It’s the end of the regular season for most North American hockey leagues and you know what that means? It’s award season. Which brings us to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and our subject today: Patrick Roy.
Every year the QMJHL hands out the Maurice-Filion award to the best general manager in the league. It is the equivalent of the NHL Jim Gregory Award. The finalists for the Maurice-Filion award were Stéphane Julien of the Sherbrooke Phoenix, Jim Hulton of the Charlottetown Islanders and reigning Filion champion, and Patrick Roy of the Quebec Remparts.
I think you can guess where this is going.
Another Trophy On The Mantel
Patrick Roy, whose Remparts finished the season with a record of 51-15-2 and finished at the top of the standings. They also swept through the first round of the playoffs.
Roy was no slouch. He made a lot of moves in the offseason and during the year that were instrumental to the Rempart’s success. The flashiest move was acquiring St. Louis Blues first round draft pick Zachary Bolduc.
Bolduc had a monster of a year with 55 goals and 99 points in just 65 games. That is just one goal off the league leader William Dufour, and 8th in points, behind notable Montreal Canadiens prospects Riley Kidney and QMJHL points leader Joshua Roy. But nonetheless, it was a very good year for Bolduc.
Oddly enough, his point total was exactly matched by teammate Theo Rochette, an undrafted over-ager.
The team was paced by stellar goaltending by both Fabio Iacobo and William Rosseau. Well, great numbers for the Q. The two split the season essentially, both finishing with 2.42 and 2.45 goals against averages and 0.895 and 0.899 save percentages respectively.
The biggest moves of the offseason by Roy were to bring in Bolduc, Iacobo and Louis Crevier and it was clear what the plan was. In getting Bolduc, Roy gave up 3 first round draft picks. The Remparts came into this season to win, and win they did, in the regular season at least.