Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League


The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. The league includes teams in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, and previously had teams in Maine and New York in the United States.
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 Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League 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.

Teams

List of teams

ConferenceDivisionTeamCityArena
EasternEastBaie-Comeau DrakkarBaie-Comeau, QuebecCentre Henry-Leonard
EasternEastChicoutimi SaguenéensSaguenay, QuebecCentre Georges-Vézina
EasternEastQuebec RempartsQuebec City, QuebecCentre Vidéotron
EasternEastRimouski OcéanicRimouski, QuebecColisée Financière Sun Life
EasternMaritimesCape Breton EaglesCape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova ScotiaCentre 200
EasternMaritimesCharlottetown IslandersCharlottetown, Prince Edward IslandEastlink Centre
EasternMaritimesHalifax MooseheadsHalifax, Nova ScotiaScotiabank Centre
EasternMaritimesMoncton WildcatsMoncton, New BrunswickAvenir Centre
EasternMaritimesNewfoundland RegimentSt. John's, Newfoundland and LabradorMary Brown's Centre
EasternMaritimesSaint John Sea DogsSaint John, New BrunswickTD Station
WesternWestBlainville-Boisbriand ArmadaBoisbriand, QuebecCentre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau
WesternWestGatineau OlympiquesGatineau, QuebecCentre Slush Puppie
WesternWestRouyn-Noranda HuskiesRouyn-Noranda, QuebecAréna Glencore
WesternWestVal-d'Or ForeursVal-d'Or, QuebecCentre Agnico Eagle
WesternCentralDrummondville VoltigeursDrummondville, QuebecCentre Marcel Dionne
WesternCentralShawinigan CataractesShawinigan, QuebecCentre Gervais Auto
WesternCentralSherbrooke PhoenixSherbrooke, QuebecPalais des Sports
WesternCentralVictoriaville TigresVictoriaville, QuebecColisée Desjardins

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 and the Cornwall Royals winning three times.
Starting in 1994, the QMJHL began to expand farther east, outside of Quebec, filling 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.
On March 14, 2021, Kenzie Lalonde became the first woman to provide play-by-play coverage on television for any QMJHL game; the game was between the Halifax Mooseheads, who were hosting, and the Charlottetown Islanders.
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.
The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly amended labour laws in 2024, to consider junior players as student-athletes and not employees subject to minimum wage, similarly to other provinces in the league. The QMJHL returned to Newfoundland for the 2025–26 season, with the relocation of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan to St. John's as the Newfoundland Regiment.

League presidents

Canadian Hockey League records

This is a list of Canadian Hockey League career and single season records accomplished by QMJHL players.
;Most goals, career
;Most assists, career
;Most points, career
;Most goals, one season
;Most assists, one season
;Most points, one season

Timeline of teams

Current teams are shown in blue. Gold stars denote Gilles-Courteau Trophy winners.

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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 $Down text:Quebec Remparts
bar:4 color:Former from:09/01/1988 till:06/01/1991 text:Longueuil
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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 $Down text: Laval National/Voisins/Titan/Titan Collège-Français
bar:5 color:Former from:09/01/1998 till:06/01/2025 $t:black $Down text:Acadie-Bathurst Titan
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bar:5 at:06/01/1989 $champ
bar:5 at:06/01/1990 $champ
bar:5 at:06/01/1993 $champ
bar:5 at:06/01/1999 $champ
bar:5 at:06/01/2018 $champ
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 $Down $t:white text:Shawinigan Bruins/Dynamos/Cataractes
bar:7 at:06/01/2022 $champ
bar:8 color:Former from:09/01/1969 till:06/01/1982 $Down text:Sherbrooke Castors
bar:8 color:Former from:09/01/1982 till:06/01/1995 text:Saint-Jean Castors/Lynx
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bar:8 at:06/01/2000 $champ
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bar:8 at:06/01/2015 $champ
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 shift: 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 $Down text:Granby Bisons/Prédateurs
bar:9 color:Current from:09/01/1997 till:end $t:white text:Cape Breton Screaming Eagles/Eagles
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bar:10 color:Former from:09/01/1969 till:06/01/1992 $Down 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 $Down text:Lewiston Maineiacs
bar:10 color:Current from:09/01/2012 till:end $t:white text:Sherbrooke Phoenix
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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 $t:white $Down text:Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
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bar:12 at:06/01/2016 $champ
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bar:13 color:Current from:09/01/1973 till:end $t:white $Down text:Chicoutimi Saguenéens
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bar:15 color:Current from:09/01/1982 till:end $t:white $Down text:Drummondville Voltigeurs
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bar:15 at:06/01/2024 $champ
bar:16 color:Former from:09/01/1982 till:06/01/1987 $Down shift: text:Longueuil Chevaliers
bar:16 color:Current from:09/01/1987 till:end $t:white $Down text:Victoriaville Tigres
bar:16 at:06/01/1987 $champ
bar:16 at:06/01/2002 $champ
bar:16 at:06/01/2021 $champ
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 $t:white $Down text:Quebec Remparts
bar:18 at:06/01/2023 $champ
bar:19 color:Current from:09/01/1993 till:end $t:white $Down text:Val d'Or Foreurs
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bar:19 at:06/01/2014 $champ
bar:20 color:Current from:09/01/1994 till:end $t:white $Down text:Halifax Mooseheads
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bar:21 color:Current from:09/01/1995 till:end $t:white $Down text:Moncton Alpines/Wildcats
bar:21 at:06/01/2006 $champ
bar:21 at:06/01/2010 $champ
bar:21 at:06/01/2025 $champ
bar:22 color:Current from:09/01/1997 till:end $t:white text:Baie-Comeau Drakkar
bar:23 color:Former from:09/01/1999 till:06/01/2003 shift: text:Montreal Rocket
bar:23 color:Current from:09/01/2003 till:09/01/2013 $t:white text:PEI Rocket
bar:23 color:Current from:09/01/2013 till:end $t:white text:Charlottetown Islanders
bar:24 color:Current from:09/01/2005 till:end $t:white $Down text:Saint John Sea Dogs
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bar:24 at:06/01/2017 $champ
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This is a complete list of team histories since 1969.

Memorial Cup champions

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

Entry draft

Starting in 1971, the QMJHL has held a draft to select the rights to future players. The league held separate drafts for junior-aged players and for midget-aged players. The initial drafts addressed only players not protected by their territorial programs. In 1972, teams could protect 15 players within their territory, and Mike Bossy was never drafted because the Laval National protected him. In 1973, the midget protection was dropped to five players, then increased to six players in 1976. The territorial rights created issues in 1973, when the Sorel Éperviers picked Lucien DeBlois with the first pick, and the Drummondville Voltigeurs selected him with the 8th pick because he also was within their region. The last year of separate drafts for midget and junior players was 1977, when teams were allowed to protect one midget player. Starting in 1978, the league had a single draft.

Trophies and awards

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

Team

Player

Executive

Defunct trophies