Ninety practices, sixty-two games and twenty-seven pre-game skates, but really, the season is just starting for the Moncton Wildcats.
The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey Legue [QMJHL] team has won 51 of 62 games. With two regular season games left to go there’s not much to play for. The Wildcats have already clinched top spot in the QMJHL and they’re currently the number one team in the Canadian Hockey League rankings.
“There’s a lot of mileage on us, but I think it’s quality mileage and the guys have bought in to that philosophy of trying to get better on an incremental basis,” said head coach Gardiner MacDougall.
MacDougall and his son Taylor were hired in May to be the coach and general manager respectively and it seems they’ve done everything right. Gardiner has made a habit of winning throughout his coaching career, taking home nine national championships during his 24-year tenure at the University of New Brunswick.
Caleb Desnoyers leads the Wildcats with 84 points in 56 games, but it’s hardly a one-man or one-line team.
Hockey scout and QMJHL analyst Criag Eagles said it’s the Wildcats depth that made them a powerhouse.
“They have four tremendous lines, eight quality defenceman and two great goaltenders. There’s no question they are the deepest hockey club in the QMJHL and they’re probably the deepest in quite some time,” said Eagles.
Since entering the QMJHL in 1996, the Wildcats have made it to the Memorial Cup twice, in 2006 and 2010, but failed to win the national championship both times.
Eagles thinks the Wildcats have a legitimate shot of winning this year.
MacDougall said the goal has always been to get better on a daily basis and gives the entire staff credit for the team’s success.
“We’ve got a great group. Everyone has a role and everyone does their job to a really high level,” said MacDougall. “The players have bought in.”
Taylor MacDougall made several big trades as a first-year general manager. He acquired goaltender Mathis Rousseau from the Halifax Mooseheads and Dyllan Gill from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
Gill was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning and playing for the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League when he was traded. The Riverview, N.B., native said everything happened quickly but he was happy to come home and play for a team that expects to win every night.
“Coming here, you can’t ask for a better situation. Obviously, my hometown, a great competitive team that had a great start to the season and then things have continued to go super well since I got here,” said Gill. He’s only played 26 games for MacDougall but called his head coach a mastermind and a huge motivator.
“He knows how to get the most out of guys. He knows how to force you to your limits. He pushes guys. He’s always encouraging, he forms a great relationship with us. It’s always a positive atmosphere. He has so much passion for the game. Even us, he treats us like family,” said Gill.
Preston Lounsbury of Salisbury is in his third year with the Wildcats and was part of the team that got swept in the first round of the playoffs last year. He said things were different with the MacDougalls “right from the get-go.”
“They changed the whole entire mentality of the group. It’s been fun. They’ve made the environment around the rink really fun. Every day we come to the rink we learn something new. We’re all determined. We’re all hungry to get better and the mindset has always been to be number one,” said Lounsbury.
When he isn’t helping the Wildcats improve, MacDougall keeps an eye on his old team at the University of New Brunswick. They will defend their national championship at the 2025 U Sports Men’s Hockey Championship in Ottawa beginning Thursday.
“I’ve had good fortune to watch some games,” said MacDougall. “You work 24 years at UNB and the culture that was established there. There’s a lot of pride when I go to watch.”
MacDougall said he hopes to bring some of that championship pride to Moncton when the Wildcats start the postseason on March 28 at home against the Quebec Remparts at the Avenir Centre.
There’s currently a 51-point difference between the two teams in the standings.
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