Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Explained

Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League
Current Season:2023–24 QMJHL season
Pixels:200px
Sport:Ice hockey
Founded:1969
Founder:Robert Lebel
President:Mario Cecchini[1]
Teams:18
Country:Canada
Champion:Drummondville Voltigeurs (2)
Most Champs:Gatineau Olympiques (7)
Tv:Sportsnet
Sportsnet One
Eastlink TV
TVA Sports

The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; French: Ligue de hockey junior Maritimes Québec, LHJMQ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. Officially the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League until 2023, the league includes teams in Quebec and the Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

The Gilles-Courteau Trophy is the championship trophy of the league. The QMJHL champion then goes on to compete in the Memorial Cup against the OHL and WHL champions, and the CHL host team. The QMJHL had traditionally adopted a rapid and offensive style of hockey. Former QMJHL players hold many of the Canadian Hockey League's career and single season offensive records.

Hockey Hall of Fame alumni of the QMJHL include Mario Lemieux, Guy Lafleur, Ray Bourque, Pat LaFontaine, Mike Bossy, Denis Savard, Michel Goulet, Luc Robitaille, and goaltenders Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur.

Member teams

List of teams

Division! align="center" scope="col"
TeamCityArena
EasternEastBaie-Comeau DrakkarBaie-Comeau, QuebecCentre Henry-Leonard
Chicoutimi SaguenéensSaguenay, QuebecCentre Georges-Vézina
Quebec RempartsQuebec City, QuebecCentre Vidéotron
Rimouski OcéanicRimouski, QuebecColisée Financière Sun Life
MaritimesAcadie–Bathurst TitanBathurst, New BrunswickK.C. Irving Regional Centre
Cape Breton EaglesCape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova ScotiaCentre 200
Charlottetown IslandersCharlottetown, Prince Edward IslandEastlink Centre
Halifax MooseheadsHalifax, Nova ScotiaScotiabank Centre
Moncton WildcatsMoncton, New BrunswickAvenir Centre
Saint John Sea DogsSaint John, New BrunswickTD Station
WesternWestBlainville-Boisbriand ArmadaBoisbriand, QuebecCentre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau
Gatineau OlympiquesGatineau, QuebecCentre Slush Puppie
Rouyn-Noranda HuskiesRouyn-Noranda, QuebecAréna Glencore
Val-d'Or ForeursVal-d'Or, QuebecCentre Aignico Eagle
CentralDrummondville VoltigeursDrummondville, QuebecCentre Marcel Dionne
Shawinigan CataractesShawinigan, QuebecCentre Gervais Auto
Sherbrooke PhoenixSherbrooke, QuebecPalais des Sports
Victoriaville TigresVictoriaville, QuebecColisée Desjardins

Map

History

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League was founded in 1969, through the merger of the best teams from the existing Quebec Junior Hockey League and the Metropolitan Montreal Junior Hockey League, declaring themselves a "major junior" league. Of the original eleven QMJHL teams, eight came from the QJHL, two from the MMJHL, and the Cornwall Royals, from Cornwall, Ontario, near the Quebec border, who transferred from the Central Junior A Hockey League. The Rosemont National and Laval Saints transferred from the MMJHL. The eight teams from the QJHL were the Drummondville Rangers, Quebec Remparts, Saint-Jérôme Alouettes, Shawinigan Bruins, Sherbrooke Castors, Sorel Éperviers, Trois-Rivières Ducs and the Verdun Maple Leafs.

Most of the teams were within a few hours' drive of Montreal. From the first season in 1969–70, only Shawinigan remains in the same city with an uninterrupted history, although the team's name has changed to the Cataractes.

In 1972 the QMJHL had been in operation for three years, and wanted a team in the province's largest city. It threatened a lawsuit to force the Montreal Junior Canadiens of the Ontario Hockey Association into the Quebec-based league. Over the summer of 1972, the OHA granted the Junior Habs a "one-year suspension" of operations, while team ownership transferred the team and players into the QMJHL, renaming themselves the Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge in the process. The OHA then reactivated the suspended franchise for the 1973–74 season in Kingston, Ontario, under new ownership and with new players, calling the team the Kingston Canadians. QMJHL teams have won the Memorial Cup twelve times since 1969, with the Shawinigan Cataractes, Saint John Sea Dogs, the Granby Prédateurs, the Hull Olympiques, Halifax Mooseheads, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, Rimouski Océanic, and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan each winning once, the Quebec Remparts winning three times(once in their first edition 1969–1985, and twice in their second edition 1997–present) and the Cornwall Royals winning three times.

Starting in 1994, the QMJHL began to expand further east, outside of Quebec. The "Q" filled the void in Atlantic Canada after the exodus of American Hockey League franchises, when the AHL had a strong presence in the 1980s and 1990s; all of the Maritime Division cities save for Bathurst, New Brunswick are former homes of AHL franchises. To date, Fredericton, New Brunswick is the lone former AHL market that has not established a QMJHL franchise.

In recent seasons, the QMJHL has been scouting players from the Atlantic Canada region along with a surge in players coming out of the New England area: the QMJHL has territorial rights to draft and recruit players from New England as part of an agreement where players from the United States can be drafted by the CHL league that is in a similar geographic area.

In December 2023, the QMJHL changed its name to the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League and released a new logo. The change recognized the league's expansion into the Maritime provinces, whose teams had been a part of the QMJHL for almost 30 years.[2] [3]

Retired numbers

League-wide retired numbers
No.PlayerPositionQMJHL CareerNo. retirement
4 RW 1966–1971 September 2021[4]
87 C 2003–2005 27 September 2019[5]

League presidents

Canadian Hockey League records

This is a list of Canadian Hockey League career and single season records accomplished by QMJHL players.[8]

Most goals, career
  • 1st – 309 – Mike Bossy, Laval National (1972–77)
  • 2nd – 281 – Stephane Lebeau, Shawinigan Cataractes (1984–88)
  • 3rd – 278 – Normand Dupont, Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge, Montreal Juniors (1973–77)
    Most assists, career
  • 1st – 408 – Patrice Lefebvre, Shawinigan Cataractes (1984–88)
  • 3rd – 346 – Patrick Emond, Trois-Rivières Draveurs, Hull Olympiques, Chicoutimi Saguenéens (1981–86)
  • 7th – 315 – Mario Lemieux, Laval Voisins (1981–84)
    Most points, career
  • 1st – 595 – Patrice Lefebvre, Shawinigan Cataractes (1984–88)
  • 3rd – 580 – Stephane Lebeau, Shawinigan Cataractes (1984–88)
  • 4th – 575 – Patrick Emond, Trois-Rivières Draveurs, Hull Olympiques, Chicoutimi Saguenéens (1981–86)
    Most goals, one season
  • 1st – 133 – Mario Lemieux, Laval Voisins, 1983–84 (70 games)
  • 2nd – 130 – Guy Lafleur, Quebec Remparts, 1970–71 (62 games)
  • 4th – 104 – Pat LaFontaine, Verdun Juniors, 1982–83 (70 games)
  • 5th – 103 – Guy Lafleur, Quebec Remparts, 1969–70 (56 games)
  • 6th – 100 – Gary MacGregor, Cornwall Royals, 1973–74 (66 games)
    Most assists, one season
  • 1st – 157 – Pierre Larouche, Sorel Éperviers, 1973–74 (70 games)
  • 2nd – 149 – Mario Lemieux, Laval Voisins, 1983–84 (70 games)
  • 3rd – 136 – Patrice Lefebvre, Shawinigan Cataractes, 1987–88 (70 games)
  • 5th – 135 – Michel Deziel, Sorel Éperviers, 1973–74 (69 games)
  • 5th – 135 – Marc Fortier, Chicoutimi Saguenéens, 1986–87 (65 games)
    Most points, one season
  • 1st – 282 – Mario Lemieux, Laval Voisins, 1983–84 (70 games)
  • 2nd – 251 – Pierre Larouche, Sorel Éperviers, 1973–74 (67 games)
  • 3rd – 234 – Pat LaFontaine, Verdun Juniors, 1982–83 (70 games)
  • 4th – 227 – Michel Deziel, Sorel Éperviers, 1973–74 (69 games)
  • 5th – 216 – Real Cloutier, Quebec Remparts, 1973–74 (69 games)
  • 6th – 214 – Jacques Cossette, Sorel Éperviers, 1973–74 (68 games)
  • 8th – 209 – Guy Lafleur, Quebec Remparts, 1970–71 (62 games)
  • 9th – 206 – Jacques Locas, Quebec Remparts, 1973–74 (63 games)
  • 10th – 201 – Marc Fortier, Chicoutimi Saguenéens, 1986–87 (65 games)
  • 11th – 200 – Patrice Lefebvre, Shawinigan Cataractes, 1987–88 (70 games)

    Timeline of teams

    DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyyImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20Period = from:06/01/1969 till:2023TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalPlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:pink id:bg value:white id:Former value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a former league member id:Current value:rgb(0.4,0.80,0.67) # Use this color to denote a team that is a current league member

    PlotData=

    width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Former from:09/01/1969 till:06/01/1981 text:Cornwall Royals

    bar:2 color:Former from:09/01/1969 till:06/01/1974 text:Drummondville Rangers

    bar:3 color:Former from:09/01/1969 till:06/01/1970 text:Laval Saints

    bar:4 color:Former from:09/01/1969 till:06/01/1985 text:Quebec Remparts bar:4 color:Former from:09/01/1988 till:06/01/1991 text:Longueuil bar:4 color:Former from:09/01/1991 till:06/01/1994 text:Verdun Collège-Français

    bar:5 color:Former from:09/01/1969 till:06/01/1971 text:Rosemont bar:5 color:Former from:09/01/1971 till:06/01/1998 text:Laval National / Voisins / Titan / Titan Collège-Français bar:5 color:Current from:09/01/1998 till:end text:Acadie-Bathurst Titan

    bar:6 color:Former from:09/01/1969 till:06/01/1972 text:Saint-Jérôme Alouettes

    bar:7 color:Current from:09/01/1969 till:end text:Shawinigan Bruins / Dynamos / Cataractes

    bar:8 color:Former from:09/01/1969 till:06/01/1982 text:Sherbrooke Castors bar:8 color:Former from:09/01/1982 till:06/01/1995 text:Saint-Jean Castors / Lynx bar:8 color:Current from:09/01/1995 till:end text:Rimouski Oceanic

    bar:9 color:Former from:09/01/1969 till:06/01/1977 text:Sorel Éperviers bar:9 color:Former from:09/01/1977 till:06/01/1979 text:Verdun bar:9 color:Former from:09/01/1979 till:06/01/1981 text:Sorel bar:9 color:Former from:09/01/1981 till:06/01/1997 text:Granby Bisons / Prédateurs bar:9 color:Current from:09/01/1997 till:end text:Cape Breton Screaming Eagles / Eagles

    bar:10 color:Former from:09/01/1969 till:06/01/1992 text:Trois-Rivières Ducs / Draveurs bar:10 color:Former from:09/01/1992 till:06/01/2003 text:Sherbrooke Faucons / Castors bar:10 color:Former from:09/01/2003 till:06/01/2011 text:Lewiston Maineiacs bar:10 color:Current from:09/01/2012 till:end text:Sherbrooke Phoenix

    bar:11 color:Former from:09/01/1969 till:06/01/1972 text:Verdun Maple Leafs

    bar:12 color:Former from:09/01/1972 till:06/01/1982 text:Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge / Juniors bar:12 color:Former from:09/01/1982 till:06/01/1989 shift:(-3) text:Verdun Juniors / Jr Canadiens bar:12 color:Former from:09/01/1989 till:06/01/1996 text:St-Hyacinthe Laser bar:12 color:Current from:09/01/1996 till:end text:Rouyn-Noranda Huskies

    bar:13 color:Current from:09/01/1973 till:end text:Chicoutimi Saguenéens

    bar:14 color:Current from:09/01/1973 till:09/01/2003 text:Hull Festivals / Olympiques bar:14 color:Current from:09/01/2003 till:end text:Gatineau Olympiques

    bar:15 color:Current from:09/01/1982 till:end text:Drummondville Voltigeurs bar:16 color:Former from:09/01/1982 till:06/01/1987 text:Longueuil Chevaliers bar:16 color:Current from:09/01/1987 till:end text:Victoriaville Tigres

    bar:17 color:Former from:09/01/1984 till:01/01/1985 text:Plattsburgh Pioneers

    bar:18 color:Former from:09/01/1990 till:06/01/1997 text:Beauport Harfangs bar:18 color:Current from:09/01/1997 till:end text:Quebec Remparts

    bar:19 color:Current from:09/01/1993 till:end text:Val d'Or Foreurs

    bar:20 color:Current from:09/01/1994 till:end text:Halifax Mooseheads

    bar:21 color:Current from:09/01/1995 till:end text:Moncton Alpines / Wildcats

    bar:22 color:Current from:09/01/1997 till:end text:Baie-Comeau Drakkar

    bar:23 color:Former from:09/01/1999 till:06/01/2003 text:Montreal Rocket bar:23 color:Current from:09/01/2003 till:09/01/2013 text:PEI Rocket bar:23 color:Current from:09/01/2013 till:end text:Charlottetown Islanders

    bar:24 color:Current from:09/01/2005 till:end text:Saint John Sea Dogs

    bar:25 color:Former from:09/01/2005 till:06/01/2008 text:St. John's bar:25 color:Former from:09/01/2008 till:06/01/2011 text:Montreal Jrs bar:25 color:Current from:09/01/2011 till:end text:Blainville-Boisbriand Armada

    ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1971TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:

    This is a complete list of team histories since 1969.[9]

    Cities represented

    TeamHometownProvince/StateYears Active
    Cornwall RoyalsCornwallOntario1969–1981
    Plattsburgh PioneersPlattsburghNew York1984–1985
    Laval TitanLavalQuebec1969–1970; 1971–1998
    Quebec RempartsQuebec CityQuebec1969–1985; 1997–present
    Drummondville VoltigeursDrummondvilleQuebec1969–1974; 1982–present
    Saint-Jerome AlouettesSaint-JeromeQuebec1969–1971
    Trois-Rivieres DraveursTrois-RivieresQuebec1969–1992
    Sorel EperviersSorelQuebec1969–1977; 1980–1981
    Verdun JuniorsVerdunQuebec1969–1971; 1977–1980; 1982–1989;1991–1994; 2008–2011
    Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge
    Montreal Juniors
    Montreal Rocket
    Montreal Junior Hockey Club
    MontrealQuebec1969–1971
    1972–1982
    1999–2003
    2008–2011
    Shawinigan CataractesShawiniganQuebec1969–present
    Sherbrooke PhoenixSherbrookeQuebec1969–1982; 1999–2003; 2012–present
    Chicoutimi SaguenéensChicoutimiQuebec1973–present
    Gatineau OlympiquesHull/GatineauQuebec1973–present
    Granby PrédateursGranbyQuebec1981–1997
    Saint-Jean LynxSaint-Jean-sur-RichelieuQuebec1982–1995
    Longueuil ChevaliersLongueuilQuebec1982–1991
    Victoriaville TigresVictoriavilleQuebec1987–present
    Saint-Hyacinthe LaserSaint-HyacintheQuebec1989–1996
    Beauport HarfangsBeauportQuebec1990–1997
    Val-d'Or ForeursVal-d'OrQuebec1993–present
    Rimouski OcéanicRimouskiQuebec1995–present
    Rouyn-Noranda HuskiesRouyn-NorandaQuebec1996–present
    Baie-Comeau DrakkarBaie-ComeauQuebec1997–present
    Blainville-Boisbriand ArmadaBoisbriandQuebec2011–present
    Moncton WildcatsMonctonNew Brunswick1995–present
    Acadie-Bathurst TitanBathurstNew Brunswick1998–present
    Saint John Sea DogsSaint JohnNew Brunswick2005–present
    Lewiston MaineiacsLewistonMaine2003–2011
    Charlottetown IslandersCharlottetownPrince Edward Island2003–present
    Halifax MooseheadsHalifaxNova Scotia1994–present
    Cape Breton EaglesSydneyNova Scotia1997–present
    St. John's Fog DevilsSt. John'sNewfoundland and Labrador2005–2008

    Memorial Cup champions

    The Memorial Cup has been captured fifteen times by ten different QMJHL teams since the league's founding in 1969:

    Trophies and awards

    This is a list of QMJHL trophies.[10] The trophy's first season being awarded is shown in brackets.

    Team

    Player

    Executive

    Defunct trophies

    See also

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Mario Cecchini introduced as next QMJHL Commissioner . March 16, 2023. Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. August 10, 2023.
    2. Web site: Blouin . Maxime . The QMJHL becomes the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League . CHL.ca . December 14, 2023 . December 14, 2023.
    3. Web site: QMJHL changes name to better represent its six Maritime teams . TSN.ca . December 14, 2023 . December 14, 2023.
    4. Web site: Staff . May 18, 2021 . QMJHL to retire Guy Lafleur's No. 4 . April 22, 2022 . TSN . en.
    5. Web site: Emotional Sidney Crosby honoured during jersey retirement ceremony in Rimouski. The Canadian Press. 28 September 2019. CBC News. 8 December 2019.
    6. Web site: QMJHL Commissioner steps down. March 5, 2023. Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. March 5, 2023.
    7. Web site: Mario Cecchini introduced as next QMJHL Commissioner . March 16, 2023. Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. August 10, 2023.
    8. Web site: CHL Record Book . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060901160731/http://chl.ca/CHLRecordBook/home.html . September 1, 2006 . September 1, 2006.
    9. Web site: QMJHL team histories. December 20, 2005. bot: unknown. https://web.archive.org/web/20051220142145/http://www.lhjmq.qc.ca/old_lhjmq/statistiques/CONCESSIONS_fiches_ap20032004.html. December 20, 2005.
    10. Web site: QMJHL Trophies. September 27, 2006. bot: unknown. https://web.archive.org/web/20060927032534/http://www.lhjmq.qc.ca/old_lhjmq/Honneurs/Trophees_LHJMQ_ap200506.html. September 27, 2006.