Avalanche Prospect Update - April 23

QMJHL
Cedric McNicoll has led the Shawinigan Cataractes to a 3-1 series lead over Kelsey Tessier and the Quebec Remparts in their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League semifinal.

McNicoll scored a hat trick in Shawinigan’s 4-1 victory over Quebec in Game 3 on Tuesday and followed that up with a goal and two assists in the Cataractes’ 5-4 win in Game 4 on Wednesday.  He was the first star in both victories.

McNicoll, who signed an entry-level contract with the Avalanche last month, leads his club and ranks fifth overall in the QMJHL with 23 points (11g/12a) in 13 postseason games.

Tessier was held off the scoresheet in each of the past two contests.  He ranks second on the Remparts with nine goals in 16 games this postseason (9g/2a).

Shawinigan will look to close out the series in Game 5 on Friday at the Quebec Colisee.  The winner of that series will face Drummondville in the President Cup Final.  Drummondville, the league’s regular season champs, has yet to lose a game this postseason, sweeping all three series.

QUEBEC vs. SHAWINIGAN (Shawinigan leads 3-1)

Game	Date	Location / Result
Game 1	Fri, April 17	Shawinigan 2 at Quebec 4
Game 2	Sat, April 18	Shawinigan 4 at Quebec 3
Game 3	Tues, April 21	Quebec 1 at Shawinigan 4
Game 4	Wed, April 22	Quebec 4 at Shawinigan 5
Game 5	Fri, April 24	Shawinigan at Quebec
Game 6*	Sun, April 26	Quebec at Shawinigan
Game 7*	Tues, April 28	Shawinigan at Quebec

* - if necessary


OHL
The “overtime series” came to an end on Wednesday night, as Trevor Cann, Kevin Montgomery and the London Knights were eliminated by the Windsor Spitfires with a 4-3 OT loss in Game 5 of the Ontario Hockey League’s Western Conference Championship Series. All five contests were decided in overtime, a first in OHL history.

The wild series included a combined seven blown two-goal leads and featured the winning team rallying from a third-period deficit in four of the five games.

Cann, a second-round pick in 2007, finished 9-4 in 13 postseason games with a 2.83 goals-against average and .912 save percentage. 

"I learned a lot in this series about how you have to prepare," Cann told the Knights' official website. "I came back and felt better, but just felt it came too late. I wish it happened a few games earlier and it might have been a different story.”

Cann, 20, ranked third among all OHL goaltenders with 35 wins during the regular season, while finishing second in the league in shutouts (6), third in Sv% (.919) and fourth in GAA (2.62).

Montgomery skated in all 14 playoff contests for London, tallying four points (0g/4a) and a +4 rating.

The Spitfires will await the winner of the Eastern Conference Championship series between the Belleville Bulls and Brampton Battalion. Brampton currently holds a three games to one series lead.

LONDON vs. WINDSOR (Windsor won series 4-1)

Game	Date	Location / Result
Game 1	Wed, April 15	London 3 at Windsor 4  (OT)
Game 2	Fri, April 17	Windsor 5 at London 6  (OT)
Game 3	Sun, April 19	London 4 at Windsor 5  (OT)
Game 4	Mon, April 20	Windsor 5 at London 4  (OT)
Game 5	Wed, April 22	London 3 at Windsor 4  (OT)

USHL
Nathan Condon and the Fargo Force opened their best-of-five second round series with a 4-1 win over the Lincoln Stars on Wednesday. Condon was held off the scoresheet in the opening game and has two points (0g/2a) in four playoff contests thus far. The teams will meet again in Lincoln on Friday for Game 2 of the series.

FARGO vs. LINCOLN (Fargo leads series 1-0)

Game	Date	Location / Result
Game 1	Wed, April 22	Fargo 4 at Lincoln 1
Game 2	Fri, April 24	Fargo at Lincoln
Game 3	Sat, April 25	Lincoln at Fargo
Game 4*	Mon, April 27	Lincoln at Fargo
Game 5*	Wed, April 29	Fargo at Lincoln

* - if necessary