The depth and defence of the Volts will be up against Foreurs star Philippe Veilleux.
The 3v6 series in the Western Conference sees the well-rounded, strong defensive Drummondville unit take on a pretty thin Val-d'Or team led by superstar Philippe Veilleux.
Nearly 30 points and 14 victories separated these teams in the standings, as the Volts ended up at the bottom of the top grouping of teams, while the Foreurs were the best of the bottom group.
It'll be up to Val-d'Ors top power play unit and offensive stars to show up big time if they want to pull the upset in this one.
Renaud Poulin of the Voltigeurs skates away from the pressure of Foreurs star Philippe Veilleux. (Photo: Ghyslain Bergeron)What to expect from Drummondville
The Voltigeurs probably didn't expect to end up in the third seed out West, but a loss in the final weekend did that to them.
This is still a very good team, the same ones who won the inaugural 55 Cup in the winter. While there's no headline-making offensive star, the depth in scoring up front from Jesse Allecia, Renaud Poulin, Louis-Felix Bourque, Maxime Lafond, Lou Levesque and Dylan Dumont is legit, with all of those guys having 44 or more points this season.
Their depth up front is also strong, while Marc-Olivier Beaudry, Matteo Rotondi, Owen Keefe and Owen Ronson make up a solid top four on the blue line.
While the team in front of him is great, arguably their biggest strength is Jan Larys in goal. The Czech import sits with a 26-10-2 record, a .908 save percentage and a 2.86 goals-against average, all marks near the top of the league.
This solid team top to bottom is going to be hard to beat, and they'll be hoping to make a deep run these playoffs.
What to expect from Val-d'Or
The Foreurs, in some ways, are opposites to their series counterparts here. While the Voltigeurs are strengthened by depth up and down the lineup, Val-d'Or is led by their top line, and most importantly, the QMJHL's second-leading point-getter Philippe Veilleux.
Now, he's not the only scorer on this roster, but everything definitely flows through him. In particular, Maxime Coursol and Nathan Brisson have had good years riding shotgun to Veilleux, but everything comes back to the main man.
In goal, Emile Beaunoyer has held the bulk of the starts this season, and has fared alright behind a pretty leaky team. He'll need to be on his game in order to keep games tight.
But, no matter what, it all comes down to if Veilleux can take over this series for Val-d'Or. The Foreurs need their shining star to burn the brightest if they want to pull the upset.
Schedule
Game one: Friday, March 27, 7:00 PM EDT @ Drummondville
Game two: Saturday, March 28, 7:00 PM EDT @ Drummondville
Game three: Tuesday, March 31, 7:00 PM EDT @ Val-d'Or
Game four: Wednesday, April 1, 7:00 PM EDT @ Val-d'Or
Game five*: Friday, April 3, 7:00 PM EDT @ Val-d'Or
Game six*: Monday, April 6, 7:00 PM EDT @ Drummondville
Game seven*: Tuesday, April 7, 7:00 PM EDT @ Drummondville
* = if necessary
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