Quebec City have taken the league by storm and have gotten their way all the way up to first place in the league with 32 points. But how much of a suprise has it been? With Quebec having 10 players past 425 TPE on their team, who have each not been disappointing this season, Quebec before the season would not have been an unrealistic pick to finish first in their conference. Zdenko Beranek, Jasper Maximov, and Jst Maro are all top 5 in points, combining for 65 points in 19 games. They are the major reason that Quebec City is first in goals scored, with 84.

On the flip side of their goal scoring, they have been a little weaker on their defensive side, allowing 54 goals. Looking at their defense, this is not too much of a surprise, considering lots of their players, like Bjørn Jakobsen, Jasper Maximov, etc, are more offensively focused leaving their defense, to be more prone to allowing goals. Both their goalies, Mat Smith and Tyler Ward are each trying their best in damage control, making sure they do not allow too many goals.

Unfortunately for them, their defensive struggles have shown up in their few losses this season. With two OT losses and two blowout losses, their offense was often completely limited, putting their defensive struggles on full blast. Looking at more recent games, they have lost three in their last four games, and while they were able to bounce back against Kelowna, I am personally wondering if this will become a trend in the later half of the season. Their defense in terms of TPE is strong, but only one defender is still able to update with no cap, and if they want to succeed, should probably be focusing more on the defensive side to help the Citadelles more.

The Citadelles only drafted thrice in the previous SMJHL Draft, trading for Mew Two while also getting Brian Davenport and Bjørn Jakobsen late in the draft to help their team. The rookies have been performing pretty well this season, and all of them raising their playing level, is probably the main reason that the Citadelles are so high in the table. Jakobsen has 7 Goals and 6 Assists, Mew Two with 4 Goals and 3 Assists, Davenport has 2 Goals and 5 assists, all through 19 games. Rookies usually do not get too many points in their first season considering they have 200 TP less than a lot of the players, so these point totals could be good for getting any Rookie of the Year Award at the end of the season.

Speaking about awards, Beranek has a very good chance at getting the point scoring champ, and maybe even securing most valuable season. With the switch to 66 game seasons, we are close to 1/3 way through the season, and lots of things can happen. Would not be smart to assume things are set in stone, but the Citadelles have the made the most out of their schedule, and me along with the rest of the team will be hoping this continues throughout the season.

Approved, +5 TPE @siddhus