Moncton Wildcats bring quiet confidence to biggest stage

By JAMES TUBB on May 23, 2025.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

RIMOUSKI, QUE.

The Moncton Wildcats have already won a championship in Rimouski this season – why not make it two?

The leaders in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League captured the Gilles-Courteau Trophy championship on May 19 with a 3-2 win at Rimouski over the Oceanic.

As a team the Wildcats took one day to celebrate their win before turning the page and getting ready for this tournament, according to defenceman Étienne Morin.

“For some teams, you’re going to party for a lot, but we had our one night and then we started focusing on the next cup because we’re going to celebrate the (QMJHL) cup next week, we’re focusing on the Memorial Cup because that’s been our big goal since the start of the year,” the Calgary Flames prospect said.

The Wildcats dominated the QMJHL all season with a 53-9-2 record, with 294 goals to lead the league in twine ticklers. Their success continued into the playoffs where they amassed a 16-3 record, two of those losses coming in the league finals after they grabbed an early 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The 2025 championship is the third in franchise history, first since 2010.

Moncton head coach Gardiner MacDougall led Canada’s U18 men’s team to a gold medal in 2024 and he captured a Memorial Cup with the St. John’s Ice Dogs in 2022. He spoke highly of the field in the Memorial Cup this season.

“All these teams, to go through the regular season and then to go through four rounds of playoffs, it’s not easy and that’s why you see the celebrations of the three teams,” MacDougall said.

They are the only other team in the tournament who have played in Rimouski before, an advantage in knowledge only, Morin says, with the Océanic fans bringing a hostile environment to the Sun Life Coliseum.

“Their fans are super loud, and for us, we just played in the finals, so we know what it’s like, and Rimouski is a very, very good team at home ice,” Morin said. “So it’s not going to feel at home, but we’re obviously going to have supporters there for the Wildcats, so we’re just excited to play hockey.”

Moncton is off Friday, getting their tournament started on Saturday against the OHL champion London Knights before a day off ahead of facing the Medicine Hat Tigers on Monday. Wildcats’ forward Caleb Desnoyers says all teams have challenges and they’ll look to find the advantage in theirs.

“For us, we have to see the good, good part of it,” Desnoyers said. “We’ll take that extra day but it won’t be a day off, it will be a day with some preparation for the week.”

The 18-year-old Desnoyers was second in the QMJHL in playoff scoring with nine goals and 30 points in 19 games. He led the Wildcats in the regular season with 35 goals and 86 points in 56 games, and is projected to be a top-10 pick in the upcoming NHL draft.

He’s the No. 7 ranked North American skater by the NHL Central Scouting. He doesn’t see the tournament as an opportunity to grow his stock, focusing more on trying to win that second championship of the season.

“Of course it’s fun for me, I can show myself even more,” Desnoyers said. “But the mentality is really more about the team and to come here with a mentality to lift the cup.”

To lift the Memorial Cup, something the Wildcats have never done in their 30 years of history, would be an honour Morin says he spoke with his father about heading into the tournament.

“My dad texted me last night, ‘Do you even realize the big names that are on that cup,'” Morin recalled. “So obviously, it’s a huge honour to be part of the best four teams in all junior hockey in Canada. So we’re super excited and ready to roll.”

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