Interesting Numbers: 2015 President Cup Edition

On the eve of the 46^th championship final in QMJHL history, here are a few numbers that will only help you further appreciate and really soak in this Remparts-Oceanic series. This is a rivalry that goes back to when the Remparts rejoined the league in 1997. These two clubs haven’t faced off in the playoffs in 16 years no less!

THE PRESIDENT CUP

• RIMOUSKI – In their 20^th season, the Oceanic is now in familiar territory given this marks their 5^th time reaching the President Cup final since joining the QMJHL. Their intense fans have certainly been spoiled with their favorite team having won it all in 2000 and 2005. Their first triumph was led by likes of Brad Richards while their second title was driven by none than the great Sidney Crosby. For each of those historic wins the Oceanic had Doris Labonte behind the bench. The Oceanic could become the 26^th team in league history to win the regular season title and the President Cup in the same year.
• QUEBEC – The first incarnation of the Remparts may have won 5 President’s Cups in the 1970s, the current one has yet to ever win a playoff championship in the Q. Since 1997, they played in the league final once losing to Moncton. Since the Wildcats were hosting the Memorial Cup that year, the Remparts still went to the Memorial Cup and beat the Wildcats in the final. That matchup was also the first Memorial Cup final to feature two teams from the QMJHL.
• The MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament – Each of this year’s President Cup finalists are assured to take part in the tournament which will be hosted at the Pepsi Colisee from May 22 to 31.

 

ALREADY CROWNED

• Zachary Fucale (Quebec) – The Remparts’ star goalie was in the crease when the Halifax Mooseheads won both the President Cup and the MasterCard Memorial Cup in 2013. That spring, he posted a 2.02 GAA, winning 16 of 17 games as only a 17-year-old! He recently broke the league record for playoffs wins previously held by Roberto Luongo (38). If Fucale racks up four more wins, he will reach No. 50 over this career! He also holds the playoff record for games played with now 62 over his four years in the playoffs.
• Matt Murphy (Quebec) and Brian Lovell (Quebec) – Like Fucale, these two defencemen were with the Mooseheads when they won the MasterCard Memorial Cup back in 2013. Now at 19, Murphy is playing big minutes for the Remparts and is now at +13. The league-leaders in that category this year are teammates Nikolas Brouillard and Kurt Etchegary.
• Ryan Graves (Quebec) – He is looking to extend his point streak to six games and was a part of the Foreurs club that won the President Cup last year.
• Philippe Boucher (Quebec) – Going all the way back to his playing days, Boucher was a d-man with the Laval Titan when they won the President’s Cup back in 1993. He put up 6 goals and 13 assists for the Titan that spring and was also the Sabres first round pick in 1991.
• Maxime Ouellet (Quebec) – The Remparts current goalie coach had the same role with the Foreurs last year when they won President Cup.
• Eric Dubois and Michel Ouellet – The pair of Oceanic assistant coaches both have winning track records. As a player, Dubois won the President Cup as a player in 1989 and 1990 with the Laval Titan. As for Ouellet, he was one of the young leaders who helped the Remparts win the President Cup in 2000. No current Oceanic player has ever won the President Cup.

IMPRESSIVE WINNING PERCENTAGE 

• Serge Beausoleil (Rimouski) – In only his fourth season as a head coach in the QMJHL, he is coaching in his second President Cup Final. The Oceanic’s bench boss already reached 50 playoff games back on April 28 against Val-d’Or. His career winning percentage in the playoffs is .647 (9^th all-time for coaches to have coached at least 40 games) thanks to his 33-18 record. In the Rimouski record book he is chasing Doris Labonte in career playoff games coached (57) which is in Beausoleil’s reach if this series reaches 6 games.

 

Coaches in the playoffs – career winning percentage

At least 40 games	TM	SP	SW	SerW%	GP	W	Win%	Final	Champ
Gallant, Gérard	SNB	12	11	.917	57	46	.807	3	2
Filion, Maurice	QR1	9	8	.889	44	34	.795	3	2
Labonté, Doris	Sha | Rim	13	10	.769	62	43	.694	3	2
Ducharme, Dominique	Hal	12	9	.750	64	44	.688	1	1
Therrien, Michel	Lav | Gra	13	10	.769	66	45	.682	3	1
Bégin, Jean	Hul | Lav | Ver | TR | Dru	11	8	.727	57	38	.667	3	2
Julien, Claude	Hul	12	9	.750	63	42	.667	3	1
Bergeron, Michel	TR	11	7	.636	55	36	.655	2	2
Beausoleil, Serge	Rim	10	7	.700	51	33	.647	2e*	0
Creamer, Pierre	Mtl | Ver | Lav	10	6	.600	59	37	.627	2	2
Delage, Ghislain	SJr | Sor | SC1	25	15	.600	118	70	.610	6	2
Groulx, Benoit	Hul | Gat	30	21	.700	156	92	.590	4	3

 

 

RECORD NUMBER OF GAMES 

• QMJHL – On two occasions in 2006 and 2010, the QMJHL needed 80 to determine its playoff champs. That mark will be toppled once Game 4 is in the books as number is currently at 77 this year.

RACE FOR THE GUY LAFLEUR TROPHY

• The most valuable player in the playoffs – Who will receive the title this spring? A few players are in the running and here they are…
• Louis-Philip Guindon (Rimouski) – With his incredible 1.12 GAA so far, he seems well on his way to setting a new record given the current mark is 1.96 (David Tremblay | Gatineau | 2004).
• Adam Erne (Quebec) – He has 15 goals in 15 games including 3 game winners. He has two records within his reach. With 23 career playoff goals to date, he is now 7 shy of Mathieu Melanson (30 | 2004 to 2006) which will be a tough mark to achieve. The record for goals in one playoff year is even harder to reach with Melanson having scored 25 goals in 2006 alone!
• The Guy Lafleur Trophy – Many big names have claimed this coveted honour including: Claude Lemieux (1985), Jose Theodore (1995), and Sidney Crosby (2005) to name a few. Two rare players have even won it twice: Marc Saumier (Longueuil, 1987 | Hull, 1988) and Maxime Talbot (Hull, 2003 | Gatineau, 2004). Last year’s winner was Antoine Bibeau (Val-d’Or) while in 2013 it was Jonathan Drouin (Halifax). The last defenceman to ever win it was Danny Groulx with Victoriaville in 2002.
• There are still a few games left to be played and the journalists have some more time to determine their winner, there is also still time for you to figure out who you think will be most deserving of this honour.

 

QUICK HITS

• Rimouski won the last three regular season meetings with Quebec on their way to going 5-3 against the Remparts in 2014-15.

• Rimouski scored 25 shorthanded goals this season by far the most of any team in the league this season.

• Michael Joly (Rimouski)– In only three against the Remparts this season, he scored 4 goals and added 2 assists. He is a shorthanded specialist with 16 career shorthanded goals, including 5 this season.

 

FORMER VOLTIGEURS

• Louis-Philippe Guindon (Rimouski) – Acquired from Drummondville in December, he will be a key player for Rimouski in this series.
• Charles-David Beaudouin (Rimouski) – The former captain of the Voltigeurs has become an invaluable cog for Beausoleil who uses the big d-man in all situations.
• Nikiolas Brouillard (Quebec) – At 19 years old, he was one of the league’s top offensive-minded rearguards in 2014-15 with almost one point per game (57 points in 61 games). In the playoffs, his +15 differential is tops among d-men so far just ahead of Samuel Morin and Jan Kostalek of Rimouski (+14).
• Jerome Verrier (Quebec) – This warrior could make some noise in this series by shaking up Rimouski’s vaunted defensive brigade. Often injured in 2014-15, he still posted 6 points in 6 games against the Oceanic this season.
• Guillaume Gauthier (Quebec) – This 20-year-old was a first round pick of the Oceanic at No. 3 overall in 2011. He seems to love playing at the Pepsi Colisee, with 38 of his 56 points on the season coming at home (68%).
• Voltigeurs fans – Now the question is what team will Voltigeurs fans end up pulling for…