Jay Merkley makes bank for Broncos on Dub's opening night: Friday's QMJHL and WHL 3 Stars

No. 1 star: Jay Merkley, Swift Current Broncos (WHL)

The former No. 3 overall pick kicked off his 19-year-old season in fine fashion, with a hat trick plus an apple in the Broncos' 6-0 stampeding of the Moose Jaw Warriors. Swift Current got out to a two-goal lead thanks to tallies from two players making their Western League debuts (Dub-utantes?), as Andreas Schumacher and Tyler Steenbergen scored in the contest's first 30 minutes.

Merkley, who broke out with a 34-goal campaign in 2014, converted a Jake DeBrusk feed late in the second. He struck again for a short-handed goal 36 seconds in the third to break what remained of Moose Jaw's spirit. The rest of the night was cake, as Merkley got an assist and then topped off his trick with more than 6 1/2 minutes to spare.

Landon Bow, with 34 saves, got his second career shutout.

No. 2 star: Marvin Cüpper, Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)

Indeed, the German goalie is back for his overage season and still hornswoggling Q teams out of rightly deserved points. Cüpper stopped all 39 shots from the Drummondville Voltigeurs to help Shawinigan squeak out a 2-0 win on a pair from 18-year-old Alexis D'Aoust. The former German national team tender was very sharp in the final 20 minutes, when the Cataractes went into a defensive shell and were outshot 14-2.

No. 3 star: Louick Marcotte, Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)

Marcotte, making his 'Piques debut after getting a look-see from the Philadelphia Flyers delivered for his new team by leading it to a 4-3 win over the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Marcotte (2G, four dangerous shots), who had 100 points for league champion Val-d'Or last season prior to inter-division trade, gave Gatineau its first lead with a power-play goal with 1:08 left in the second. The Longueuil, Que., native converted a feed from first-rounder Pascal Laberge for the eventual game-winner with 10:13 to play

Honourable mention: Matt Revel, Kamloops Blazers (WHL)

Revel (2G, +3), who didn't reach double digits in goals in any of his first two seasons, scored in the first minute to kick-start Kamloops to a 6-3 win over Victoria. The 18-year-old centre's strike 52 seconds in helped the Blazers, coming off a spring spent watching the playoffs, build an early three-goal lead. Victoria was back within a pair when Revel scored 3:25 into the third off a setup from Cole Ully (1G-2A, +2).

Potent notables — Seattle's 17-year-old Mathew Barzal (2A, +1) was named first star during a 4-1 win over Portland, which had seven players away at NHL camps ... Regina's Jared McAmmond not only scored in his first WHL game, but it was also a short-handed effort ... Lethbridge's Russian rookie, Pavel Skumatov, had both Hurricanes goals in a 3-2 loss to Medicine Hat ... Kootenay's Zak Zborosky had his first two-goal game in the Ice's win at Red Deer ... In the QMJHL, Kameron Kielly (2G-1A, +1) helped Charlottetown spoil Cape Breton's home opener, 5-4 ... Alex Dubeau (29-save shutout) and Christoph Lalonde (1G-2A, +1) helped Moncton donut Halifax 3-0 ...

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.