2024 QMJHL Playoffs | Eagles vs. Saguenéens Preview

Two clubs that won their opening series with relative ease, are both on the rise though the QMJHL standings and already boast a memorable playoff history against one another. Those are some of the various storylines awaiting the Cape Breton Eagles and Chicoutimi Saguenéens as they face off in round two of the 2024 Gilles-Courteau Trophy Playoffs starting Friday night in Sydney.

It took the Eagles five years to revisit the Quarter-Finals but just five games to make it happen this Spring following their victory over the Rimouski Océanic. Cam Squires led the way, both for the Eagles and in the Q overall, with 11 points, tying a club record for a single series. While Squires was leading the points parade, Cam MacDonald topped the squad with five goals, including game-winners in Games 3 and 5. Olivier Houde, Xavier Daigle and Jacob Newcombe also averaged more than a point per game, as the Eagles rattled off 23 goals against the Océanic. As a group, the club buckled down defensively as well, particularly while games remained close and in the deciding fifth game, helping Nicolas Ruccia carry over his strong play from the regular season. The biggest numbers for the Eagles came courtesy of the fans in Cape Breton, however. Games 1 and 2 saw over 8300 fans take in the action, creating an electric atmosphere at Center 200. Those fans will now be hoping to watch the Eagles reach the Semi-Finals for the first time in 17 years.

The Saguenéens team was expected to be a formidable postseason foe, but few could have anticipated a four-game sweep of the Moncton Wildcats would deliver Chicoutimi its first series victory in three years. The Sags did it with timely goals and by wrenching momentum away from Moncton at seemingly every opportunity. Thomas Desruisseaux led the offense with eight points, while six players who participated in all four contests averaged at least a point per game. Defensively, while the club lost key pieces in Loïc Usereau and Peteris Bulans for the final two games of the series, fellow blueliners Alex Huang and Jonathan Prud’homme, among others, came together to cobble together key minutes in all game situations. Then there was Rémi Delafontaine, who prepares to face his former Cape Breton teammates in the Quarters after frustrating the Cats to the tune of a .939% save percentage and a Game 1 shutout.

The Eagles and Saguenéens each won at home in the two-game season series. On January 18 in Sydney, Ruccia pitched a 29-save shutout as the Eagles won 3-0. On February 10, three points from Maxim Massé propelled the Sags to a 5-2 triumph. This is the fourth postseason encounter between the two teams. Cape Breton became just the third team to rally from a 3-0 series deficit to eliminate the Saguenéens in seven first-round games back in 2001. Three years later, a building Chicoutimi squad stunned a talent-laden Eagles group with a five-game second-round victory. Their latest clash came in the opening round back in 2016, a six-game Eagles win.

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Team Comparison (Reg. Season):