Memorial Cup Preview

QMJHL Champions Val d’Or Foreurs  

Photo credit to https://www.flickr.com/photos/greghickman/

The Foreurs are the only of the three champions who did not finish first in their respective league after the regular season. They finished fourth, however that didn’t seem to matter when Anthony Mantha stepped on the ice for the playoffs. With their impressive offence the Foreurs are now tasked with winning a fourth consecutive Memorial Cup championship.

They survived two back-to-back game 7 series’ en route to their QMJHL championship. They’ve had the least amount of time of any of the four teams to rest post championship, so their first few games might be a little tough. They captured their title with just 52 seconds left in game 7 and have shown a flair for the dramatics over their playoff run.

Key Players

Anthony Mantha

Anthony Mantha has arguably been the best Canadian junior hockey player through the CHL playoffs. He’s come up big for the Foreurs and recored 38 points in 24 games winning the QMJHL playoff MVP. The Foreurs go as Mantha goes, if he carries the team they’ll go far, without him their Memorial Cup days won’t last.

Guillaume Gelinas

On defence the Foreurs live and die with Gelinas who lead all CHL defenceman with 92 points in the regular season. In the post season Gelinas recorded 34 points in 24 games.

Other key players include Louick Marcotte and Randy Gazzola.

Antoine Bibeau wasn’t the greatest during the regular season for the Foreurs but came up big during the championship round where he stopped on average 47 shots a night. He’ll need to stand tall against the strong offences at the Memorial Cup to help the Foreurs advance.