Trailing by 23 games, the 2023-2024 edition of the Quebec Remparts are already more than a third of the way through their season. We take stock of the nice surprises at the start of the season.
The consistency of Quentin Miller
To be clear, it’s not Quentin Miller’s talent that’s surprising, but rather his near-flawless consistency. Last year he played in William Rousseau’s shadow and only made 18 starts all season.
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He has already made that many starts in 23 games so far this year. The Montreal Canadiens prospect has an efficiency percentage of 0.913 and a goals-against average of 2.54, which puts him 6th in the rankings of the best goaltenders in the world.
Very rarely do games happen where no one from the team praises their play, which allows the Remparts to maintain hope even when they are dominated by the opponent.
Free agent Antoine Dorion
Antoine Dorion, the son of former Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion, was signed as a free agent in the offseason and is now the team’s fourth-leading scorer with 4 goals and 9 assists.
Despite hitting a slump since early November and being relegated to the 4th line in Tuesday’s game against the Voltigeurs, he’s still got fans a little excited with some great plays since the start of the year.
However, coach Éric Veilleux is not worried about the recent lethargy. Dorion himself, a perfectionist, told the Journal in mid-October that he watched one of his games seven times because he was dissatisfied with his game!
Recruit Xavier Lebel
Only 16 years old, Lebel secured his spot on the roster during training camp by surprising the team’s leadership with his confidence. He has only missed one game since the start of the season, with the QMJHL squad explaining that he was “injured or ill.”
Offensively, his tally of 4 goals and 4 assists (8 points total) ranks him second among the team’s rookies, behind Antoine Dorion. He regularly plays on the first two lines and in the power play.
A numerical disadvantage that limits the damage
With a total of 107, the Remparts are in second place among the teams with the most numerical disadvantages since the start of the season.
Under these circumstances, it can be reassuring that their efficiency of 82.2% puts them in the middle of the pack in such a situation. They actually rank 8th in the QMJHL due to their efficiency when outnumbered.
This situation is even more reassuring when you consider that the man many consider to be “the best defender in the league,” Vsevolod Kamarov, is the most penalized player in the tournament with 43 penalty minutes. That represents 15% of the 282 penalty minutes the Red Devils have accumulated so far this year. He is therefore often in the dungeon when his teammates have to defend themselves.