Inside the Number for Week #14

Tonight at the Air Creebec Center, either the Gatineau Olympiques or the Val-d’Or Foreurs will extend their winning streaks of 7 or 12 games, respectively. We’ll also show the positive impact that Conor Garland has had on the Moncton Wildcats and compare him to the greatest forwards in QMJHL history.

Winning Streaks

• Val-d’Or (47 points) – back home after three wins in the Maritimes, the Foreurs will welcome two formidable opponents this weekend; Gatineau (44 points) and Shawinigan (43). But the Foreurs are feeling confident, having just beaten their adversaries in each of their last 12 bouts, while scoring on average, 6 goals per game. A 13^th straight win would be a new club record, half way to the league record of 25 consecutive victories (Sorel, 1973-74).

VAL-D’OR FOREURS RECORDS
Longest winning streak in a single season
Rank	Year	From	To	Record
1	2014-15	15-02-12	15-03-11	12
	2015-16	15-11-01	…	12
Most consecutive wins by a goaltender in a single season.
Rank	Goalie	From	To	Record
1	Simon Lajeunesse	01-01-08	01-02-05	9
	Etienne Montpetit	15-11-01	…	9
Most consecutive games without a loss by a goaltender in a single season
Rank	Goaltender	From	To	Record
1	Francis Larivée	95-09-22	95-10-26	10 (9-0-1)
2	Roberto Luongo	96-11-22	96-12-22	9 (8-0-1)
	Simon Lajeunesse	01-01-08	01-02-05	9 (9-0-0)
	Etienne Montpetit	15-11-01	…	9 (9-0-0)

• Gatineau – This Friday, the Gatineau Olympiques, who are unbeaten in their last 7 matches, will pay visit to the Foreurs. Benoit Groulx’s team has the best goals against average in the league (2.48). It’s therefore hardly surprising that they have already shut out their adversaries on 4 occasions this season, a stat that leads the league. The last blanking was a week ago against Drummondville, a convincing 6-0 road win.
• Rouyn-Noranda (52 points) – The Huskies have just banked another 6 straight wins, allowing them to benefit from a 5-point lead over the Val-d’Or Foreurs. Their opponent tonight will be a hungry one. The Eastern Division leading Shawinigan Cataractes have only 3 wins in their last 10. However, their road record of 11 wins in 14 visits will be enough to keep the Huskies on their toes, though the latter have only one regulation loss in front of their own fans (12-1-2).
• An all Abitibi affair – Next Thursday and Friday, the Foreurs and Huskies will engage each other in back to back battles; first in Val-d’Or on December 17^th and then the next day in Rouyn-Noranda. These two big matches are going to have a very important effect on the final standings of the two teams at the end of the season. Incredibly, both teams could end the campaign with 100 points!
• watching – we are keeping an eye on the race for different Foreurs records…

EQUIPES de la LHJMQ – classées par pourcentage de points
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	PTS	PCT
1	Rouyn-Noranda, Huskies	31	24	3	3	1	139	88	52	0.839
2	Val-d’Or, Foreurs	32	22	7	2	1	147	96	47	0.734
3	Gatineau, Olympiques	31	21	8	1	1	107	79	44	0.710
4	Shawinigan, Cataractes	31	21	9	1	0	131	110	43	0.694
5	Moncton, Wildcats	34	20	10	4	0	146	125	44	0.647
6	Rimouski, Océanic	31	19	10	2	0	104	95	40	0.645
7	Saint John, Sea Dogs	31	18	11	2	0	106	95	38	0.613
8	Québec, Remparts	33	18	12	3	0	128	132	39	0.591
9	Cape Breton, Screaming Eagles	33	17	13	3	0	124	122	37	0.561
10	Victoriaville, Tigres	31	14	12	2	3	118	120	33	0.532
11	Drummondville, Voltigeurs	32	16	16	0	0	99	129	32	0.500
12	Chicoutimi, Saguenéens	31	13	14	1	3	104	102	30	0.484
13	Sherbrooke, Phoenix	32	12	15	3	2	110	116	29	0.453
14	Charlottetown, Islanders	31	12	16	2	1	88	110	27	0.435
15	Blainville-Boisbriand, Armada	32	11	16	4	1	80	97	27	0.422
16	Halifax, Mooseheads	31	11	16	3	1	88	112	26	0.419
17	Acadie-Bathurst, Titan	32	10	19	2	1	101	128	23	0.359
18	Baie-Comeau, Drakkar	29	5	22	1	1	63	127	12	0.207

 

GARLAND, COMPARED TO LEMIEUX, CROSBY, RICHARDS, & EHLERS

• Conor Garland (Moncton) – unfortunately, his point streak ended last Wednesday against Saint John, at 28 straight games with at least one point. With 69 points, he is well ahead of other league scorers, with a 13-point lead over Guillaume Gauthier (Sherbrook, 56).
• LET’S COMPARE THE GREATEST PERFORMANCES – In the following, we will attempt to compare the offensive statistics of the most productive players in the history of the QMJHL, in way that will allow us, as close as is possible to ‘Compare realities’.
• Methodology – We take the average points per game of a player and divide by the average number of goals scored by his team per game, so we can come to a percentage that shows the offensive contribution that a player provided his team in a given season. Be aware that this is not the actual offensive contribution to the team, as we are using the average, not the total number of goals.
• For example – Let’s do an exercise with the numbers amassed by Conor Garland to this point in the season. We divide average number of points per game of 2.38 by his team’s average number of goals per game (4.26) which gives us (him) a contribution of 55.8% toward to Wildcats’ average offensive output this season. The numbers will change with every one of his team’s games from now until the end of March, but for the instant, this would put him in 8^th spot.
• Giants – When you find yourself on our chart between Sidney Crosby (56.4%) and Jonathan Drouin (54.1%), you know that you are a very important part of the offensive success of your team. Remember Garland still has half a season to play before officially signing his name on this historic chart.
• Nikolaj Ehlers (Halifax, 2014-15) – We recall his great feats last season with the Mooseheads. With a 60.1%, he takes the laurels in terms of offensive impact on his club. His average of 2 points per game (1.98, to be exact) versus the small number of goals that his team scored overall last year (3.29), puts him in 1^st spot all-time. Ehlers in fact, beat the previous record held by Brad Richards from the 1998-99 season (57.6%).
• Where’s Mario? – The great Mario Lemieux. His total record of 282 points in a single season, and his huge average of 4.03 points per game, is only good enough to earn him 13^th spot (53.5%) The reason? His 1983-84 Laval Voisins, loaded with talented offensive players, scored 527 goals, the third most in league history.
• The years 1980 to 90 – In that decade you can find his greatest contribution to his team. No fewer than 8 other forwards along No fewer than 8 forwards rubbed shoulders with Mario Lemieux, including Patrick Lebeau the 1989-90 Offensive Player of the Year (56.9%).

THE BEST OFFENSIVE CONTRIBUTION BY A PLAYER TO HIS TEAM IN A SINGLE SEASON Considering a player’s average points per game versus the average number of team goals
Rank	Player	Team(s)	Season	GP	PTS	Av Pts/Game	Team games	Team goals	Team’s average Goals	%Vs_avTeamGoals
1	Ehlers, Nikolaj	Halifax	2014-15	51	101	1.98	68	224	3.29	60.10%
2	Richards, Brad	Rimouski	1998-99	59	131	2.22	70	270	3.86	57.60%
3	Richards, Brad	Rimouski	1999-00	63	186	2.95	72	370	5.14	57.50%
4	Crosby, Sidney	Rimouski	2004-05	62	168	2.71	70	333	4.76	57.00%
5	Brière, Daniel	Drummondville	1995-96	67	163	2.43	70	299	4.27	57.00%
6	Lebeau, Patrick	St-Jean/Victo	1989-90	72	174	2.42	72	306	4.25	56.90%
7	Crosby, Sidney	Rimouski	2003-04	59	135	2.29	70	284	4.06	56.40%
8	Drouin, Jonathan	Halifax	2013-14	46	108	2.35	68	290	4.26	55.10%
9	Ribeiro, Mike	Rouyn-Noranda	1998-99	69	167	2.42	70	314	4.49	54.00%
10	Lafleur, Guy	Québec	1969-70	56	174	3.11	56	323	5.77	53.90%
11	Perreault, Yanic	Trois-Rivières	1990-91	67	185	2.76	70	360	5.14	53.70%
12	Desharnais, David	Chicoutimi	2006-07	61	108	1.77	70	231	3.30	53.70%
13	Lemieux, Mario	Laval	1983-84	70	282	4.03	70	527	7.53	53.50%
14	Fortier, Marc	Chicoutimi	1986-87	65	201	3.09	70	411	5.87	52.70%
15	Bouchard, Pierre-Marc	Chicoutimi	2001-02	69	140	2.03	72	278	3.86	52.50%
16	Rouleau, Guy	Long/Hull	1985-86	62	191	3.08	72	423	5.88	52.40%
17	Poulin, Patrick	St-Hyacinthe	1991-92	56	138	2.46	70	332	4.74	52.00%
18	Cadieux, Steve	Shawinigan	1989-90	67	163	2.43	70	328	4.69	51.90%
19	Lefebvre, Patrice	Shawinigan	1987-88	70	200	2.86	70	387	5.53	51.70%
20	Robitaille, Luc	Hull	1985-86	63	191	3.03	72	423	5.88	51.60%
21	Lebeau, Stéphan	Shawinigan	1987-88	67	188	2.81	70	387	5.53	50.80%
22	Daigle, Alexandre	Victoriaville	1992-93	53	137	2.58	70	358	5.11	50.50%
Conor Garland’s numbers could be added at the end of the season in this table.
ON GOING	Garland, Conor	Moncton	2015-16	29	69	2.38	34	145	4.26	55.8%

Note:

1. Shootout (since 2005-6) goals are not included in team averages.
2. For Patrick Lebeau (6^th spot), We used the total number of goals of the 2 teams he played for to obtain the team average.
3. Patrice Lefebvre (19th) is the last player to have collected 200 points in a season.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES

• Anthony Richard (Val-d’Or) and Yan Pavel Laplante (Gatineau) – watch their sense of anticipation on the penalty kill. They have each scored 5 goals this season when their side was down a man, making them league leaders. Laplante is one of 9 QMJHL 20-goal or more scorers, along with teammates Richard (23) and Julien Gauthier (29) who are also among the best goal scorers on the circuit.
• Luke Green (Saint John) – The 17-year-old Sea Dogs defenceman found the back of the net twice on Wednesday, in a 6-2 win against Moncton. So far this season, he has collected 15 points, 4 of which are goals. It’s on the road that the 2014 Sea Dogs 1^st round pick is most surprising: 13 points in 13 games!

DEFENSEMEN WHO HAVE SCORED 2 GOALS OR MORE IN A GAME IN 2015-16
Rank	Player	Team	Date	Record
1	Nikolas Brouillard	Québec	15-11-03	3
1	Nikolas Brouillard	Québec	15-11-08	3
3	Allan Caron	Rouyn-Noranda	15-09-19	2
3	Loïk Léveillé	Cape Breton	15-09-30	2
3	Frédéric Allard	Chicoutimi	15-10-10	2
3	Tristan Pomerleau	Victoriaville	15-11-08	2
3	Cavan Fitzgerald	Halifax	15-11-24	2
3	Tristan Pomerleau	Victoriaville	15-12-02	2
3	Luke Green	Saint John	15-12-09	2

 

500 GAME MILESTONE FOR REFEREES

• 500 games as on on-ice official – in QMJHL there are only 23 different people so far in league history have reached this impressive mark. In terms of regular season games, there are a few men who are approaching that milestone.
• Todd Thomander – as seen in the chart below, he is just 4 games away from the 500 mark. Pascal St-Jacques (493) and Patrick Morin (488) will also soon join him in that exclusive club.
• Current leaders – Eric Charron (1132) and Denis Drolet (902) are the two officials, still working, who have the most number of refereed games.

MOST LIFETIME OUTINGS BY A QMJHL ON-ICE OFFICIAL
Rank	Official	Season	Record
1	Eric Charron	87-88 / 15-16	1132
2	Serge Carpentier	91-92 / 11-12	983
3	David Taveroff	83-84 / 12-13	937
4	Sylvain Cloutier	83-84 / 09-10	904
5	Denis Drolet	88-89 / 15-16	902
6	Nicolas Dutil	89-90 / 15-16	852
7	Daniel Béchard	95-96 / 15-16	851
8	Luc Voyer	87-88 / 15-16	846
9	Luc Lachapelle	74-75 / 98-99	783
10	Marc Muylaert	96-97 / 15-16	782
11	Pierre Tremblay	83-84 / 01-02	735
12	Sylvain Losier	93-94 / 15-16	719
13	Luc Miville	82-83 / 99-00	701
14	Stéfan Capano	92-93 / 15-16	666
15	Claude Girard	88-89 / 02-03	614
16	Serge Parent	90-91 / 06-07	612
17	Stéphane Tremblay	93-94 / 10-11	573
18	François Fortin	01-02 / 13-14	568
19	Dominick Bédard	05-06 / 15-16	567
20	Michel Lemieux	75-76 / 91-92	548
21	Christian Lortie	80-81 / 98-99	523
22	Richard Forest	93-94 / 07-08	520
23	Jean Hould	87-88 / 03-04	505
24	Louis Pothier	69-70 / 89-90	498
25	Todd Thomander	94-95 / 15-16	496
26	Pascal St-Jacques	04-05 / 15-16	493
27	Patrick Morin	00-01 / 15-16	488

 

What Our Web Visitors Are Saying

• Poll Question – Our poll question last week was: Do you like Serge Beausoleil’s chances of beating Patrick Roy’s record for being the fastest to 200 wins (315 games).
• Think positive! – Our QMJHL web visitors sure threw their support behind Beausoleil. No fewer than 55% of you believe that he has at least a 75% chance of succeeding.
• 190 wins in 300 games – those are Beausoleil’s current numbers with the Océanic. In order to beat Roy’s record, his team has to win 10 of their next 14 games. To equal it, the club from Lower St-Lawrence can only lose 5 games between now and January 23^rd…