Our 20s: Blainville-Boisbriand Armada

The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada put up a tough fight against the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the first round, only to lose in seven games. Thus ended the junior careers of Mathis Cloutier and Félix Larose, two 20-year-old players.

Cloutier and Larose will stay close to each other, however, as they were both recruited by the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Patriotes in USports.

Larose leaves the Armada having played 163 games with the fleet, 20th in franchise history. Among defensemen, only seven players played more games than he did with BLB.

Larose was a fifth-round pick of the Armada in 2019, coming over from the Lévis Chevaliers Lévis in the LM18AAAQ.

He managed to break into the lineup in 2021-2022, at age 18, and has been frustrating opposing forwards with his good defensive play ever since, even if he isn’t the biggest, at 6 ft. and 194 lb.

As for Cloutier, he had been around quite a bit before joining the Armada in January 2024 (20 points in 31 games). It’s because he decided to begin his 20-year-old season in junior AAA, in St-Jérôme, where he dominated with 81 points in 30 games, attracting the attention of Armada GM Olivier Picard.

A fourth-round pick of Val-d’Or in 2019, Cloutier played for the Foreurs, Wildcats, Cataractes and Foreurs, again, before joining the Armada.

The former St-Eustache Vikings, in the LM18AAAQ, completes his QMJHL career with 96 points (42-54) in 192 games.

Good luck with the Patriotes, guys!