hi hello hey !!!
Are you already tired of Four Nations Faceoff? Don't want to watch Canada and America have a little politicized catfight? Don't have a way to watch it?
Or: Do YOU want some relatively low-stakes hockey that's highly French, starting at 7 PM Eastern time?
After the success of Wednesday Night in the Dub, the QMJHL took a look at the WHL and said "we're gonna do the same thing, but in Quebecois" and enter: Duel du jeudi soir!
This week's matchup is the Chicoutimi Saguenéens vs... wait for it... the Drummondville Voltigeurs!!! MY BOYS!!! This match, unlike last week's, is between two top teams - the Sags are in 4th place in the Q while the Volts are in 3rd.
Also, if you're a Dawson Mercer fan (and we all are): this is the fight of his QMJHL teams! He was a Volt for 2.5 seasons, then got traded to the Sags in his draft year and played for them for 1.5 seasons before making the NHL.
Here's some players I'm keeping my eye on:
Chicoutimi
do i have to mom? okay
Emmanuel Vermette (#28) - 23 goals, 27 assists. Leads the team in goals and points.
Thomas Desruisseaux (#17) - 14 goals, 30 assists. Leads the team in assists.
Loïc Usereau (#72) - 30 assists as a defenseman and 8 goals on top of it. Not bad. 15 goals last year too.
Jonathan Prud'homme (#27) - 5'10" defenseman, 168 pounds, and... 93 penalty minutes in 51 games?!? And only one 5-minute major (+ ejection for high-sticking). Wow. Lowkey impressive. Got three separate roughing penalties one game and got an unsportsmanlike for it... this entire team might be full of thugs, actually...
Drummondville
Ethan Gauthier (#79) - Tampa Bay draft pick (Volt to Bolt?). First overall QMJHL selection in 2021. Born in Phoenix, Arizona. Current linemates with the other two skaters profiled below, but they seem to be line shuffling a lot recently. Stapled to the side of the captain (see below).
Sam Oliver (#47) - The leading goalscorer of the team. As in, 45 goals and 21 assists in 53 games, which is double the goals of the next leading goalscorer on the team (22) and leads the league. 17 powerplay goals. Got a hatty two games ago. (They still lost 5-7.) The epitome of pucks on net.
Riley Mercer (#67) - The Volts' starting goalie. He's been decent for the past few years, but realized he's goated in last year's Q playoffs (0.934 sv%) and is currently rocking a 0.930 sv%. That being said, apparently his numbers are slipping month on month. I'm not too concerned. Okay, maybe I'm a little concerned...
"Wait, Mercer like - " YEP HE'S DAWSON'S BABY BROTHER!!!
Luke Woodworth (#19) - BOY OF ALL TIME. I can and WILL ramble about him for hours. But I'll try to keep it short.
He is tiny (5'9", 164 lbs) and a center.
His birthday is wrong on EliteProspects (March 1, not April 1).
He scored like, 19 assists this year before he finally got his first goal of the season, including two 4-A nights.
He's had three separate 8-game point streaks this season.
He's leading the team in assists (56) and points (72), and is leading the league in assists.
He can score though, check it. (And an Oliver assist!)
He got penalized this season for "throwing a stick or equipment" and I wish I had the clip of it.
He's from Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, and he's a big hometown boy.
He's going to play for Nebraska-Omaha in the NCHC next year! CHL->NCAA pipeline...
He's the captain of the Volts!
He wears glasses sometimes.
And has a GOD awful playoff mustache.
Okay here are pictures:
oh also these two might be in love a little bit forgot to mention whoops
The Volts are my favorite boys. Can you tell? Reigning Q champs. Gearing up for one big final Memorial Cup push for their overagers (Riley and Luke among them); it's unclear whether they'll be contending next year, especially with the departure of several key pieces. Also, every time I look at them, they decide to be my failchildren and flail around on the ice; every time I ignore them, they go on hot streaks.
So, are you in? Great! You can watch DDJS FREE on YouTube here! (They archive past DDJSes too!) The game tonight starts at 7 PM Eastern :D
And if that doesn't convince you... well...
Hope to see you in the #ddjs lb tag tonight!!
Programming note - I'll likely miss the first period, as I have mock trial stuff to do, but I'll try to watch on mute and LB a little bit :) have some volts trophy rings as an apology!