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.

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
	Gatineau Olympiques	Gatineau, Quebec	Centre Robert Guertin (planned) Arena Baribeau (emergency use)	3,196
	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies	Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec	Aréna Iamgold	2,993
	Val-d'Or Foreurs	Val-d'Or, Quebec	Centre Air Creebec	2,398
Central	Drummondville Voltigeurs	Drummondville, Quebec	Centre Marcel Dionne	2,889
	Shawinigan Cataractes	Shawinigan, Quebec	Centre Gervais Auto	4,350
	Sherbrooke Phoenix	Sherbrooke, Quebec	Palais des Sports	3,718
	Victoriaville Tigres	Victoriaville, Quebec	Colisée Desjardins	2,753
East	Baie-Comeau Drakkar	Baie-Comeau, Quebec	Centre Henry-Leonard	2,779
	Chicoutimi Saguenéens	Saguenay, Quebec	Centre Georges-Vézina	3,759
	Quebec Remparts	Quebec City, Quebec	Videotron Centre	18,482
	Rimouski Océanic	Rimouski, Quebec	Colisée Financière Sun Life	4,415
Maritimes	Acadie–Bathurst Titan	Bathurst, New Brunswick	K.C. Irving Regional Centre	3,162
	Cape Breton Eagles	Sydney, Nova Scotia (Cape Breton Regional Municipality), Nova Scotia	Centre 200	5,010
	Charlottetown Islanders	Charlottetown, P.E.I.	Eastlink Centre	3,718
	Halifax Mooseheads	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Scotiabank Centre	10,595
	Moncton Wildcats	Moncton, New Brunswick	Avenir Centre	10,000
	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. The playoff scheduling for the Gatineau Olympiques and the Québec Remparts remains on hold as both teams are dealing with COVID-19 issues.

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. 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