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Wildcats – Year five - 2000-01
Only five of the previous year’s team would play in Moncton. Jonathan Roy, after undergoing successful cancer treatment, returned just before midseason. In talking of his battle with cancer and his return to hockey, Roy said, “I could not have come back for the 2000-2001 season without the support of my family, the fans and of course Mr. Irving. The Moncton Wildcats organization was great with me and I will never forget them.” Trevor Ettinger, Ian Seguin, Patrick Yetman and Olivier Dubuc were the other returnees. Yetman had an outstanding year leading the Cats in scoring with 101 points in 71 games. Roy was a distant second with 58 points but played only 45 contests. The three year contract held by coach Réal Paiement was not renewed. Tom Coolen became the new head coach and Darrell Young the director of hockey operations. Both had extensive experience in the university college ranks. In an effort to boost the team’s fortunes, Coolen and Young went to the free agent market. Picked up were goaltender Bill Ruggiero, he was joined by defencemen, Scott O’Connor, Dion Hyman, Dallas Beaton and Marc Higginbotham. To bolster the offence,
Collin Circelli, A.J. Howe, Bobby Naylor, Mike Smith and P.J. Lynch were added to the lineup. Draft picks also helped mold the development effort. Matt Davis, a goaltender from Harvey was joined by forwards Michel Dubé, David Philpott, Matthew Seymour, Mikhail Deev, Stephen Knowles, along with defenceman Julien Lavoie. Head scout Peter Nevin, a veteran member of the organization termed the year as being the equivalent of having an expansion team. “When you’re starting over, it takes three years to restructure and rebuild in order to have a highly competitive team.” Heading into the Christmas break, the Wildcats were leading the Maritime Division but collapsed down the stretch going from first to last place, failing to win a point in their final 10 games. They missed the playoffs by a single point. In a pivotal game with the Titan, with the scored tied, Moncton was assessed a penalty. With a mere 2 seconds remaining in the game, former Cat Simon Laliberté scored for Acadie-Bathurst, giving his team the win and eliminating the Wildcats from further competition. Team Photo
View Individual Stats
QMJHL Standings 2000-01
2000 QMJHL Entry Draft
2000 CHL Import Draft
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In the cyclical world that is Major Junior Hockey, the Moncton Wildcats began the process of building for the future in their fifth year in the Q. In structuring a championship team the year before, key players and high draft picks was the price paid. It would be two more long seasons before the Cats would return to the playoffs.
With the mid-season trading period, Moncton went for youth as the re-building process continued. They obtained Alma native 
