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The Moncton Wildcats took a well deserved holiday yesterday, but it's back to business as usual today.

"We'll be back on the ice (today) for a good workout to begin our preparation for the first team we're going to play," said Wildcats head coach Ted Nolan, whose club captured the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship on Sunday night at the Moncton Coliseum.

"Any time you win a championship you're sky high. We have to enjoy what we did and be proud of our accomplishments, but we've still got another step to go."

Moncton defeated the Quebec Remparts 4-2 in the best-of-seven President Cup final. The Wildcats carried the trophy around the Moncton Coliseum ice surface and celebrated in front of a noisy sellout crowd of 6,990 which gave a standing ovation.

Moncton, Quebec, the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League and the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League are set to compete in the 2006 Memorial Cup, which begins on Friday at the Moncton Coliseum.

It's Quebec versus Peterborough on Friday at 8 p.m. in the opener of the 10-day tournament. Moncton and Vancouver will clash on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Nolan became the first head coach to win a championship in both the QMJHL and OHL. Moncton and Quebec hooked up in a hard-fought and entertaining QMJHL final in which five of the six games were decided by one goal.

There were four overtime games with the Wildcats winning three of them. That ties the QMJHL record for most overtime contests in the championship series.

Wildcats left winger Martins Karsums became the first European to win the Guy Lafleur Trophy as Most Valuable Player in the QMJHL playoffs. The Latvian led the league with seven game winning goals, including three in the President Cup final.

Wildcats left winger Stephane Goulet was sidelined for the entire championship series with a knee injury. He was the club's second leading scorer this season with 93 points, including 51 goals, in 67 games.

"You take a 51-goal scorer out of your lineup, I don't care what team it is it's tough to overcome," said Nolan. "I'm not too sure how many teams could've overcome losing a player like him for the whole league final.

"With this group of kids we have, there's different guys stepping up and playing different roles all the time. The good news is that we'll have Goulet ready for the Memorial Cup. If it was Game 7 and a must-win situation (on Sunday), he would've played."

Wildcats left winger Tim Spencer was asked where winning the QMJHL championship ranks on his list of highlights.

"It pretty much blows everything else I've ever done out of the water," he said amidst the celebration on Sunday. "It's an unbelievable feeling. Words can't even explain it.

"We always talked about the fact we wanted to go to the Memorial Cup the right way and that's by winning the President Cup first. Quebec is a great team and they played us really tough. They never gave anything to us. We had to work for everything we got and battle right to the last second of the last game."

Moncton used four lines throughout the President Cup final. Quebec went with two lines for the most part and gave an abundance of ice time to right winger Alexander Radulov, the league scoring titleholder.

"I thought our fourth line guys like Spencer, (Chris) Morehouse, (Matt) Eagles and (Danny) MacKinnon) gave us some quality minutes," said Nolan. "If you have to play two lines the whole series, it's very tough on those guys.

"We were able to use our third and fourth lines a lot and there's no doubt that made a difference as the series wore on. That was one of our keys to success. We like to use a long bench."

It was taken as an insult when Quebec head coach Patrick Roy commented in mid season that Moncton played in the weaker Eastern Division. He said before the league final that the Wildcats likely still would've finished first if they were in the Western Division.

It's a moot point now that the Wildcats are QMJHL champion. Also, three of the four opponents they defeated in the playoffs are from the Western Division.

"Moncton seemed to have a bit more jump than we had in the last two games," said Roy. "We're going to have to work on that (in preparation for the Memorial Cup)."

The Remparts have captured the QMJHL title five times, but not since 1975-76.

"We are disappointed for sure because we wanted to win our league," said Roy.

"Our league is important to us, but at the same time you would obviously never trade the chance to win the Memorial Cup for winning your league.

"We still have the chance to win the Memorial Cup."

Cat Tracks

There are approximately 300 Memorial Cup ticket packages still available, including seating and standing room.