Newfoundland looks to make a statement in their first season in St. John's, taking on an Eagles side that struggled down the stretch.
The opening series of the 2026 QMJHL playoffs will be Newfoundland hosting Cape Breton, with Thursday's game one starting a day before the other seven series across the league.
This series is a battle between the third and sixth seeds in the Eastern conference. Two teams heading in opposite directions form-wise, particularly after the directions they chose at the trade deadline. It's also a battle of the high scoring Regiment against the stingier Eagles.
No matter what, the big story around this series will be the debut of playoff hockey in Newfoundland in the first season after the franchise moved to St. John's. There's plenty of buzz and excitement around the group, and they're here and ready for postseason action.
Newfoundland's Tyson Goguen attempts a shot through the check of Cape Breton blueliner Aidan McCullough. (Photo: Jeff Parsons)What to expect from Newfoundland
The Regiment have been led this season by their strong top forwards, with Justin Larose, Marek Danicek, Dawson Sharkey and trade acquisition Alexis Michaud creating a group that can really score.
What they really needed in the first half of the season was a reliable option between the pipes. That answer came in the form of a trade for Louis-Antoine Denault from the Quebec Remparts, who posted a 16-7-2 record and .913 save percentage after the trade.
Their blue line is led by Noah Laberge, and surrounded by functional players like Will Reynolds, Emile Perron and Alexis Mathieu, who was also acquired via trade.
They boast the fifth-best power play in the league, but their penalty kill is a weakness, finishing 16th in the league at just 74.4 percent. They also sit tied for second in the league in penalty minutes.
Overall, this is a very solid team whose goal of going on a solid playoff run in their first season at the Mary Brown's Centre seems closer to being a success. The Regiment will need their top stars to continue shining to win a couple rounds.
What to expect from Cape Breton
It's been a tough last month or so of the season for the Eagles, who won just two of their final 13 games of the season.
Unlike Newfoundland, they were more of a hybrid seller in the holiday trade period, most notably moving on from captain Tomas Lavoie. However, at the end of the window they did bring in Raoul Boilard, and actually went on a little run in January before hitting a rut around Valentine's Day that lasted the rest of the regular season.
While there are no big scorers on this team, Lewis Gendron lead the way with 56 (15+41) points in 62 games. This is a team that scored the fourth-fewest goals in the regular season, with only the bottom three teams beneath them.
Where the Eagles do excel, though, is defensively. They were the seventh-best group in the league in terms of goals against, and had the fourth best penalty kill.
The path to success for Cape Breton will be to keep Newfoundland's top scorers off the mark, and keep the games tight. That will be the best way for them to pull the 6v3 upset.
Schedule
Game one: Thursday, March 26, 5:30 PM EDT @ Newfoundland
Game two: Friday, March 27, 5:30 PM EDT @ Newfoundland
Game three: Tuesday, March 31, 6:00 PM EDT @ Cape Breton
Game four: Wednesday, April 1, 6:00 PM EDT @ Cape Breton
Game five*: Friday, April 3, 6:00 PM EDT @ Cape Breton
Game six*: Sunday, April 5, 1:30 PM EDT @ Newfoundland
Game seven*: Tuesday, April 7, 5:30 PM EDT @ Newfoundland
* = if necessary
Never want to miss out on any QMJHL news? Make sure to book mark THN's QMJHL site.
Also follow @roryyarthur on X/Twitter for more updates.