Inside the Number for Week #23
After starting off the 2015-16 season in the NHL, Sprong (PHOTO) is back in the Q and among its elite shooters. In Cape Breton, with less a month left in the regular season, the Eagles are playing their best hockey – but beware the Islanders, who are winners of their last 5.
FULL THROTTLE
- Cape Breton – after adding 15 out of 18 possible points in the last 4 weeks, the Screaming Eagles are intimidating most other teams with their offensive prowess. Despite the fact that Gatineau just got the better of them, beating them 3-0 last Wednesday, since the 31st of January, Marc-André Dumont’s boys have beaten opposing goalies 46 times. That’s an average of 5 goals per game (5.11). In the above period in which they went 7-1-1, 5 of the team’s forwards have at least 13 points each. They will be presenting themselves with quite the test this weekend when they pay visit to Rouyn-Noranda and Val d’Or.
| Rank | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- |
| 1 | Michael Joly | 9 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 4 |
| 2 | Pierre-Luc Dubois | 8 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 4 |
| 3 | Evgeny Svechnikov | 9 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 2 |
| 4 | Maxim Lazarev | 9 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 2 |
| 5 | Giovanni Fiore | 9 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 10 |
| 6 | Loïk Léveillé – DEF – | 9 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 6 |
- Charlottetown (10th, 63 points) as for the Islanders, they have just won 5 straight. With 9 games left to play form now until the ends of the regular season, Jim Hulton’s troupe have to earn at least 5 points more in the standings than Rimouski (7th, 70 points) or Cape Breton (8th, 68 points) if they want to pass one of those teams and gain home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs. Not an easy task, even before you consider that Victoriaville is also leading them in 9th place at the moment (65 points)
- Daniel Sprong (Charlottetown) – In this month that is just now ending, Sprong, who spent the first half of the season with the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, has collected 15 points in 9 outings. The Prince Edward Island star forward has scored at least 1 goal in each of his last 5 games. In that same stretch, he had at least 6 shots on goal per game. Sprong has only played 24 games so far this season in the QMJHL, but he has already got past the opposing goaltender on 15 occasions, and has amassed 35 points. In 157 lifetime Q games, he has lit the light 84 times. If we were talking about a full season, he would have 36 goals; and remember he is only 18.
- Rimouski – Looking at the Océanic, it is in defence that they are most effective. In the last 3 weeks, veteran goaltender, Louis-Philip Guindon has maintained a goals against average of 1.32, while his teammate Alexandre Lagacé, (2.04) is also doing his part to neutralize the enemy offence. The Lower Saint Lawrence duo have only allowed 12 goals in 8 games this month, with a 5-2-0-1 record in that period to show for it.
RECORD
- Mathieu Bellemare (Gatineau) – In his last 3 starts, the right-catching goalie has put up some pretty astonishing stats: 3-0 with 2 shutouts, a goals against of .33 and save percentage of .984! Against Cape Breton last Wednesday, he earned his 4th shutout of the season, equalling the QMJHL rookie-goaltending record. In his last perfect, 18-stop performance, he lowered his average to 2.47 for the season. If he can keep that pace or lower it even farther, he will break a 21-year-old record for rookies: Martin Biron had an average of 2.48 in 1994-95 when he played in the jersey of the now defunct Beauport Harfangs.
Most Shutouts by a QMJHL Rookie Goaltender in One Season |
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| Rank | Goalie | Team | Season | Record |
| 1 | Olivier Roy | Cape Breton | 07-08 | 4 |
| 1 | Louis-Philip Guindon | Drummondville | 12-13 | 4 |
| 1 | Mathieu Bellemare | Gatineau | 15-16 | 4 |
Best Goals Against Average by a QMJHL Rookie Goaltender in One Season |
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| Rank | Goalie | Team(s) | Season | Record |
| *** | Mathieu Bellemare | Gatineau | 15-16 | 2.47 |
| 1 | Martin Biron | Beauport | 94-95 | 2.48 |
| 2 | Ondrej Pavelec | Cape Breton | 05-06 | 2.51 |
| *** | Mark Grametbauer | Gatineau/BLB | 15-16 | 2.53 |
| 3 | Maxime Joyal | Quebec | 04-05 | 2.61 |
| 4 | Alexei Volkov | Halifax | 98-99 | 2.70 |
| 5 | Sébastien Charpentier | Laval | 94-95 | 2.73 |
| 6 | Jean-Michel Filiatrault | Victoriaville-Quebec | 02-03 | 2.73 |
| 7 | Brandon Whitney | Victoriaville | 11-12 | 2.74 |
| 8 | François Brassard | Quebec | 11-12 | 2.8 |
| 9 | Peter Delmas | Lewiston | 06-07 | 2.81 |
| 10 | Olivier Roy | Cape Breton | 07-08 | 2.87 |
| *** = the averages of Bellemare et Grametbauer are subject to change as the season is not yet over. Their records will not be official until the end of the season. | ||||
- At home – The two Abitibi teams could break their single-season home-win records in their last home matches this year. Both Val-d’Or (23) and Rouyn-Noranda (25) are only 3 and 2 away from equalling their respective team records.
Most Single-Season Huskie Home Wins |
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| Rank | Season | Record |
| 1 | 07-08 | 28 |
| 2 | 97-98 | 27 |
| 2 | 00-01 | 27 |
| 3 | 15-16 | 26 |
Most Single-Season Foreurs Home Wins |
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| Rank | Season | Record |
| 1 | 00-01 | 26 |
| 2 | 13-14 | 24 |
| 3 | 02-03 | 23 |
| 3 | 06-07 | 23 |
| 3 | 15-16 | 23 |
Overtime and Shootout
- 20% – so far in 2015-16, 1 game in 5 is going into overtime: Precisely 103 of the 514 games that had been played as of last Tuesday morning. In the last 2 seasons, fewer games needed overtime: 18% in 2014-15 and 17% in 2013-14.
- 3 on 3 – The new regulation put in place this season, regarding the number of players on the ice in overtime has cut down on the number of shootouts. In fact, 73% of those games (75 out of 103) found a winner during the 3 on 3 period. In the combined 1224 games of the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, only 43% of those matches had a winner after playing 4-4 in overtime.
- Halifax – No fewer that 92% of their overtime games (11 of 12) ended in the 5-minute 3 on 3.
- Chicoutimi – For the first time, the Saguenéens can claim to have had the most games that went past 60 minutes: 16 (tying Charlottetown) Yanick Jean’s men are also the team that have found themselves in the shootout the most often (9 times, 5-4)
- Drummondville The Voltigeurs are best in overtime, with a win percentage of .800 (8 wins in 10 overtimes/shootouts) Shawinigan follows close behind at .737 (11-4), and its in the Shootout that the Cataractes dominate, with a perfect record of 3-0.
- Sherbrooke – having played 11 games past regulation, the Phoenix have only won 2 of those, and those were in the 5-minute 3 on 3. This means that Stéphane Julien’s troupe have earned 9 points this season without ending the game as winners.
- Tie breaker – According to the QMJHL’s current regulations, if 2 teams are tied in regular-season points, the first criterion for a tiebreaker is the subtraction of the number of wins achieved by shootout. Let’s look at all the team’s records in overtime and the shootout for 2015-16.
QMJHL – Overtime and Shootout, 2015-16 |
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| As of February 23, 2016 | |||||||
| TEAM | GP | OTW | OTL | SOW | SOL | PTS | WIN% |
| Shawinigan | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 0.733 |
| Charlottetown | 16 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 25 | 0.563 |
| Chicoutimi | 16 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 23 | 0.438 |
| Moncton | 15 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 0.400 |
| Rouyn-Noranda | 13 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 0.615 |
| Saint John | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 0.667 |
| Cape Breton | 12 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 0.500 |
| Drummondville | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0.800 |
| Rimouski | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 0.500 |
| Halifax | 12 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 0.417 |
| Blainville-Boisbriand | 12 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 0.333 |
| Gatineau | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 0.667 |
| Quebec | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0.500 |
| Acadie-Bathurst | 9 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 0.444 |
| Sherbrooke | 11 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 0.182 |
| Victoriaville | 10 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 0.300 |
| Val-d’Or | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0.571 |
| Baie-Comeau | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0.200 |
WHAT OUR WEB VISITORS ARE SAYING
- 3 on 3 overtime – it’s practically a unanimous decision on your part: 86% of our web visitors like the new overtime format that has been in effect since the start of the current season. The reduced number of men on the ice has led to some spectacular play and that would seem to be appreciated by the public.
16-YEAR-OLD ROOKIES PAR EXCELLENCE
- Maxime Comtois (Victoriaville) – When you can mention a player in the same breath as Patrick Grandmaître and Alexandre Daigle, he must be doing something right. Comtois is capable of equalling and surpassing Grandmaître to 2nd place in Tigres history for most points for a 16-year-old rookie; 59. The club record is proving to be unbeatable, since Alexandre Daigle racked up 110. The overall record for a 1st year Victoriaville player, no matter what age, still belongs to Reginald Savage (122 points, 1987-88) Savage scored 68 goals.
Most Points in a Season for a Tigres Rookie Forward |
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| Rank | Player | Season | Record |
| 1 | Reginald Savage | 87-88 | 122 |
| 2 | Alexandre Daigle* | 91-92 | 110 |
| 3 | Alain Tardif | 87-88 | 67 |
| 4 | Richard Aimonetto | 90-91 | 60 |
| 5 | Patrick Grandmaître* | 95-96 | 59 |
| 6 | Maxime Comtois* | 15-16 | 54 |
| * = rookie whose Major Junior age was 16 | |||
WHEN IT COUNTS!
- Olivier Garneau (Quebec) – The 17-year-old forward may have only 8 goals this season, but half of those (4) were game winners. His 2 most recent winning goals were earned against Shawinigan and Rimouski last week. It was a 1-0 win against the Océanic! That’s what you call scoring when it counts.
Translation: Richard Dumas
