In remarkably quick and emphatic fashion, the first team other than the host club Saginaw Spirit to compete in the 2024 Memorial Cup has been determined. The QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs looked overwhelmingly like the better team while stacked up against Jean Rougeau Trophy winners the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the final round of the Gilles-Courteau Trophy playoffs. They seemed to have every box checked in all three zones when it came to doing what they had to to capture the Q’s biggest trophy.

Picking up where we left off in the ongoing series covering the cumulative CHL postseason, we will begin this coverage with Game 3 of the finals on Monday, May 13th. At this point, Drummondville had already taken both games on the road, and were looking to continue their success at home in the confines of the Centre Marcel Dionne. This is precisely what was in store for them. Hockey is a possession game and correspondingly, Drummondville carried out this essential function to great success, controlling the game and supplementing that by being lethal in finishing. In line with the tendencies they exhibited in Game 1, they were quick to get on the board, scoring just 3:34 into the first period with D Vsevolod Komarov (Buffalo Sabres) tallying a goal. They would subsequently score the next game’s four goals, putting Baie-Comeau in an insurmountable hole. Ultimately, they would out-shoot Baie-Comeau 30-19 in the game. They only appeared to be on the receiving end of a strong effort from Baie-Comeau in period three, where they were the aggressors in attack and, in tandem, out-shot Drummondville 9-2. However, it would be too little, too late, as Drummondville would emerge forward as 6-2 victors to take a commanding 3-0 lead. This effort was spearheaded by the aforementioned Komarov, RW Ethan Gauthier (Tampa Bay Lightning), and C Luke Woodworth, who took the first, second, and third stars respectively via 1g-1a, 2g-1a, and 3a performances. This game was certainly a contrast from the previous two, which were largely defined by Baie-Comeau’s inability to solve Drummondville G Riley Mercer (despite the offensive outpouring the Voltigeurs had in Game 1 and an impressive team effort). The netminder did not have much of a task in front of him on this night. Instead, the defining characteristic was that they were simply outplayed by a team that did great in controlling the puck and more than adequately providing puck support.

Game 4 was a bit more curious in its ebbs and flows, but did include demonstrations of what we saw from Drummondville at their peak in this series. They were the superior team in the dictation of pace and puck possession in the opening stanza, despite narrowly losing the SOG battle, 11-10. The Voltigeurs opened the scoring yet again, with Gauthier scoring to put the exclamation point on an excellent power play shift, with RW/C Alexis Gendron (Philadelphia Flyers) and Woodworth being credited with the assists. As noted by TSN, this was the third time in the series that Drummondville scored first within the first six minutes of the game, with the sole exception being their 1-0 OT win in Game 2 in the goalie battle to end them all (in the Q this postseason, at least) between Mercer and Baie-Comeau’s Charles-Edward Gravel. They experiences some surges in intensity from Baie-Comeau in the opening frame, but they were able to withstand them all.

The Voltigeurs overwhelmingly looked like the better team in the second period, but had only a goal from LW/C Sam Oliver to show for it. Indeed, while Baie-Comeau were quite out of their depth throughout most of the second frame, only managing 3 SOGs and looking gun-shy, D Niks Ferenko was able to narrow the deficit to 2-1 in the dying minutes of the middle frame. This was overall a fairly non-descript period, however, with the defining times instead coming in the final stanza. D Matteo Rotondi was quick to grow the lead to 3-1 for Drummondville just over a minute into the third period, with assists credited to Gendron and C Peter Repcik (2024 Draft eligible), marking Rotondi’s first goal of the postseason. The final nail in the coffin appeared to come when Oliver delivered yet another goal a little over eight minutes into the frame to bring the score to 4-1. However, there was a lot of life from Baie-Comeau inside the final two minutes after a timeout by head coach/GM Jean-François Grégoire and with Gravel pulled for the extra attacker. With just 1:23 remaining, C/LW Justin Gill (New York Islanders) was in just the right spot to tap in a goal to make it 4-2. Inside the final minute, Drummondville would concede yet another goal, this one coming off the stick of C Matyas Melovsky (2024 Draft eligible), despite their best efforts to eat the puck and take time off the clock (which was successful to a point, but they allowed Drummondville to get too close for comfort). However, after the ensuing faceoff, Baie-Comeau would ice the puck, not allowing Gravel to get out and making it an uphill battle to make another play. They would have one decent rush towards the very end of regulation time, but the puck would wind up in the corner, and Drummondville would emerge victors, 4-3 in the game and 4-0 in the series to capture their second league title/their first since their historic 2008-09 campaign and their fourth ever appearance in the Memorial Cup. Oliver would be awarded first star of the game for his two goals (including the GWG/series winner), while Woodworth earned the second for his 2 assists and Mercer gathered the third for his 23 saves in the victory.

A significant part of the confidence and winning identity that delivered this championship title to the Voltigeurs (led by bench boss Sylvain Favreau) was having multiple guys who’d been there before, including members of last year’s Memorial Cup champion Quebec Remparts. As such, it seems appropriate that the Guy Lafleur Trophy was awarded to one of said players. Indeed, Vsevolod Komarov was a very appropriate recipient. Beyond just 15 points and a +9 in 19 games this postseason, the blueliner had many impacts beyond the scoresheet and exhibited a lot of big game poise and exceptional leadership skills. One has to imagine that having such presences will serve them quite well in the next phase. Drummondville will not roll over to the best the OHL and WHL have to offer in this Memorial Cup. I imagine that they are going to provide some strong competition to their adversaries beginning on the 24th in Michigan.