Loshing, Muller capture top awards as Wildcats salute top players

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On the eve of what many expect to be one of the most competitive series in the QMJHL opening playoff round between the Moncton Wildcats and Chicoutimi Sagueneens, the Cats took time to recognize their players at their annual Fans Choice awards night.

Team Captain Yoan Losing and veteran forward Miles Muller were the big winners as they took home three awards each during the ceremonies at the Riverview Arts Centre.

Loshing, a 19-year-old winger from Lemoyne, Que., was named the team’s most valuable player, as well as earning the top goal scorer and top points awards.

Muller, a 19-year-old winger from Biel-Bienne, Switzerland, was named the team’s top defensive award winner, claimed the Fans Choice award as well as the prestigious Corey Crawford Wildcat of the Year Award.

Loshing, the team’s top pick, 13th overall in 2020, recorded 37 goals, 33 points and 70 points in 59 games for the Wildcats this season, all career bests.

He will be a big factor in the playoff series against Chicoutimi, which begins Friday at the Avenir Centre at 7 p.m.

Muller, who will play professionally next year in Switzerland, was a 10th-round pick by the Cats in 2020, 183rd overall, and blossomed offensively this year with a career high 32 goals, 29 assists and 61 points, good for second on the team.

He was particularly effective in March with nine goals in 12 games as the Wildcats clinched the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference with 81 points.

Overage defenceman Olivier Boutin, acquired by the Wildcats prior to last year’s draft, took home a pair of awards. as he was named the scholastic player of the year as well as the unsung hero award winner.

Boutin, now 21, was a first-round pick, 19th overall with Gatineau in 2019, and spent four seasons with that organization before landing in Moncton, where he recorded 37 points on the blueline and a plus 25 rating this year.

Caleb Desnoyers, the team’s top draft pick last June and first overall, made good on his promise as the team’s rookie of the year. He recorded 56 points in 60 games and was also a member of the Canadian gold medal winning team at the World Under 17 hockey championship in Charlottetown in the first half of the season.

Forward Alex Mercier earned the team’s hardest worker award after recording a career-best 44 points in his third season. The Sainte Foy, Que., native was taken in the second round, 23rd overall in 2021. He had 16 goals and 28 assists.

Second-year forward Preston Lounsbury was named the winner of the Rebecca Schofield Community Spirit Award. Lounsbury, the team’s fourth pick, 62nd overall in the 2021 QMJHL draft, was part of the team’s top-scoring line all season and the Moncton native finished the year with 57 points while playing in all 68 games for the Cats.

Second-year forward Gabe Smith was named the team’s most improved player. The six-foot-four Saint Andrews, N.B., native scored nine goals and recorded 23 points in his second full season after he was selected in the second round, 25th overall in the 2022 draft.

The team also made a pair of other presentations. Brad Smith earned the organization’s commitment to excellence award while Neil Steeves was presented the volunteer of the year award.

Game 2 of the opening round series against Chicoutimi is slated for Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Avenir Centre before the series shifts back to Chicoutimi for Games 3, 4 and 5 next Tuesday, Wednesday and if necessary, Friday. If required, Games 6 and 7 will take place at the Avenir Centre on April 8 and April 9.

The teams split the season series, with the Cats winning 8-2 on Dec. 2 at the Avenir Centre and falling 5-2 in Chicoutimi on Feb. 9.