QMJHL Cancels Regular Season, Will Hold Draft Online

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League became the first Major Junior league to cancel the rest of its regular season, announcing on Tuesday that the remaining regular-season games will be canceled. The cancellation comes amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.

There’s a hope among league members that the playoffs will be able to continue, and if it does, teams will be selected based on points percentage, due to teams playing an unequal number of games before the season was suspended last week.

The WHL and OHL both announced that their leagues were suspended last week, but have not announced the cancellation of remaining regular-season games.

The Sherbrooke Phoenix (51-8-3-1) dominated the regular season, reaching 106 points. The Moncton Wildcats (101) were the only other team in the league to reach 100 points this season. Rimouski’s Alex Lafreniere, who is projected to be the top pick in this year’s NHL Draft, was the only player to reach 100 points, scoring 112 points in 52 games.

The QMJHL also announced that the annual QMJHL Entry Draft would be held on June 6, but the league will conduct the draft online. The draft was scheduled to be held at the Palais des Sports LĂ©opold-Drolet in Sherbrooke. The league’s annual meetings, which were scheduled for June 3-5, have been canceled.