2021 QMJHL Playoffs | Phoenix vs. Sagueneens Preview

The Chicoutimi Sagueneens will be focusing on redemption for last year’s lost postseason run when they face another squad that encountered a similar fate in the Sherbrooke Phoenix. The first-round clash gets underway Friday night in Chicoutimi.

The Sags rode the remaining core from last year’s impressive roster to the third best points percentage in the league in 2020-21, losing just seven times in regulation along the way. Offensively, the club relied on a deep group that included a pair of 2020 NHL first rounders in Dawson Mercer (New Jersey) and Hendrix Lapierre (Washington). Veterans Christophe Farmer and Samuel Houde rounded out a solid top six that was given a boost with the acquisition of wingers Pierrick Dube and Felix Lafrance from Quebec and Cape Breton, respectively. On defense however, it was even more powerful with a corps that featured Karl Boudrias, Artemi Kniazev and one of the top netminders in the league in overager Alexis Shank.

The Phoenix offloaded after a spectacular 51-win campaign in 2019-20. Though several key contributors were lost to either graduation or transactions, another acquisition quickly made his mark in Sherbrooke in 2019 first overall selection Joshua Roy, who recorded 13 goals in 20 games following a mid-season trade from the Saint John Sea Dogs. Fourth-year veteran Xavier Parent also made strides, recording over a point per game for the first time in his career. On the back end, Olivier Crete-Belzile, rookie Zachary Lessard and later returnee Gregory Kreutzer set the tone. Slovakian netminder Samuel Hlavaj found his groove late in the season for a Phoenix squad that earned five of its eight wins on the year in the final seven games of the campaign.

This will be the first postseason meeting between these two organizations. Chicoutimi, who last won a playoff round in 2017 when it dispatched Victoriaville and Rouyn-Noranda before losing to Saint John in the league semi-finals, has appeared in five President Cup Finals, most recently in 1997. The Sags have captured two titles (1991, 1994) in their history. The Phoenix is making its sixth playoff appearance. In 2019, the Sherbrooke squad eliminated Blainville-Boisbriand in five first-round games before falling to Drummondville, also in five contests, during the league’s quarter finals.

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