4) Kitchener Rangers (44-17-5-2)
QMJHL:
(1) Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (54-9-3-2) vs. (13) Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (26-32-8-2)
(2) Shawinigan Cataractes (44-19-4-1) vs. (9) Charlottetown Islanders (35-26-5-2)
(3) Saint John Sea Dogs (42-20-6-0) vs. (7) Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (38-24-5-1)
(5) Gatineau Olympiques (46-19-2-1) vs. (6) Moncton Wildcats (36-21-9-2)