2020-21 QMJHL season

This is the 2020-21 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season. This is the league's 52nd season.
== Start and Stop of Play ==
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the league had modified its schedule, to have team only play intra-divisional games for the season and reduced crowds, which started on October 2nd. The QMJHL was the only one of the three Major Junior leagues to start operations in anything resembling a normal time frame. The WHL was hoping to start play in early January with a strictly intra-divisional schedule as well. The OHL is facing the likelihood of not being able to play at all or have to play with a drastic change to the way the game is played such as no checking and 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 game play.
A rise in cases in the province of Quebec had begun during training camp leading the province to place severe restrictions in much of the area along the St. Lawrence River between greater Montreal and Quebec City which accounts for the majority of the provinces population.
By October 14 the league announced that play among Quebec teams would be stopped for at least two weeks due to the restrictions in place causing 6 of the 12 Quebec teams not being able to operate. The Moncton Wildcats are also unable to operated due to restrictions in place in the Moncton area due to a spike in cases in the Moncton area and the province as a whole. The remaining five teams in the Atlantic Division are allowed to have games for the time being as PEI and Nova Scotia have had relatively few cases and Bathurst and Saint John have not been hit as hard as Moncton.
On November 30th the league suspended play until at least January 3rd due to an increase in cases across the league's footprint.https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/qmjhl-suspends-activities-until-january-3rd/n-5654413
==Franchise changes==
*None, but the Gatineau Olympiques were planning on playing their last season at the Robert Guertin Centre. The team is due to move into the Centre Slush Puppie for the 2021-22 playing season. Due to the Robert Guertin Centre being used as an emergency homeless shelter the team would relocate to the Arena Baribeau in Gatineau
==Member teams==
Division 	Team 	City 	Arena 	Capacity
West 	Blainville-Boisbriand Armada	Boisbriand, Quebec 	Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau 	3,269
West 	Gatineau Olympiques 	Gatineau, Quebec 	Centre Robert Guertin (planned) Arena Baribeau (emergency use)	3,196
West 	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 	Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec 	Aréna Iamgold 	2,993
West 	Val-d'Or Foreurs 	Val-d'Or, Quebec 	Centre Air Creebec 	2,398
Central 	Drummondville Voltigeurs 	Drummondville, Quebec 	Centre Marcel Dionne 	2,889
Central 	Shawinigan Cataractes 	Shawinigan, Quebec 	Centre Gervais Auto 	4,350
Central 	Sherbrooke Phoenix 	Sherbrooke, Quebec 	Palais des Sports 	3,718
Central 	Victoriaville Tigres 	Victoriaville, Quebec 	Colisée Desjardins 	2,753
East 	Baie-Comeau Drakkar 	Baie-Comeau, Quebec 	Centre Henry-Leonard 	2,779
East 	Chicoutimi Saguenéens 	Saguenay, Quebec 	Centre Georges-Vézina 	3,759
East 	Quebec Remparts 	Quebec City, Quebec 	Videotron Centre 	18,482
East 	Rimouski Océanic 	Rimouski, Quebec 	Colisée Financière Sun Life 	4,415
Maritimes	Acadie–Bathurst Titan 	Bathurst, New Brunswick 	K.C. Irving Regional Centre 	3,162
Maritimes	Cape Breton Eagles 	Sydney, Nova Scotia (Cape Breton Regional Municipality), Nova Scotia	Centre 200 	5,010
Maritimes	Charlottetown Islanders 	Charlottetown, P.E.I. 	Eastlink Centre 	3,718
Maritimes	Halifax Mooseheads 	Halifax, Nova Scotia 	Scotiabank Centre 	10,595
Maritimes	Moncton Wildcats 	Moncton, New Brunswick 	Avenir Centre 	10,000
Maritimes	Saint John Sea Dogs 	Saint John, New Brunswick 	TD Station 	6,297
==Final standings==
Source: TheQMJHL.ca
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime Losses; SL = Shootout Losses; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against; PTS = Points; PTS%= Points Percentage; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched Jean Rougeau Trophy
Maritimes Division 	GP	W 	L 	OTL	SL	PTS	PTS%	GF 	GA 	Rank
xy-Charlottetown Islanders	40	35	5 	0 	0 	70 	.875	197	89 	1
x-Acadie–Bathurst Titan 	33	21	10	1 	1 	44 	.667	146	121	4
x-Saint John Sea Dogs 	33	15	14	3 	1 	34 	.515	138	136	11
x-Halifax Mooseheads 	43	15	19	5 	4 	39 	.453	152	183	13
x-Moncton Wildcats 	31	11	17	2 	1 	25 	.403	105	136	14
x-Cape Breton Eagles 	38	12	25	1 	0 	25 	.329	113	186	17
East Division 	GP	W 	L 	OTL	SL	PTS	PTS%	GF 	GA 	Rank
xy-Chicoutimi Saguenéens	29	17	7 	3 	2 	39 	.672	105	77 	3
x-Shawinigan Cataractes 	34	21	10	2 	1 	45 	.662	125	109	5
x-Victoriaville Tigres 	26	16	9 	1 	0 	33 	.635	99 	65 	6
x-Quebec Remparts 	32	17	9 	4 	2 	40 	.625	107	96 	8
x-Rimouski Océanic 	39	13	22	2 	2 	30 	.385	104	143	15
x-Baie-Comeau Drakkar 	36	8 	26	1 	1 	18 	.250	82 	137	18
West Division 	GP	W 	L 	OTL	SL	PTS	PTS%	GF 	GA 	Rank
xy-Val-d'Or Foreurs 	36	29	3 	2 	2 	62 	.861	141	78 	2
x-Blainville-Boisbriand Armada	32	18	10	4 	0 	40 	.625	133	118	7
x-Drummondville Voltigeurs 	34	18	11	4 	1 	41 	.603	106	104	9
x-Gatineau Olympiques 	31	16	11	2 	2 	36 	.581	95 	87 	10
x-Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 	40	17	18	4 	1 	39 	.488	100	146	12
x-Sherbrooke Phoenix 	27	8 	17	1 	1 	18 	.333	68 	105	16
==2021 President's Cup Playoffs==
===Playoff set up===
====Maritimes Division====
On April 16th the league posted an update on the playoffs for the teams in the Maritimes Division. The Cape Breton Eagles and Halifax Mooseheads will not participate in the 2021 President Cup Playoffs (shortly after the start of the playoffs indoor gatherings would be banned and restrictions on non-essential travel in Nova Scotia due to a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases). The three New Brunswick teams will play a nine game round robin to determine who will play the Charlottetown Islanders in the Maritimes Division final. 
====Quebec Divisions====
The 12 Quebec teams will participate in a playoff that will have three teams advance to a semifinal event along with the Maritimes champion in a protected environment with the exact format to be determined.https://theqmjhl.ca/article/schedule-update-for-the-maritimes-division/ The playoff scheduling for the Gatineau Olympiques and the Québec Remparts remains on hold as both teams are dealing with COVID-19 issues.https://theqmjhl.ca/article/first-round-schedule-of-president-cup-playoffs 
====Cancellation of 2021 Memorial Cup====
The playoff champion does not advance to the 2021 Memorial Cup as the event was cancelled on April due to restrictions from the pandemic as the Ontario Hockey League is due to host the tournament and the league has not begun play for the 2020-21 season and are facing not being able to even practice until late May at the earliest due to a lock-down in place in the Province of Ontario due to a large spike in cases of COVID-19 in the province.https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-ontario-april-16-2021-new-restrictions-modelling-1.5990092 The OHL would cancel its' season on April 20th without playing any games. The Western Hockey League cancelled its playoffs on April 19th due to logistical issues involving multiple governmental jurisdictional regulations (four provinces, two states, and two countries).
===Quebec First Round===
*Chicoutimi Saguenéens defeated Sherbrooke Phoenix 3 games to none
*Victoriaville Tigres defeated Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 3 games to none
*Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated Baie-Comeau Drakkar 3 games to none
*Rimouski Océanic defeated Shawinigan Cataractes 3 games to 2
*Blainville-Boisbriand Armada defeated Gatineau Olympiques 3 games to 1
*Quebec Remparts defeated Drummondville Voltigeurs 3 games to none
===New Brunswick Round Robin===
*Saint John Sea Dogs defeated Moncton Wildcats 6-2
*Acadie–Bathurst Titan defeated Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5
*Acadie–Bathurst Titan defeated Moncton Wildcats 5-2
*Moncton Wildcats defeated Saint John Sea Dogs 4-2
*Saint John Sea Dogs defeated Acadie–Bathurst Titan 6-2
*Moncton Wildcats defeated Acadie–Bathurst Titan 5-3
*Acadie–Bathurst Titan defeated Saint John Sea Dogs 4-3 (ot)
*Acadie–Bathurst Titan defeated Moncton Wildcats 5-4 (2ot)
*Saint John Sea Dogs defeated Moncton Wildcats 6-5 (ot)
====Standings====
Team 	GP	W	L	GF	GA	Pts
Acadie–Bathurst Titan	6 	4	2	26	25	8
Saint John Sea Dogs 	6 	3	3	28	24	6
Moncton Wildcats 	5 	2	4	22	27	4
===Atlantic Final===
Best-of-five
*Charlottetown Islanders defeated Acadie–Bathurst Titan 3 games to none
===Quebec Second Round===
Best-of-five, all games held at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec
*Chicoutimi Saguenéens defeated Québec Remparts 3 games to none
*Victoriaville Tigres defeated Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 3 games to 2
*Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated Rimouski Océanic 3 games to none
===Semifinals===
Being held at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec. Best-of-five series.
*Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated Chicoutimi Saguenéens 3 games to none
*Victoriaville Tigres defeated Charlottetown Islanders 3 games to 2
===Final===
Held at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec. Best-of-seven series.
*Victoriaville Tigres defeated Val-d'Or Foreurs 4 games to 2
==References==
Category:2021 in ice hockey
Category:Quebec Major Junior Hockey League seasons