Sherbrooke Phoenix

Sherbrooke Phoenix
City	Sherbrooke, Québec
League	Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
Conference	Telus
Division	Telus West
Founded	2012–13
Home arena	Palais des Sports Léopold-Drolet
Colors	Navy blue, baby blue, and beige
General manager	Patrick Charbonneau
Head coach	Judes Vallée
Website http://www.hockeyphoenix.ca/

The Sherbrooke Phoenix is a major junior ice hockey team based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, that plays in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The team plays its home games at the Palais des Sports.

Franchise history

The franchise was granted as a replacement for the Lewiston Maineiacs, which folded at the end of the 2010–11 QMJHL season. On May 31, 2011, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League held a conference call to prepare an offer to purchase the team from Mark Just for 3.5 million dollars. Ironically enough, the dissolved Maineiacs franchise were the Sherbrooke Castors prior to relocating to Lewiston, Maine prior to the start of the 2003–04 QMJHL season. The Phoenix marks the city's third attempt at a QMJHL franchise. On May 22, 2012, the Phoenix named former Champlain College Cougars head coach Judes Vallée the franchise's first head coach.

The inaugural season

The Phoenix made their inaugural draft selection in the QMJHL Bantam Draft, selecting Daniel Audette with the franchise's first ever draft pick. Audette is the son of former Buffalo Sabres forward Donald Audette. The Phoenix filled out their roster in an expansion draft. The Phoenix played the franchise's inaugural game against the Victoriaville Tigres on September 7, 2012, defeating the Tigres 4-2 in Victoriaville. Jeremie Beaudry scored the franchise's first regular season goal, while Daniel Audette recorded the first regular season assist. Beaudry's stay in Sherbrooke was however short lived as he was traded to the Quebec Remparts three months later. On January 13, 2013, the Phoenix recorded the franchise's first ever shutout against the two time league champion Saint John Sea Dogs. The Phoenix finished their inaugural season with a 21-38-3-6 record, which was good enough for 15th place in the QMJHL, which allowed them to make the playoffs for the first time. The excitement, however was short-lived as the team was swept out in the first round by the second seeded Baie-Comeau Drakkar, being outscored 27-7 in the series. Michael McNamee scored the Phoenix franchise's first ever playoff goal, while Brandon Lesway and Denis Kamaev recorded the first playoff assists in franchise history. One of the most notable moments of the teams first playoff appearance is when Russian right winger Sergay Cocksov got ejected 5 seconds into the first playoff game. Cocksov received a ten-minute major penalty for hit to the head, a two-minute minor for interference, and ended up receiving a 30-game suspension for his hit off the opening face-off.

Team Results

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OL = Overtime losses, SL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes, Finish = Finish in Division, Playoffs = Results in playoffs

Season	GP	W	L	OL	SL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
2012–13	68	21	38	3	6	51	188	282	966	6th, Telus West	Lost First Round to Baie-Comeau 4-0
2013–14	68	16	43	4	5	41	180	300	1125	6th, Telus West	Did not qualify
2014–15	68	36	26	2	4	78	228	245	-	3rd, Telus West	Lost First Round to Charlottetown Islanders 4-2
2015-16	68	24	35	7	2	57	207	241	921	5th, West Division	Lost First Round to Shawinigan Cataractes 4-1
2015-16	68	24	35	7	2	57	207	241	921	5th, West Division	Lost First Round to Shawinigan Cataractes 4-1
2016-17	68	26	38	1	3	56	214	268	-	6th, West Division	Did not qualify
2017-18	68	34	23	7	4	79	228	234	-	4th West Division	Won First Round vs Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 4-3 Lost Quarterfinals 0-4 to Acadie-Bathurst Titan
2018-19	68	36	27	2	3	77	249	247	-	2nd West Division	Won First Round vs Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-1 Lost Quarterfinals 0-4 to Drummondville Voltigeurs
2019-20	63	51	8	3	1	106	290	164	-	1st West Division	Playoffs cancelled
2020-21	27	8	17	1	1	18	68	105	-	6th West Division	Lost First Round