On tap for tonight... aka, the day the Q made CNN

Happy 10th anniversary to this!

The Wildcats cross the Canso Causeway to the Republic of Cape Breton tonight for a 7:00 tilt with the Screaming Eagles, one of five games on the Q sked tonight. As important as it is for Moncton to do all they can to claw their way up the standings, the game I'm most interested in seeing the final result of tonight is Baie-Comeau at Halifax.

Baie-Comeau begins their swing through the Maritimes (which hits Moncton Saturday at 3PM, incidentally), having procured at least one point over the course of their last 15 games. They currently rank third overall in the league and eighth in the CHL rankings. It's their most successful season since 2007-08, when they capped off a stellar regular season by... well, ya know. That season they also partnered up with Moncton to pull off the greatest trade in history... for the Wildcats! That's something that will be brought to light later on this week.

For their part, the Moose are still first overall in the Q and the CHL rankings. Baie-Comeau sits four points behind them (albeit Halifax does have a game in hand). This is the closest thing to a four point game the Moose have had to play so far this year and their reaction to it - as well as seeing how the Drakkar stack up against the uber-talented Halifax squad - is something I look forward to seeing.

Of course, Baie-Comeau has had it's share of battles with Halifax in the past... the biggest being a brawl-filled match that occurred 10 years ago last week, which featured 518 penalty minutes, 20 game misconducts and coverage on TSN, Sportsnet and even CNN. Of course, the Quebec government didn't intervene the same way they would after Jonathan Roy went all Patrick Roy on Bobby Nadeau a few years down the road, but because of those rulings, this game from 10 years ago might as well have been 110 years ago. In today's kinder, gentler QMJHL, there would Ron Artest-like suspensions out of this game were it to happen now. I'm not even saying that's a terrible thing... but it goes to show how quickly things can change.

As a postscript to that game, the top ranked Drakkar and Mooseheads would face off in what was then the Dilio Conference finals that spring. Baie-Comeau would take series leads of 2-0 and 3-2 before bowing out to Halifax in game seven at home, 7-1, sending the Moose to their first ever QMJHL final appearance. On John Moore's broadcast that night, he mentioned during the postgame wrapup that Drakkar star forward Joel Perrault was still sitting on the ice, in tears, propped up along the boards. The zamboni had to drive around him.

Tonight's games in Sydney and Halifax are a great opener to what's shaping up to be a stellar hockey weekend in the Maritimes... stay tuned!

Oh, and to the person who corrected me on PEI being in a 10 year rebuild... I considered the 06-07 season, where the Rocket finished a few games over .500 before being upset in seven games by Bathurst. Isn't that considered a "go for it" year for the Rocket?