North American Juniors

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

(3)Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 1 @ (2)Baie-Comeau Drakkar 2
Drakkar lead best-of-7 semifinals, 1-0

C Cedric Paquette, BLB: 0-0-0, E, 4 PIM, 2 SOG, 4 Hits
Playoff totals: 10 GP, 7-5-12, +5, 17 PIM
Season totals: 63 GP, 27-56-83, +29, 103 PIM

The Drakkar struck first in their semifinal series with the Armada, scoring a 2-1 win. The winning goal was scored on the power play near the mid-point of the final period.

Ontario Hockey League

(E2)Barrie Colts 2 @ (E1)Belleville Bulls 3
Bulls lead best-of-7 Eastern Conference Finals, 1-0

D Jake Dotchin, BAR: 0-0-0, -1, 7 PIM
Playoff totals: 9 GP, 0-3-3, +4, 19 PIM
Season totals: 66 GP, 4-18-22, E, 81 PIM
With Barrie: 28 GP, 2-6-8, -1, 42 PIM
With Owen Sound: 38 GP, 2-12-14, +1, 39 PIM

Belleville scored the game’s final two goals and Bruins first rounder Malcolm Subban stopped 26 shots to lead the Bulls to a Game 1 win over Barrie. Dotchin fought Garrett Hooey of Belleville in the second period.

We continue our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their recent contributions on and off the ice.

The Prospect of the Week for April 17 is … Nikita Kucherov, W, Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL – Canada).

Karma, thy name is Kucherov.

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

(5)Quebec Remparts 1 @ (8)Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 6
Rouyn-Noranda wins Best-of-7 second round series, 4-1

W Nikita Kucherov, R-N: 3-3-6, +3, 0 PIM, 7 SOG, 0 Hits, *First Star*
Playoff totals: 10 GP, 7-11-18, +10, 10 PIM
Season totals: 33 GP, 29-34-63, +17, 14 PIM
With R-N: 27 GP, 26-27-53, +18, 12 PIM
With Quebec: 6 GP, 3-7-10, -1, 2 PIM

Coming into Game 5, Bolt prospect Nikita Kucherov had three points in his series against the Remparts, but he broke out in a huge way on Friday night. The Russian had a hat trick and three assists for six points and first star honors, helping the Huskies to a 6-1 win. He could have had another goal, but missed on a penalty shot.

Rouyn-Noranda advances to play top-seeded Halifax and top-5 picks Jonathan Druin and Nathan MacKinnon in the league semifinals. Kucherov had the last laugh against Remparts GM and coach, Patrick Roy. The NHL Hall-of-Famer had Kucherov on his roster in the fall but chose to keep two other import players instead of Kucherov. The Lightning’s 2011 second round pick requested to be traded if he wasn’t going to play, and Roy moved him to the Huskies. Like his statue of liberty pose for the Avs against the Red Wings in the playoffs, this probably wasn’t Roy’s best decision.

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

(5)Quebec Remparts 4 @ (8)Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 5 (OT)
Rouyn-Noranda leads Best-of-7 second round series, 3-1

W Nikita Kucherov, R-N: 0-1-1, -1, 0 PIM, 1 SOG, 0 Hits
Playoff totals: 9 GP, 4-8-12, +5, 10 PIM
Season totals: 33 GP, 29-34-63, +17, 14 PIM
With R-N: 27 GP, 26-27-53, +18, 12 PIM
With Quebec: 6 GP, 3-7-10, -1, 2 PIM

The Huskies got a goal less than three minutes into overtime to top the Remparts and jump out to a 3-1 series lead. The Huskies can close out the series on Friday at home.

First round totals: 5 GP, 3-6-9, +7, 4 PIM

(3)Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 2 @ (10)Val-d’Or Foreurs 1
Blainville-Boisbriand wins best-of-7 second round series, 4-0

C Cedric Paquette, BLB: 0-0-0, E, 0 PIM, 5 SOG, 1 Hit
Playoff totals: 9 GP, 7-5-12, +5, 13 PIM
Season totals: 63 GP, 27-56-83, +29, 103 PIM

D Artem Sergeev, VDO: 0-0-0, E, 0 PIM, 3 SOG, 1 Hit
Playoff totals: 9 GP, 3-3-6, +3, 12 PIM
Season totals: 55 GP, 6-33-39, +20, 65 PIM

Cedric Paquette and the Armada are moving on, defeating the Foreurs, 2-1, on Wednesday night to advance to the third round of the playoffs. The loss means the junior career for Artem Sergeev is over, as he is already signed by Tampa Bay and is expected to join AHL Syracuse or the Lightning’s ECHL affiliate next year. Blainville-Boisbriand will play Baie-Comeau next round. The Drakkar swept Victoriaville, 4-0. Halifax awaits the Remparts-Huskies winner.

We continue our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their recent contributions on and off the ice.

The Prospect of the Week for April 10 is … Cedric Paquette, C, Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL – Canada).

Cedric Paquette was made for the playoffs.

Paquette is at his best when the checking gets tight and grit matters most. The Blainville-Boisbriand center has excelled this post-season, posting a team-leading seven goals and five assists in eight games.