Phoenix defenceman optimistic as QMHJL returns to action

With one year of eligibility left in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), Sherbrooke Phoenix veteran Xavier Bernard is eager to get back on the ice.
The towering defenseman has been sidelined, alongside the rest of his teammates, since late November, when league officials postponed the regular season indefinitely due to the unpredictability of the pandemic.
“It’s been pretty weird, normally we’re playing, at this time of year in January, we’re like 40 games in or something like that,” Bernard said in a phone interview.
The 21-year-old Mercier, Quebec native joined the Phoenix midway through last year’s historic campaign. It’s his third team since entering the league in 2016; he previously played for Drummondville and Charlottetown.
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