Achi news desk-
Sports have a way of creating some unexpected stories and no one could have predicted that all four Maritime teams would be down 3-0 in the opening round of their QMJHL playoff series.
“The fact that the entire Maritime series is 3-0, that’s probably the biggest surprise of all, and these could all be over tonight, and I don’t think anyone would have guess that,” said QMJHL and The Hockey News contributing writer, Will MacLaren.
That’s the case with Charlottetown, Moncton, Saint John and Halifax, all four teams facing elimination on Wednesday, trailing 3-0 in their respective series.
Perhaps the biggest surprise will be in Halifax, where the Mooseheads, who finished second in the Eastern Conference and 25 points ahead of the seventh-place Acadie-Bathurst Titan, were knocked out of the playoffs by a loss to the Titan on Wednesday. in Acadie-Bathurst.
MacLaren points to the Moooseheads’ injury problems and off-ice issues that are likely to be a factor in their fall in the playoffs.
Mooseheads captain Jake Furlong is out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery, and leading scorer Jordan Dumais, who was suspended before the playoffs for an impaired driving charge, has now been placed back on the injured list and unable to play.
“There’s no way it can’t affect a dressing room,” MacLaren said. “But you have to give credit to Acadie-Bathurst, they’ve played strong in the Mooseheads all year and this is just a carry over.”
The biggest surprise that no one could have predicted is the recent success of the Cape Breton Eagles, who could sweep their way through the first round of their series with Rimosk if they win tonight.
The story for Cape Breton at the start of the season was their dwindling attendance record, but now they are one of the hottest teams in the country, with crowds topping 4,000 for their two home playoff games.
“Something kind of changed halfway through the year in Cape Breton,” said Jamie Tozer, QMJHL contributing writer and editor of the Station Nation hockey blog.
“There’s a lot of effort to improve the efforts off the ice and it seems to have worked, certainly the attendance has increased over the last few months, and it just seems like the perfect storm to the eagles,” said Tozer.
MacLaren says the success of the Eagles is probably the biggest story in junior hockey at the moment, but part of that success on the ice is due to the excitement in the arena and the jump in attendance.
“For me, that’s the story within the story,” said MacLaren. “Nothing beats a playoff game in Cape Breton with a packed house. We’ve seen it historically but it’s been a long time.”
