1999–2000 QMJHL season explained

The 1999–2000 QMJHL season was the 31st season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The league grants the Montreal Rocket an expansion franchise, returning a team to the most populous city in Quebec. The QMJHL splits into four divisions, retaining the names Lebel and Dilio for its conferences. The Lebel conference is split into the West and Central divisions, and the Dilio Conference is split into the East and Maritime divisions.

The overtime loss statistic is adopted by the Canadian Hockey League. The QMJHL had previously experiment with a single point awarded for an overtime loss in the 1984–85 QMJHL season. Sixteen teams played seventy-two games each in the schedule.

Brad Richards of the Rimouski Océanic is the top scorer in the league, wins the regular season and playoff MVP awards, and three other individual awards at the season's end. Richards helped Rimouski finish first overall in the regular season winning their first Jean Rougeau Trophy, and their first President's Cup, defeating the Hull Olympiques in the finals.

Team changes

The Montreal Rocket join the league as an expansion franchise, playing in the West Division of the Lebel Conference.

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; PTS = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

Lebel Conference

West Division	GP	W	L	T	OL	Pts	GF	GA
Hull Olympiques	72	42	24	6	0	90	339	256
	72	33	33	4	2	72	272	288
Montreal Rocket	72	29	32	6	5	69	276	313
Val-d'Or Foreurs	72	19	41	7	5	50	244	267
Central Division	GP	W	L	T	OL	Pts	GF	GA
	72	37	25	5	5	84	295	257
	72	38	29	4	1	81	307	280
Sherbrooke Castors	72	35	28	7	2	79	267	255
	72	27	36	3	6	63	286	316

Dilio Conference

East Division	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA
Rimouski Océanic	72	48	18	4	2	102	370	274
Quebec Remparts	72	44	20	4	4	96	289	213
	72	31	31	5	5	72	257	285
	72	22	44	3	3	50	226	320
Maritime Division	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA
Moncton Wildcats	72	44	20	5	3	96	292	211
Halifax Mooseheads	72	41	20	6	5	93	316	259
	72	24	39	3	6	57	230	302
	72	20	40	8	4	52	227	311

complete list of standings.

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	Rimouski Océanic	63	71	115	186	69
	Acadie-Bathurst / Halifax	72	67	91	158	209
	Val-d'Or Foreurs	72	64	79	143	74
	Val-d'Or / Halifax	72	47	88	135	63
	Victoriaville Tigres	71	59	73	132	55
Jonathan Roy	Drummondville / Moncton	73	64	61	125	50
Carl Mallette	Victoriaville Tigres	69	49	76	125	97
	Halifax Mooseheads	62	44	80	124	10
	Jérôme Tremblay	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies	71	46	70	116	83
Dominic Forget	Shawinigan Cataractes	67	38	78	116	28

complete scoring statistics

Playoffs

Brad Richards was the leading scorer of the playoffs with 37 points (13 goals, 24 assists).

All-star teams

First team

Goaltender – Simon Lajeunesse, Moncton Wildcats
Left defence – Michel Periard, Rimouski Océanic
Right defence – Jonathan Girard, Moncton Wildcats
Left winger – Ramzi Abid, Acadie-Bathurst Titan / Halifax Mooseheads
Centreman – Brad Richards, Rimouski Océanic
Right winger – Marc-André Thinel, Victoriaville Tigres
Coach – Doris Labonte, Rimouski Océanic

Second team

Goaltender – Maxime Ouellet, Quebec Remparts
Left defence – François Beauchemin, Acadie-Bathurst Titan / Moncton Wildcats
Right defence – Jonathan Gauthier, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Left winger – Simon Gamache, Val-d'Or Foreurs
Centreman – Brandon Reid, Halifax Mooseheads
Right winger – Mathieu Benoît, Acadie-Bathurst Titan / Moncton Wildcats
Coach – Jean Pronovost, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies

Rookie team

Goaltender – Ghislain Rousseau, Baie-Comeau Drakkar
Left defence – Kirill Safronov, Quebec Remparts
Right defence – Kristian Kudroc, Quebec Remparts
Left winger – Frédéric Faucher, Drummondville Voltigeurs
Centreman – Chris Montgomery, Montreal Rocket
Right winger – Maxime Bouchard, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Coach – Pascal Vincent, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
List of First/Second/Rookie team all-stars.

Trophies and awards

Team

President's Cup – Playoff Champions, Rimouski Océanic
Jean Rougeau Trophy – Regular Season Champions, Rimouski Océanic
Robert Lebel Trophy – Team with best GAA, Moncton Wildcats

Player

Michel Brière Memorial Trophy – Most Valuable Player, Brad Richards, Rimouski Océanic
Jean Béliveau Trophy – Top Scorer, Brad Richards, Rimouski Océanic
Guy Lafleur Trophy – Playoff MVP, Brad Richards, Rimouski Océanic
Telus Cup – Offensive – Offensive Player of the Year, Brad Richards, Rimouski Océanic
Telus Cup – Defensive – Defensive Player of the Year, Simon Lajeunesse, Moncton Wildcats
AutoPro Plaque – Best plus/minus total, Brad Richards, Rimouski Océanic
Philips Plaque – Best faceoff percentage, Éric Pinoul, Sherbrooke Castors
Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy – Best GAA, Simon Lajeunesse, Moncton Wildcats
Emile Bouchard Trophy – Defenceman of the Year, Michel Periard, Rimouski Océanic
Mike Bossy Trophy – Best Pro Prospect, Antoine Vermette, Victoriaville Tigres
RDS Cup – Rookie of the Year, Christopher Montgomery, Montreal Rocket
Michel Bergeron Trophy – Offensive Rookie of the Year, Christopher Montgomery, Montreal Rocket
Raymond Lagacé Trophy – Defensive Rookie of the Year, Kirill Safronov, Quebec Remparts
Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy – Most sportsmanlike player, Jonathan Roy, Moncton Wildcats
QMJHL Humanitarian of the Year – Humanitarian of the Year, Simon Gamache, Val-d'Or Foreurs
Marcel Robert Trophy – Best Scholastic Player, Yanick Lehoux, Baie-Comeau Drakkar
Paul Dumont Trophy – Personality of the Year, Brad Richards, Rimouski Océanic

Executive

Ron Lapointe Trophy – Coach of the Year, Doris Labonte, Rimouski Océanic
John Horman Trophy – Executive of the Year, Maurice Tanguay, Rimouski Océanic
St-Clair Group Plaque – Marketing Director of the Year, Genevieve Lussier, Sherbrooke Castors