Proxi Playoff preview – Western Conference 

The stories coming out of the Eastern Conference have been told. Now, we discuss the teams of the Western Conference, where there is no shortage of storylines.

Per Will MacLaren

 

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies – 40-17-5-2, 87 Pts – 1st in West, 3rd overall

After back-to-back second place finishes in the West, the Huskies decided to do the one thing few expected this season; claim top spot in the conference. The story behind the club’s success is, in many ways, no different than what followers had come to expect in previous campaigns.

There always seems to be at least one player in Rouyn-Noranda who steps up as the key driver offensively. This year, it’s 20-year-old Thomas Verdon, who finished third in league scoring.

Complimenting him has been fellow veteran Samuel Beauchemin and Swiss stud Lars Steiner, who turned his game up yet another notch during the final weeks of the season to help deliver the conference lead thanks to a five-game win streak to close out the regular season.

Overall, 10 players reached double-digit figures in goals. Defensively, the Huskies are always hungry. Overager Axel Dufresne is hitting his stride after missing nearly two months to injury mid-season. Sophomore Antoine St-Laurent has responded well to increased responsibilities while Alexis Lemire has been rock solid much of the year. Behind it all is Samuel Meloche, who proved his rookie season was no fluke. The 2025 Buffalo Sabres draftee finished the season second among all ‘Q’ netminders in victories.

Head Coach Steve Hartley has established a team first mantra that has yielded fantastic results and, perhaps more importantly, consistency. His team has now earned the right to control its own fate should it go on yet another run this Spring. It begins Friday against Gatineau.

 

Blainville-Boisbriand Armada – 40-18-5-1, 86 Pts – T-2nd in West, T-4th overall 

At the beginning of the season, many had the Armada tabbed as prohibitive favorites to capture the regular season championship. Though that didn’t happen, the resilience the club showed in making the race as tight as it was following a season punctuated by injuries was impressive.

Eight regulars in the lineup missed at least 10 games during the season. However, those who did suit up with more regularity for first year Head Coach Alexandre Jacques accounted themselves very well.

League-leading sniper Justin Carbonneau, expert puck handler Matéo Nobert and two-way star Vincent Desjardins combined for 109 goals and 238 points to drive the bus offensively. Maël Lavigne and Vincent Collard, who faced off in the 2025 Final and Memorial Cup with Rimouski and Moncton, respectively, teamed up in Boisbriand to provide both skill and leadership with Collard earning the captaincy for the black and white. Center Bill Zonnon, defensemen Xavier Villeneuve and fellow rearguard Spencer Gill all spent substantial time on the injured list. All three are now back in the lineup at the most vital time of year.

With goaltender Jakub Milota lost for the season early on, the Armada had to think fast. They juggled the lineup with qualified personnel before settling on the tandem of William Lacelle and Zach Pelletier, who have been equal to the task down the stretch.

The expectations have been high and the setbacks daunting. Still, the Armada find themselves in a good position. It’s time to put the lessons learned in the regular season to good use.

Drummondville Voltigeurs – 40-18-3-3, 86 Pts – T-2nd in West, T-4th overall 

The Drummondville Voltigeurs is the reason why they call them “so-called experts”. In a season where many expected to find them scrambling for a playoff spot, the Voltigeurs decided instead to hold down top spot in the West for much of the season.

With their Top 5 scorers and number one netminder from the previous season moving on, it would’ve been safe to assume that, if the Volts could maintain a high level of defensive responsibility, they would need to sacrifice too much offensively in the process. Instead, Sylvain Favreau and staff found a way to make things work on both sides of the puck.

Led by Jesse Allecia, Renaud Poulin and rookie Louis-Félix Bourque, three of the 11 double-digit goal getters on the roster, the team rode solid depth and a system that was creative and structured all season long. Owen Keefe and Matteo Rotondi were two of the go-to guys on the back end, the former with more offensive flair, the latter among the more qualified in his own zone.

This group was bolstered by the late season return of overager Marc-Olivier Beaudry, who posted a point-per-game performance from the blueline down the stretch. In net, Czech Jan Larys proved to be more than capable, earning 26 wins and the attention of scouts in his first year of NHL Draft eligibility.

It’s safe to say the Voltigeurs are done surprising the rest of the league. The only question that remains is how long they can keep this inspired run going?

 

Shawinigan Cataractes – 35-23-2-4, 76 Pts – 4th in West, 7th overall 

One year removed from coming within a goal of reaching the QMJHL Final, the Cataractes are back in the postseason with a new look but the usual respectable results.

Containing the Cataractes for prolonged stretches can be a challenge. With six 20-goal scorers, led by veteran Félix Lacerte, sophomore Chad Lygitsakos, rookie Elias Schneider and Boston Bruins draftee Cole Chandler, the Cats contain a strong punch among its top lines. Kody Dupuis brings his veteran savvy and strong puck skills into the playoffs despite missing 22 regular season contests.

With the blueline experiencing transition this campaign, the duo of Mathieu Plante and Félix Plamondon stepped into more pronounced roles and proved to be difference makers. Between the pipe, Mathys Fernandez played a key role, the overager setting a new career high in wins.

But beyond all of this is the one great intangible; experience. The majority of this group battled through a 16-game playoff run in 2025 that was equal parts skill and resilience. That’s the kind of factor no statistic can capture.

With a determined group that leans on its offensive presence, some may say this Cataractes squad isn’t your prototypical “playoff built” team. But the sum of its parts could be enough to offer up a surprise or two in the weeks to come.

Sherbrooke Phoenix – 33-26-5-0, 71 Pts – 5th in West, T-9th overall

The playoffs is a time when grinding out wins becomes more and more necessary. If that’s the case, the Sherbrooke Phoenix should feel right at home.

Head Coach Gilles Bouchard has once again done what he’s always been known for during his time in the ‘Q’; getting every drop of results from his roster, regardless of age. In fact, it’s safe to say these kids are all right.

The Top 5 scorers on the roster – defenseman Louis-Alex Tremblay and forwards Thomas Rousseau, Ilya Kolmakov, Jayden Plouffe and Florent Houle – are all in their 18-year-old campaigns or younger. All also played a pivotal role, when key veterans Olivier Dubois and Chad Bellemare spent time out of the lineup due to injury.

Rookie Brandon Delarosbil and overagers Jean-Félix Lapointe and Éloi Boudreau ate up key minutes on the back end. And if you prefer the team that can ride a hot goaltender into the postseason, Kyan Labbé is as good a candidate as anyone, as evidenced by his mastery over the next level offense of the Chicoutimi Saguenéens on two late-season occasions.

One look at this roster and it would be easy to say “just wait to see what this team does in the years to come”. However, the Phoenix are apt to reply “just look at us now”.

 

Val-d’Or Foreurs – 26-31-4-3, 59 Pts – 6th in West, 13th overall 

It was an up and down season in Val-d’Or this year. But the positives, which could make all the difference in the group during the postseason, were impossible to overlook.

Let’s start with the appropriately named top line. This year’s second leading scorer in the QMJHL, Philippe Veilleux, was joined by Maxime Coursol and Nathan Brisson. The trio combined for 229 points during the regular season.

Overager and former 30-goal scorer Louis-Charles Plourde, acquired early in the year from Baie-Comeau, is back in the lineup after an extended period on the injured list. Alix Durocher combined point-per-game capabilities with strong leadership.

The back end is punctuated by the youth of Benjamin Cossette Ayotte, the veteran presence of Anthony Paré and, following a mid-season swap with Chicoutimi, overager Xavier Daigle. In nets, Émile Beaunoyer has held the fort all season long with a number of highlight performances sprinkled in.

The Foreurs are a team that’s spent much of the year learning as they go, largely thanks to a handful of very solid veterans. It’s their hope they can now teach a lesson or two.

Victoriaville Tigres – 23-36-5-0, 51 Pts – 7th in West, T-15th overall 

The Victoriaville Tigres chose to enter a deep rebuild last season. This year’s progression is the first step back to the top for a club that continues to learn as they grow.

One surefire way to kickstart any build is hitting on picks at the CHL Import Draft. The Tigres did so twice last summer, bringing Egor Shilov and Alexey Vlasov into the fold. The pair rewarded the club by finishing 1-2 in rookie scoring, combining for over 160 points and running one of the league’s better powerplays. Alexis Bourque, Enzo Lottin and Thomas Paquet provided offensive depth and, in the case of Bourque and Paquet, veteran presence.

Mathéo Lepage enjoyed a breakout campaign on the blueline, providing support for off-season acquisition and 2024 Buffalo Sabres draft pick Simon-Pier Brunet. Additional support for the lineup was picked up early in the year when Korney Korneyev made his way over from Chicoutimi. Between the pipes, duties were split between Pittsburgh Penguins draftee Gabriel D’Aigle, who put together a solid bounce back season, and rookie Anthony Catanzariti.

Though they’ve stumbled entering this year’s postseason, the sheer skill at the top of this roster could turn more than a few heads in Victoriaville, both now and in the future.

 

Gatineau Olympiques – 21-38-4-1, 47 Pts – 8th in West, 16th overall 

Can a team consider itself just happy to be in the playoffs when they find themselves there every single year? With the Olympiques reaching the second season for the 41^st consecutive time, this feels more like a rite of spring.

That’s not to say it was easy for the charges of Serge Beausoleil – who stepped behind the bench once again mid-season – to punch their ticket. The Olympiques have been playing playoff-type games for weeks just to reach this point.

Veterans Justin Boisselle and Nicolas Petrut were the leaders offensively. But with up to 22 players on the roster at any given time aged 18 and under, the theme in Gatineau all year long has been development. The message has been received, particularly as seen in the results of 2024 QMJHL first rounders Maxim Dubé and Simon-Xavier Cyr.

Jérémie Dumas-Larouche spent his final QMJHL season playing key minutes on the back end, working alongside mid-season acquisition Alexandre Carbonneau and the hulking Michel Myloserdnyy.

Arguably the biggest reason why fans in Gatineau will be watching playoff hockey resides between the pipes. Kazakh netminder Danai Shaiikov has been nothing short of spectacular this season.

The Olympiques can’t change the past – they haven’t won a series since 2023. But they can try to give it their all now so that it pays off in the future.

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First-round matchups

1. Rouyn-Noranda vs 8. Gatineau
2. Blainville-Boisbriand vs 7. Victoriaville
3. Drummondville vs 6. Val-d’Or
4. Shawinigan vs 5. Sherbrooke