Sherbrooke looks to take a step forward as several contenders could fall back: QMJHL west division preview

Yahoo’s Buzzing the Net will preview the upcoming 2014-15 QMJHL season, going division by division and asking the biggest question of each team. Here is the West Division preview. The East and Maritime Division previews will follow. The season opens on Wednesday with the Val-d’Or Foreurs hosting the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

Teams here are listed in predicted order of finish, from first to last.

Gatineau Olympiques – 2013-14 record: 41-23-1-3 for 86 points; Division finish: 4th; Result: Lost to Halifax in second round;

Does Gatineau have enough firepower to take the division?

The losses of Emile Poirier, Vincent Dunn and Martin Reway will absolutely hurt, but Gatineau is always a competitive team, and right up there with death and taxes as one of the assurances of the QMJHL.

They bring a younger forward corps this season, with only two 19-year-olds and a 20 up front, but a veteran back end with two 19s and two 20s and two-year veteran Alexandre Carrier, 18, along with Anthony Brodeur and Gabriel Parent in net.

The question marks remain on offense, but with Vaclav Karabacek returning and the additions of overager Louick Marcotte and second-overall pick Pascal Laberge, anything is possible. They may struggle to score, but if any team wins 50 games by a 2-1 margin, they still have won 50 games.

Drummondville Voltigeurs - 2013-14 record: 43-21-1-3 for 90 points; Division finish: 3rd; Result: Lost to Val-d’Or in second round;

Can Drummondville maintain their success and try to take a middling division?

Losing Nikolas Brouillard to the Quebec Remparts in the completion of the Ryan Culkin trade didn’t help, but Drummondville still has a lot of offensive weapons, and both their goaltenders are back. Look for rookies Alex Barré-Boulet, 17,and his team-leading 9 points in the pre-season, and Mathieu Sévigny, 16, to factor in the offence. Georgs Golovkovs, Christophe Lalancette, Jérome Verrier and Joey Ratelle can all chip in, and newcomer Marc-Antoine Bouillon will be able to fire it home as well.

Louis-Philip Guindon and Joe Fleischer could be the best one-two goaltending punch in the league.

Overager Charles-David Beaudoin will have to be dominant on the back end, being the only blueliner older than 18, but all indications are that he can handle it. Expect the Volts to get another veteran defenseman to make a push.

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies – 2013-14 record: 35-28-3-2 for 75 points; Division finish: 5th; Result: Lost to Baie-Comeau in first round;

Can the Huskies take their pre-season top record and translate it into regular season success?

Rouyn-Noranda led the league with 10 points in the pre-season, and were the only team with five wins. They had very balanced scoring in the exhibitions as well, with Marc-Antoine Germain, a camp invite who made the team, leading the team in scoring with six points, followed by five players with four and three more with three. No one player played the full seven games.

The Huskies, though, were a team that somewhat peaked last year. Their overagers, Ryan Penny, Mathieu Lemay and Redgie Bois aren’t players to write home about, though they will play important roles this season. Their true hope offensively rests on their 18-year-olds Julien Nantel, Antoine Waked, Francis Perron, Jérémy Auger and Germain up front. Defensively, they look to start the year with three 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old.

This is a transition year, and one that the Huskies will need to rely on netminder Alexandre Bélanger to get through unscathed. They have talent, but it’s at least a year away.

Sherbrooke Phoenix – 2013-14 record: 16-43-4-5 for 41 points; Division finish: 6th; Result: Missed the playoffs;

Can the Phoenix take a step forward and finish in the top half of the league for the first time?

On paper, they have a team that could match up well with the others in the division. They have power up front with Daniel Audette, Tim Wieser, Raphaël Lafontaine, Liam O’Brien, Simon Desbiens, Kevin Storto and Kevin Domingue, and their defencemen will take a step forward with youngsters Carl Neill, Jérémy Roy and Julien Bahl. Alex Bureau will be a solid starter in his first chance to take the lion’s share of starts.

Depth is a bit of an issue, and that back end is mighty young, with two 17-year-olds in Roy and Mikael Sabourin, and 16-year-old Thomas Grégoire. Fourth overall pick Evan Fitzpatrick made the team out of camp as the backup goalie to Bureau, and will be eased in to some action.

However, they are a better team than the team that missed the playoffs a year ago, and should be in the hunt this year. Top half of the league might be a bit of a stretch, but this team could surprise.

Blainville-Boisbriand Armada – 2013-14 record: 41-17-5-5 for 92 points; Division finish: 2nd; Result: Lost to Baie-Comeau in league semi-final;

Will the Armada be the trapping team of the league?

Early indications would say, yes. They lost a lot of firepower to the professional ranks and will need to collapse to the net to keep games close. Last year’s team was a possession team that could skate with the puck and control it, with the likes of Ryan Tesink, Marc-Olivier Roy, Christopher Clapperton, Samuel Hodhod and Danick Martel doing most of the heavy lifting.

All but Martel are gone, and while Martel, Nikita Jevpalovs¸ Marcus Hinds and blueliners Dominic Talbot-Tassi and Daniel Walcott are back, they are all overagers, so only three can dress each game, and all of them could be traded for assets to rebuild.

With unproven netminders Samuel Montembault and Marc-Antoine Turcotte, they could use the help defensively. It’s boring but proven, and it wins. It could push them back into the top half of the league and into the top three of the division.

Val-d’Or Foreurs – 2013-14 record: 46-20-1-1 for 94 points; Division finish: 1st; Result: Won the President’s Cup;

Can the Foreurs stave off the Memorial Cup hangover?

The Foreurs return a number of players from the Memorial Cup team, including nine forwards and three blueliners. However, gone are kingpins Anthony Mantha, Louick Marcotte, Antoine Bibeau, Randy Gazzola, Guillaume Gelinas and Samuel Henley.

Some key players will be thrust into bigger roles and could flourish. Anthony Richard¸ Anthony Beauregard and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel should lead the offence. Pierre-Maxime Poudrier and Julien Gauthier will pitch in as well, but defensively the team has major holes. Overager Jérémie Fraser will be overseer and babysitter, as only one other defender is older than 17, though Daniel Krenzelok looked impressive in the pre-season.

In goal, Keven Bouchard is capable, though that defensive corps will provide a challenge every night. In short, Val-d’Or might squeeze into the playoffs, but that’s about all you can hope for from the team playing in the Centre Air Créebec.

Mike Sanderson is Buzzing the Net’s QMJHL contributor. Find him on twitter at @mikersanderson.