A first in 17 years for Justin Poirier?

After becoming last year the first 17-year-old player to reach the 50-goal plateau since Sidney Crosby in 2003-2004, Justin Poirier could achieve another feat this season.

The Baie-Comeau Drakkar forward currently leads the QMJHL with 20 goals in as many games. If he continues at the same pace, he could become the first player to score 60 goals since Thomas Beauregard (71) in 2006-2007.

In all, since the early 2000s, only eight players have reached the 60-goal plateau: Thomas Beauregard in 2006-2007, Maxime Boisclair (70) and Alexander Radulov (61) in 2005-2006, Sidney Crosby (66) in 2004-2005, Jason King (63) in 2001-2002, and Simon Gamache (74), Yanick Lehoux (67) and Marc-André Thinel (62) in 2000-2001.

Need we remind you that 15 or 20 years ago, defensive systems and goaltenders weren’t as effective as they are today?

So it’s a truly impressive performance from Poirier, the third-highest goal-scorer in Canada behind Michael Misa of the Saginaw Spirit (OHL), with 23 goals, and Cameron Schmidt of the Vancouver Giants (WHL), with 22.

At the top of the QMJHL, Poirier – whose next goal will be his 100th in the regular season – has a two-goal lead over Sam Oliver of the Drummondville Voltigeurs, and a four-goal lead over Jonathan Fauchon of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Jacob Mathieu of the Rimouski Océanic. Olivier, Fauchon and Mathieu are 20 years old, while Poirier is 18.

Antonin Verreault of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Justin Côté of the Québec Remparts, two other 20-year-olds, have 15 goals. Same for Louis-Charles Plourde, who is 19 years old and is a teammate of Poirier in Baie-Comeau.

So far, only 21 players in the entire Canadian Hockey League (CHL) have reached this total: seven in the QMJHL, seven in the OHL and seven in the WHL.

Will Justin Poirier, a Carolina Hurricanes prospect, win the Mario-Lemieux Trophy for the second straight season? Stay tuned until the end of March!

CHL Top Goal-Scorers (as of the morning of November 20)