Post by dogcatcher on Dec 11, 2007 8:31:29 GMT -4
QUEBEC CIRCUIT STILL HAS A HEAVY FRENCH FLAVOUR
PETER MCGUIRE
GAME ON
Published Tuesday December 11th, 2007
Appeared on page B10
Some people have suggested that with eight of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's 18 teams being located outside La Belle Province, it might be time to consider a name change for the circuit €¦ present company included.
But if you look at each roster, it is clear this is truly a Quebec dominated league.
Of the 426 players listed on the rosters on Friday, 255 were born in Quebec, accounting for 59.6 per cent.
Breaking it down even further, it's interesting to note that Quebec-based teams heavily favour their own while the same can be said for those teams from Atlantic Canada and Maine.
All Quebec-based teams are top heavy with Quebeckers with the Val D'Or Foreurs (19 of 22), Chicoutimi Sagueneens (19 of 22) Baie-Comeau Drakkar (20 of 23) leading the way. Two of the remaining three Foreurs are Europeans and the third is Canadian junior team member Brad Marchand of Halifax. And by this time next week, he'll likely be on the move, possibly to his hometown as the trading period opens.
Some might be surprised to look at the other end of the spectrum and see the Moncton Wildcats leading the way as the most anglophone team, with just five Quebeckers on their roster and 10 Atlantic Canadians, including Rothesay product Chris Morehouse.
The Saint John Sea Dogs and Halifax Mooseheads are next with seven Quebeckers each.
The Mooseheads have obviously found a recipe for success, too. With a dozen Atlantic Canadians on the roster (no NBers, though), Halifax is the top-ranked QMJHL team in the country.
The Acadie-Bathurst Titan carry the most New Brunswickers with four, including Saint John's Brad Tesink, Remi Blanchard of Bas-Caraquet, Mathieu Labrie of St. Quentin and Cameron Critchlow of Fredericton. Seventeen of the 23 Titan players listed hail either from Quebec or a francophone community in N.B.
The Sea Dogs are tied for second for N.B. content with three, Mike Thomas of Fredericton, Travis Fullerton of Riverview and Andrew Langan of Quispamsis. They also have 11 Atlantic Canadians.
The Wildcats have two NBers - Morehouse and Devon MacAusland of Moncton - and 10 Atlantic Canadians overall.
For Saint John head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu, it's pretty cut and dried.
Either you can play the game or you can't. Language or birthplace are not issues.
"I don't care where they're from or what language they speak," said Beaulieu. "We've got a Czech-born player, a Swiss player, (Payton) Liske was born in the States. As long as you can play the game, that's all I care about. As an organization, we're not leaning one way or the other."
The Sea Dogs may not be but others obviously are. The St. John's Fog Devils have a balanced attack that includes nine Quebec-born players, nine Newfoundlanders and 12 Atlantic Canadians in all, including rookie goaltender Jake Allen of Fredericton and Nick Layton of Wheaton Settlement.
The Prince Edward Island Rocket also like the home-grown talent with 11 Atlantic Canadians, including seven Islanders, blended with 10 Quebeckers.
With only 19 NBers skating in the league, accounting for 4.6 per cent of the players, Beaulieu said it's a simple case of a deeper talent pool in our neighbouring province.
"It's sheer numbers," he said. "They have more players and they're much more competitive at the major midget level. That and they have so many more players per capita," he said.
"I'm really comfortable with either (French or English players) because I speak both languages.
"There are some kids from Quebec who we can't sell our program to but it's the same thing with Maritime kids. It's tough to sell them on going to places like Val D'Or or Baie-Comeau."
Beaulieu said there are some advantages to francophones coming to a city like Saint John.
"That's the reason we got Picard-Hooper," he said, alluding to one of his key 20-year-old acquisitions. "He wanted to learn a second language."
PETER MCGUIRE
GAME ON
Published Tuesday December 11th, 2007
Appeared on page B10
Some people have suggested that with eight of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's 18 teams being located outside La Belle Province, it might be time to consider a name change for the circuit €¦ present company included.
But if you look at each roster, it is clear this is truly a Quebec dominated league.
Of the 426 players listed on the rosters on Friday, 255 were born in Quebec, accounting for 59.6 per cent.
Breaking it down even further, it's interesting to note that Quebec-based teams heavily favour their own while the same can be said for those teams from Atlantic Canada and Maine.
All Quebec-based teams are top heavy with Quebeckers with the Val D'Or Foreurs (19 of 22), Chicoutimi Sagueneens (19 of 22) Baie-Comeau Drakkar (20 of 23) leading the way. Two of the remaining three Foreurs are Europeans and the third is Canadian junior team member Brad Marchand of Halifax. And by this time next week, he'll likely be on the move, possibly to his hometown as the trading period opens.
Some might be surprised to look at the other end of the spectrum and see the Moncton Wildcats leading the way as the most anglophone team, with just five Quebeckers on their roster and 10 Atlantic Canadians, including Rothesay product Chris Morehouse.
The Saint John Sea Dogs and Halifax Mooseheads are next with seven Quebeckers each.
The Mooseheads have obviously found a recipe for success, too. With a dozen Atlantic Canadians on the roster (no NBers, though), Halifax is the top-ranked QMJHL team in the country.
The Acadie-Bathurst Titan carry the most New Brunswickers with four, including Saint John's Brad Tesink, Remi Blanchard of Bas-Caraquet, Mathieu Labrie of St. Quentin and Cameron Critchlow of Fredericton. Seventeen of the 23 Titan players listed hail either from Quebec or a francophone community in N.B.
The Sea Dogs are tied for second for N.B. content with three, Mike Thomas of Fredericton, Travis Fullerton of Riverview and Andrew Langan of Quispamsis. They also have 11 Atlantic Canadians.
The Wildcats have two NBers - Morehouse and Devon MacAusland of Moncton - and 10 Atlantic Canadians overall.
For Saint John head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu, it's pretty cut and dried.
Either you can play the game or you can't. Language or birthplace are not issues.
"I don't care where they're from or what language they speak," said Beaulieu. "We've got a Czech-born player, a Swiss player, (Payton) Liske was born in the States. As long as you can play the game, that's all I care about. As an organization, we're not leaning one way or the other."
The Sea Dogs may not be but others obviously are. The St. John's Fog Devils have a balanced attack that includes nine Quebec-born players, nine Newfoundlanders and 12 Atlantic Canadians in all, including rookie goaltender Jake Allen of Fredericton and Nick Layton of Wheaton Settlement.
The Prince Edward Island Rocket also like the home-grown talent with 11 Atlantic Canadians, including seven Islanders, blended with 10 Quebeckers.
With only 19 NBers skating in the league, accounting for 4.6 per cent of the players, Beaulieu said it's a simple case of a deeper talent pool in our neighbouring province.
"It's sheer numbers," he said. "They have more players and they're much more competitive at the major midget level. That and they have so many more players per capita," he said.
"I'm really comfortable with either (French or English players) because I speak both languages.
"There are some kids from Quebec who we can't sell our program to but it's the same thing with Maritime kids. It's tough to sell them on going to places like Val D'Or or Baie-Comeau."
Beaulieu said there are some advantages to francophones coming to a city like Saint John.
"That's the reason we got Picard-Hooper," he said, alluding to one of his key 20-year-old acquisitions. "He wanted to learn a second language."