What a start to the season we are having right across the QMJHL! In the first month, there have been some pleasant surprises and some interesting question marks as well. Will defenceman Samuel Girard win the 2016-17 scoring title? Can Anderson MacDonald compete all season long for Michel Bossy and Sidney Crosby’s records? Will Samuel Montembeault replace record holder Ondrej Pavelec? What follows below might help us with the answers.

HIGH PERFORMANCE

Shawinigan – What a start to the season for the Cataractes! They have won 9 consecutive games and can start to think about their team record of 15, set in 2008-09. Rare fact: With 14 and 13 respectively, their two point leaders, Samuel Girard and Cavan Fitzgerald, are both defencemen. The Cats have scored twice as many goals as they have given up (47 vs 22). The effectiveness of the Shawinigan power play is fearsome, with a success rate of 36.6% (1 st in the league). Still without their captain, Anthony Beauviller, who has started his season with the New York Islanders, the Cataractes will visit Chicoutimi this Friday (7:30 PM) and the Baie-Comeau on Saturday (4:00 PM).

in the league). Still without their captain, Anthony Beauviller, who has started his season with the New York Islanders, the Cataractes will visit Chicoutimi this Friday (7:30 PM) and the Baie-Comeau on Saturday (4:00 PM). Charlottetown –By beating the Tigres 3-1 this Wednesday in Victoriaville, Jim Houlton’s troupe have moved into 1st place in the Maritime division (7-3-1-0). The Islanders know how to score, already finding the back of the net 55 times in their first 11 outings – the highest tally in the league. Along with Tyler Boland (Rimouski) and Mathieu Joseph (Saint John), forwards Filip Chlapik (10) co-occupy top spot among Q scorers. 18-year-old forward Mitchell Balmas is turning out to be something of a revelation in his 3rd Major-Junior year. He has 17 points in 11 games, but more impressively, along with teammate Kameron Kielly, at +15, he has the best differential in the whole QMJHL. And what can we say about lanky defenceman Pierre Olivier Joseph? With 8 points, 3 of them goals, he looks like a prospect for the next NHL draft.

OFFENSIVE DEFENCEMEN

Samuel Girard (Shawinigan) – After 4 impressive games of 3 points or more in his first 5 outings since returning from the Nashville Predators’ training camp, he is copying the start he had to last season in which he won the Emile Bouchard trophy, which is awarded to the Q defenceman of the year (74 points in 67 games, +24).

8 points per game – That is Girard’s current pace for 2016-17, which would make for quite the projection! If – and we do mean if – he plays in every Cataractes game this season all while maintaining this crazy pace right up to the end, the 18-year-old defenceman will rack up 176 points – a total far surpassing the current defenceman man record of 137 (Pierre Lacroix, 1978-79). Shawinigans’ #94 would by the same calculations, be the first defenceman with a chance to win the QMJHL scoring title. No player has surpassed the 130-point mark since Alexander Radulov in 2005-06 (152 for Québec). Is it too far-fetched to imagine?

Among the top 10 – In the whole history of the QMJHL there have been only 5 defencemen who have figured among the top-10 regular season scorers: Guillaume Gélinas (Val-d’Or, 2013-14, 92 points, 6th), Derrick Walser (Rimouski, 1997-98, 110 points, 8th), Pierre Sévigny (Trois-Rivières, 1981-82, 108 points, 10th), Gaston Therrien (Québec, 1979-80, 125 points, 8th) and Pierre Lacroix (Trois-Rivières, 1978-79, 137 points, 6th).

The Canadian Junior team – As they prepare to build their team for the World Junior championship in Montreal and Toronto this winter, the directors of Hockey Canada will most certainly have their eyes on Girard in the coming weeks. If he does end up being selected by them, he would miss around 12 games with the Cataractes, which would diminish his chances of setting new records.

Since the year 2000 – In those 16 years, only 2 QMJHL defencemen have surpassed the 100-point mark. Former Cataracte Marc-André Bergeron (2000-01, 101 points) and Danny Groulx (Victoriaville, 2001-02, 112 points) were the last two to succeed. Of course we have to note that the Shawinigan team record is still held by Daniel Brock: 109 points in the 1988-89 campaign.

Most points by a defenceman in a single season Rank Player Team Season Record 1 Pierre Lacroix Trois-Rivières 1978-79 137 2 Gaston Therrien Québec 1979-80 125 3 Danny Groulx Victoriaville 2001-02 112 4 Gilbert Delorme Chicoutimi 1979-80 111 5 Michel Leblanc Trois-Rivières 1978-79 110 5 Derrick Walser Rimouski 1997-98 110 7 Daniel Bock Shawinigan 1988-89 109 8 Pierre Sévigny Trois-Rivières 1981-82 108 8 Yves Racine Victoriaville 1988-89 108 10 Jean-Marc Richard Chicoutimi 1985-86 107 11 Gilbert Delorme Chicoutimi 1980-81 106 11 Steve Gosselin Chicoutimi 1993-94 106 13 David Ezard Cornwall 1979-80 105 14 Jean-Marc Richard Chicoutimi 1986-87 102 15 Frédéric Bouchard Rouyn-Noranda-Chicoutimi 1996-97 101 15 Marc-André Bergeron Shawinigan 2000-01 101 17 Michel Périard Rimouski 1999-00 100

ROOKIES TO KEEP AN EYE ON

Anderson MacDonald (Sherbrooke) – The Phoenix must be happy with their first-round pick from last June’s draft; he has scored at least once in 5 of his first 8 outings. His 8 goals in as many games would foresee a 66-goal season if he keeps up the pace – something quite out of the ordinary for a rookie. He even had his first hat trick during a home game against Bathurst on October 6 th . The puck doesn’t waste much time on the end of the stick of the young native of Quispamsis, New Brunswick.

. The puck doesn’t waste much time on the end of the stick of the young native of Quispamsis, New Brunswick.

Jocelyn Thibault (Phoenix general manage) – à propos MacDonald: ‘… He’s a good kid, imposing (6’ 1”, 203 lbs), gifted with good strength for someone 16. Most of all, he’s skilled with the puck and has an NHL caliber shot,’ so summed up the ex-Montreal Canadiens goaltender.

Staring with a roar – The best first-10 games by a rookie, in terms of goals, goes all the way back to Rick Vaive of the 1976-77 Sherbrooke Castors. Vaive out-played the goaltender 16 times in that span and was on his way to a 51 goal season.

For comparison – The best production by a 16-year-old rookie goal scorer still belongs to Michel Bossy, who lit the lamp 70 times in 1973-74. More recently, only one 16-year-old player has surpassed the 50-goal mark since the year 2000. That player would be Sidney Crosby with 54 goals for the Rimouski Océanic in 2003-04.

50 goals? – There are currently 5 players in their rookie year who are on a pace that could bring them to 50 goals. Aside from MacDonald, the potential candidates are Denis Mikhnin (RIM), Ivan Kozlov (VDO), Ivan Chekhovich (BAC) and Daniel Hardie (RIM)… see below…

Top rookie scorers for a single season (50 or more) Player Team Season Goals in first 10 games Goals in rookie season Pat LaFontaine Verdun 1982-83 11 104 Ladislav Nagy Halifax 1998-99 11 71 Michel Bossy Laval 1973-74 11 70 Reginald Savage Victoriaville 1987-88 8 68 Jean-François Sauvé Trois-Rivières 1978-79 7 65 Martin Gélinas Hull 1987-88 8 63 Jacques Richard Québec 1969-70 12 62 Jacques Cossette Sorel 1972-73 9 61 Daniel Rioux Québec 1979-80 3 57 Daniel Lecours Chi-Qué 1973-74 2 55 Normand Dupont Montréal 1973-74 8 55 Sidney Crosby Rimouski 2003-04 12 54 Pierre Larouche Qué-Sorel 1972-73 4 53 Louis Sleigher Chicoutimi 1976-77 6 53 Yanic Perreault Trois-Rivières 1988-89 13 53 Denis Pomerleau Hull 1974-75 6 52 Serge Martel Verdun 1969-70 5 51 Daniel Métivier Hull 1976-77 15 51 Rick Vaive Sherbrooke 1976-77 16 51 Alain Grenier Laval 1978-79 3 51 Steve Pépin St-Jean 1982-83 5 51 Daniel Brière Drummondville 1994-95 8 51

Most goals by a player in his first ten games of the season Player Team Season Goals in first 10 games Goals in rookie season Rick Vaive Sherbrooke 1976-77 16 51 Daniel Métivier Hull 1976-77 15 51 Yanic Perreault Trois-Rivières 1988-89 13 53 Jacques Richard Québec 1969-70 12 62 Sidney Crosby Rimouski 2003-04 12 54 Pat LaFontaine Verdun 1982-83 11 104 Ladislav Nagy Halifax 1998-99 11 71 Michel Bossy Laval 1973-74 11 70 Jacques Cossette Sorel 1972-73 9 61 Reginald Savage Victoriaville 1987-88 8 68 Martin Gélinas Hull 1987-88 8 63 Normand Dupont Montréal 1973-74 8 55 Daniel Brière Drummondville 1994-95 8 51 Anderson MacDonald Sherbrooke 2016-17 8* … Denis Mikhnin Rimouski 2016-17 8 …

*=2 games to play before reaching 10 games

Top rookie goal scorers after one month of play this season Player Team GP G Pace GPG Anderson MacDonald Sherbrooke 8 8 66 1,00 Denis Mikhnin Rimouski 10 8 54 0,80 Ivan Kozlov Val-d’Or 11 8 50 0,73 Ivan Chekhovich Baie-Comeau 7 6 56 0,86 Daniel Hardie Rimouski 6 5 53 0,83 Nico Hischier Halifax 11 5 31 0,45

RECORD

Samuel Montembeault (Blainville-Boisbriand) – Because he is in the hunt for the best lifetime, QMJHL goals against average, will be following his performance in front of the Armada net all season. The record is held by Ondrej Pavelec with 2.52 for the 2007 Eagles. Montembeault currently boasts a 2.53. The Armada’s #33 is off to a start of 5 wins in 6 outings. He has earned respect since returning from the Florida Panthers’ training camp with his GAA of 1.62 and SV% of .936!

Best lifetime goals against average by a QMJHL goaltender in the regular season (minimum 3000 minutes) Pos Goalie Team Season Record 1 Ondrej Pavelec CAP 2005>>2007 2.52 2 Samuel Montembeault BLB 2013>>2017 2.53* 3 Nicola Riopel MON 2005>>2010 2.58 4 Patrick Couture BEA-VDO-QUE-ROU 1995>>1999 2.60 5 Etienne Marcoux MTL-BLB 2009>>2014 2.62 6 Louis Domingue MON-QUE 2008>>2012 2.64 7 Charles Lavigne MON-QUE 2007>>2009 2.66 8 Jake Allen SNB-MTL-DRU 2007>>2010 2.68 9 Martin Houle CAP 2001>>2005 2.72 10 Jonathan Bernier LEW 2004>>2008 2.72

* = average will fluctuate until the last day of the 2016-17 regular season