Congrats, QMJHL! You get a real spotlight today. The WHL recap will be composed and published before action starts up for them tonight.

Eastern Conference:

(1) Moncton Wildcats defeat (8) Québec Remparts in four games

This was yet another “more competitive than meets the eye” series across the CHL’s “Eastern” leagues. The Jean Rougeau Trophy winners/likely title favorites needed overtime to defeat Québec twice, in Games 1 and 3, both games having identical 4-3 scorelines. LW Julius Stumpf and C Gabe Smith (Utah Hockey Club) were the respective overtime heroes, with both capping off two goal performances in the process. Moncton additionally only won Game 4 by a score of 4-3, having to stave off a Québec comeback effort which included LW Justin Côté (who had one other goal in the game) tallying a late goal to cut the deficit to 1. Some bounces go the other way in this series and we’re looking at least at a longer one, which seems rare for the QMJHL’s opening rounds.

(2) Rimouski Océanic defeat (7) Charlottetown Islanders in four games

I’ll leave it at this: Game 2 was a 10-0 shutout win, which saw LW Jacob Mathieu tally 3g-3a (obviously procuring first star of the game honors), accounting for 6 of his 10 points on the day. This was pretty representative as a whole. This one was never in doubt.

(3) Chicoutimi Saguenéens defeat (6) Acadie-Bathurst Titan in five games

Acadie-Bathurst fell into a 3-0 series hole by losing all close games to kick things off. They put in a strong defensive effort in Game 3, with G Joshua Fleming stopping 32 of 33 in the 2-1 win while LW Blake Pilgrim-Edwards and RW Dawson Sharkey provided the goals. This kept the story of the AB Titan afloat just a bit longer, but Game 5 saw it come to an end with a 5-1 Chicoutimi win wherein RW Maxim Massé (Anaheim Ducks) recorded 1g-3a. With the Titan relocating to St. John’s next year where they will play as the Regiment, I gave them something of a tribute/eulogy here.

(4) Baie-Comeau Drakkar defeat (5) Cape Breton Eagles in six games

This capped off the “No surprises in the first round” phenomenon on the Eastern half of the bracket, but it also provided memories to last a lifetime. Cape Breton were on the losing side of two games of varying degrees of competitiveness to start things off by scores of 3-1 and 5-2 before having an explosive 5-1 performance in Game 3. LW Jacob Newcombe was in the driver’s seat in that matchup, with two goals. They would get stonewalled by Baie-Comeau G Lucas Beckman in Game 4, though, as he stopped all 30 of their shots in a 4-0 shutout win. Cape Breton kept the dream alive in the most climactic fashion, as RW Lucas Romeo’s GTG in the third period of Game 5 ultimately paved the way for the second-longest game in QMJHL history to take place. Three goals were disallowed in extra time and Cape Breton G Jakub Milota (Nashville Predators) stopped 84 of 86 total on the marathon night, including stopping double digit shots against in every overtime period (most notably stopping 15 in 4OT). LW Angelo Fullerton would ultimately see to it that Milota’s efforts were not in vain, as he scored a highlight reel goal on Beckman 1:42 into the eighth period to give Cape Breton a 3-2 win after 141:42 of playing time. While this would not prevent a crushing defeat in the closeout game, Cape Breton did leave a mark on Canada’s national consciousness and the worldwide hockey community with what they did on home ice in the game that would never end.

Western Conference:

(1) Drummondville Voltigeurs defe- hold on, never mind, actually! (8) Halifax Mooseheads defeat (1) Drummondville Voltigeurs in seven games

In a demonstration of the importance of winning close games, Halifax (as really, the 16th seed when you get down to it, as the team with the fewest points to get into the postseason) defeated the defending champions by winning four games by exclusively either one or two goal deficits. This included an overtime victory in Game 2 wherein Drummondville RW Ethan Gauthier (Tampa Bay Lightning) gave them fits during regulation time via 1g-1a, but G Jacob Steinman stood tall for the Mooseheads via 45 saves and C Liam Kilfoil got the job done 16:40 into the extra stanza. After recovering from a 6-0 bruising in Game 6, a defensive masterclass and another standout performance by Steinman in net, with 38 saves, gave them a 2-0 victory in Game 7. D Carlos Händel (2025 NHL Entry Draft) scored the series winner very late into the second period, while Kilfoil tallied the empty netter at 51 seconds remaining. At the end of it all, a team that wasn’t expected to win a playoff game advanced to the second round. This was arguably one of the greatest upsets in the entire history of the CHL, never mind just the QMJHL.

(2) Rouyn-Noranda Huskies defeat (7) Gatineau Olympiques in five games

This was a fairly anticlimactic matchup. C Maxim Dubé (2026 NHL Entry Draft) kept Gatineau alive by scoring the OT winner in Game 4 to provide them a 3-2 victory after losing the first three games in mostly noncompetitive fashion. However, the series ended in mostly expected fashion as Rouyn-Noranda closed it out in Game 5 by a score of 8-4. Some of the most reliable, usual suspects from the Huskies were heavily involved in completing the job. LW Antonin Verreault (2g-2a), D Ty Higgins (1g-2a), and C/2025 Draft eligible Bill Zonnon (1g-2a, +4) took home first, second, and third star, as they closed out round one in emphatic fashion.

(3) Shawinigan Cataractes defeat (6) Val-d’Or Foreurs in five games

No real surprises here, as Val-d’Or’s only victory was in overtime by a score of 4-3 in something of a PDO bender game where they were outshot 38-28. RW Noah Reinhart scored the OT winner, while G Cédric Massé made the 35 big saves. Save for that, though, with the exception of Game 1, every loss was by either three or four goals. As one would anticipate, RW Matvei Gridin (Calgary Flames) had a big hand in this victory for Shawinigan, with 2g-1a in the 5-2 series clinching Game 5 and first star honors, alongside 10 points total.

(5) Sherbrooke Phoenix defeat (4) Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in five games

Not the biggest bracket buster of all-time, but an interesting case study in, yet again, the importance of winning close games. To their credit, the Armada did that in Game 2 by claiming a 3-2 win on the back of a brace by RW Justin Carbinneau (2025 NHL Entry Draft). However, with the exception of the 5-1 pasting that occurred in Game 1, they lost exclusively by one or two goals in the other matches and it was their undoing. Sherbrooke notably took Game 4 in double overtime by a score of 4-3, with D Jean-Félix Lapointe getting the OT tally and Latvian WJC hero Linards Feldbergs making 43 saves between the pipes. The closeout to the series would come in overtime in Game 5, as C Hugo Primeau would finish it 6:42 in while Feldbergs came up big again, stopping 33 pucks to take home first star honors. This set of games served as exciting as a finish to a five game series as there can be.

Second round matchups and their respective Game 1’s:

1E Moncton vs. 4E Baie-Comeau: Friday, April 11th – 6:00 PM ET

2E Rimouski vs. 3E Chicoutimi: Friday, April 11th – 7:00 PM ET

1W Rouyn-Noranda vs. 4W Halifax: Friday, April 11th – 7:00 PM ET

2W Shawinigan vs. 3W Sherbrooke: Friday, April 11th – 7:00 PM ET