| Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Ligue de hockey junior Maritimes Québec | |
| 2024-25 QMJHL season | |
| |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 1969 |
| No. of teams | 18 |
| Country(ies) | Canada |
| Most recent champion(s) | Quebec Remparts (1) |
| Most championship(s) | Gatineau Olympiques (7) |
| TV partner(s) | Sportsnet Sportsnet One EastLink TV TVA Sports |
| Official website | theqmjhl |
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[lower-alpha 1] 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[]
History[]
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League was founded in 1969, through the merger of 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 twice (once in their first edition 1969–1985, and once 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 of 2023, the QMJHL passed a resolution to officially change its name to the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, with a new logo to coincide with the change. The change was made in recognition of the league's expansion into the Maritime provinces, whose teams had been a part of the QMJHL for almost 30 years by that point.[1][2]
Retired numbers[]
| No. | Player | Position | QMJHL Career | No. retirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Guy Lafleur | RW | 1966–1971 | September 2021[3] |
| 87 | Sidney Crosby | C | 2003–2005 | 27 September 2019[4] |
League presidents[]
- Robert Lebel (1969–1975)
- Jean Rougeau (1981–1983)
- Paul Dumont (1983–1984)
- Gilles Courteau (1986–2023)[5]
Canadian Hockey League records[]
This is a list of Canadian Hockey League career and single season records accomplished by QMJHL players.[6]
- 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)
Team Timeline[]
Champions[]
Teams in bold also won the Memorial Cup that season
Memorial Cup champions[]
The Memorial Cup has been captured fifteen times by QMJHL teams since the league's founding in 1969:
- 1971 – Quebec Remparts
- 1972 – Cornwall Royals
- 1980 – Cornwall Royals
- 1981 – Cornwall Royals
- 1996 – Granby Prédateurs
- 1997 – Hull Olympiques
- 2000 – Rimouski Océanic
- 2006 – Quebec Remparts
- 2011 – Saint John Sea Dogs
- 2012 – Shawinigan Cataractes
- 2013 – Halifax Mooseheads
- 2018 – Acadie–Bathurst Titan
- 2019 – Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
- 2022 – Saint John Sea Dogs
- 2023 – Quebec Remparts
Team[]
- Gilles-Courteau Trophy – Playoffs champions (1969–70)
- Jean Rougeau Trophy – Regular season champions (1969–70)
- Luc Robitaille Trophy – Team that scored the most goals (2001–02 to 2013–14), team with the best goals for average (2014–15)
- Robert Lebel Trophy – Team with best GAA (1977–78)
Player[]
- Michel Brière Memorial Trophy – Most valuable player (1972–73)
- Jean Béliveau Trophy – Top scorer (1969–70)
- Guy Lafleur Trophy – Playoffs MVP (1977–78)
- Telus Cup – Offensive – Offensive player of the year (1989–90)
- Telus Cup – Defensive – Defensive player of the year (1989–90)
- Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy – Best GAA (1969–70)
- Guy Carbonneau Trophy – Best defensive forward (2004–05)
- Emile Bouchard Trophy – Defenceman of the year (1975–76)
- Kevin Lowe Trophy – Best defensive defenceman (2004–05)
- Michael Bossy Trophy – Best professional prospect (1980–81)
- RDS Cup – Rookie of the year (1991–92)
- Michel Bergeron Trophy – Offensive rookie of the year (1969–70)
- Raymond Lagacé Trophy – Defensive rookie of the year (1980–81)
- Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy – Most sportsmanlike player (1969–70)
- QMJHL Humanitarian of the Year – Also known as "Wittnauer Plaque" (1992–93)
- Marcel Robert Trophy – Best scholastic player (1980–81)
- Paul Dumont Trophy – Personality of the year (1989–90)
Executive[]
- Ron Lapointe Trophy – Coach of the year (1992–93)
- Maurice Filion Trophy – General manager of the year (2005–06)
- John Horman Trophy – Executive of the year (1989–90)
- Jean Sawyer Trophy – Marketing director of the year (1990–91)
Defunct trophies[]
- AutoPro Plaque – Best plus/minus total (1989–90 to 2001–02)
- Philips Plaque – Best faceoff percentage (1997–98 to 2001–02)
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Blouin, Maxime (December 14, 2023). The QMJHL becomes the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
- ↑ QMJHL changes name to better represent its six Maritime teams (December 14, 2023).
- ↑ Staff (May 18, 2021). QMJHL to retire Guy Lafleur's No. 4 (en).
- ↑ The Canadian Press (28 September 2019). Emotional Sidney Crosby honoured during jersey retirement ceremony in Rimouski.
- ↑ QMJHL Commissioner steps down (March 5, 2023).
- ↑ CHL Record Book.
External links[]
- Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Official website
- Canadian Hockey League Official website
- Internet Hockey Database Archive of standings and statistics
| Current arenas in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League | |
|---|---|
| Maritimes Division | KC Irving Reg. Centre · Centre 200 · Scotiabank Centre · Avenir Centre · Eastlink Centre · Harbour Station |
| East Division | Centre Henry-Leonard · Centre Georges-Vézina · Videotron Centre · Colisée Financière Sun Life |
| Central Division | Centre Marcel Dionne · Centre Gervais Auto · Palais des Sports · Colisée Desjardins |
| West Division | Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau · Robert Guertin Arena (-2021) · Slush Puppie Centre (2021- · Aréna Iamgold · Centre Air Creebec |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Quebec Maritmes Junior Hockey League. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |
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