Moncton Wildcats break lengthy drought to become QMJHL champions
The Wildcats last won the league championship in 2010
The Moncton Wildcats are Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League champions once again, breaking a 15-year drought.
The team won 3-2 over the Rimouski Oceanic on Monday afternoon, taking home the Gilles-Courteau Trophy after six games in the best-of-seven series.
Loke Johansson scored one goal, while Gabe Smith scored twice for the Cats, giving the team a 3-0 lead heading into the third period.
Jonathan Fauchon and Jacob Mathieu scored for Rimouski in a late attempt to come back, but it wasn't enough.
The Wildcats and Oceanic won't have long to rest. Both teams are playing in the Memorial Cup, which starts Friday night in Rimouski.
Because Rimouski is this year's host team and they made it to the Q-league finals, it meant the other team playing them automatically qualified for the national tournament anyway.
Moncton has won the Q-league title twice before — in 2006 and 2010 — back when the trophy was named the President's Cup and the league name was the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
The Wildcats' head coach is Gardiner MacDougall of Bedeque, P.E.I. He joined the team this season after coaching the University of New Brunswick's men's hockey team for 24 seasons, which won nine national university championships during his tenure and had a perfect season in 2023-24.