N.B. players primed for third round of QMJHL playoffs

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With just four teams remaining, there is no shortage of New Brunswickers in the QMJHL semifinal series that gets underway later this week.

New Brunswick players or players who have played on any of the province’s trio of QMJHL squads are part of the semifinal sets that feature the Cape Breton Eagles against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and the Drummondville Voltigeurs matching up against the Victoriaville Tigres.

In Drummondville, Saint John native Sam Oliver and former Saint John Sea Dog Noah Reinhart were recognized by the Canadian Hockey League after they led their squad to a 6-1 victory over the Sherbrooke Phoenix to clinch their quarter-final series in six games.

Reinhart, who was dealt to Drummondville at the trade deadline at Christmas had two goals and two assists and was the CHL first star of the night while Oliver, who was packaged to Drummondville from Charlottetown in January of 2022, had two goals and an assist in the win.

Drummondville will open the best-of-seven league semifinal at home against Victoriaville, who upset Rouyn-Noranda in five games to advance from that quarter-final series.

In that matchup, Dieppe’s Justin Gendron recorded seven points in the series for Victoriaville and has 11 points in 9 post-season games thus far this season.

The Tigres feature a number of former players for N.B. QMJHL teams, including Joseph Henneberry, formerly of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, who has four points in nine post-season games. Victoriaville also has a pair of former Moncton Wildcats in Sidney Deslauriers, who has one assist in nine games, while defenceman Francesco Iasenza has three assists in nine games.

Meanwhile, the Cape Breton Eagles will start their series in Baie-Comeau against the regular season champion Drakkar on Thursday.

Cape Breton downed the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in four games by clinching the series in Chicoutimi last week with an 8-5 victory in Game 5.

Cape Breton’s lineup features Luke Patterson of Moncton, who has one goal in nine playoff games, Angelo Fullerton of Quispamsis, who has a goal and assist in nine games, and Antoine Roy of Bathurst, who has two points in nine playoff games.

Additionally, the Eagles’ lineup features former Saint John Sea Dog Cam McDonald, who has 11 points in eight postseason games, and his Sea Dogs teammate Cole Burbidge, who has six points in nine playoff games thus far.

Former Acadie-Bathurst defenceman Zach Biggar also has three points in nine games thus far for the Eagles.

The Drakkar’s forward crew features former Titan Donovan Arsenault, who has six points in eight playoff games, including three in the Round 2 victory over Acadie-Bathurst last week at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre.

Baie-Comeau defeated Cape Breton in both of their matchups this season while Drummondville was 4-2 against Victoriaville.

Note: Caleb Desnoyers of the Moncton Wildcats scored a spectacular goal in the second period and team Canada connected in overtime to edge Norway 4-3 in an exhibition game in Finland as the final tune-up before the World under 18 men’s hockey championship gets going later this week.

Desnoyers and Riverview’s Spencer Gill, a member of the Rimouski Oceanic, are on Team Canada, which opens the tournament Thursday against Sweden.

The Canadian head coach is Gardiner MacDougall while Travis Crickard of the Saint John Sea Dogs is an assistant coach and Kevin Elliott, a Saint John native working with Hockey Canada, is the team’s athletic therapist.