Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

1969 - Present

Organized hockey has deep roots in Quebec. The earliest leagues started in the Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City corridor. While senior and professional hockey developed rapidly in this area, the development of junior hockey quickly lagged behind Ontario and Western Canada.

While there were various leagues and teams throughout the early half of the 20th century, it wasn't until 1949 that Quebec produced its first Memorial Cup winner, the Montreal Royals. It followed up with the Montreal Jr. Canadiens winning the Cup in 1950. However, this marked a high point in Quebec junior hockey.

By 1953, the top junior league in Quebec was a small 4-team league and had turned to the OHA to provide competition through an interlocking schedule. The league also became embroiled in a dispute with the CAHA that resulted in the league briefly becoming ineligible for Memorial Cup competition. As a result of this dispute, the Quebec Citadelles started the 1953-54 season in the OHA. The dispute was resolved and Quebec returned to a provincial league in rapid decline.

The Montreal Canadiens ended up establishing an independent junior team that played exhibition games and participated in Senior competition. Eventually, this team found a home in the OHA in 1961. The major Quebec papers largely ignored local leagues and focused most of their coverage on the Jr. Canadiens and the OHA. The Montreal Jr. Canadiens gave Quebec back to back Cup in 1969 and 1970 but they did so as part of the OHA.

Meanwhile, back in Quebec two leagues began to emerge. The Montreal Metro Jr. 'A' league formed in 1955 while a provincial league also grew and improved through NHL sponsorship. In 1969, these two leagues merged to form the QMJHL. The second year of the new league produced the Guy Lafleur led Quebec Remparts who captured the Memorial Cup in 1971.

In 1972, the Cornwall Royals, the lone Ontario-based team, went on to win the Cup. It followed up this accomplishment with back to back wins in the early 1980's. However, a dispute developed over Cornwall's participation in the Ontario draft while playing as part of a Quebec based league. The dispute was resolved when Cornwall somewhat reluctantly left the QMJHL to join the OHL.

The league has certainly had its share of franchise moves and name changes. After losing a few of the original franchises, the league was relatively stable throughout the 1970's as a 10-team loop.

In 1984, the league added its only ever American based team, the Plattsburgh Pioneers. The Pioneers tried to compete with mostly local talent. Competitive they were not. They played about 3 month without winning a game and folded. The league wiped out any record of their existence. Not only were future games wiped out but so were the past wins against them. The original Quebec Remparts also folded at the end of the season.

The league expanded again into Longueuil in 1988 and grew to 12 teams once again in 1990 when the Beauport Harfangs joined the league. Val d'Or followed in 1993 to make it a 13-team loop.

In the 1990's, the league expanded beyond the Quebec borders once again. This time into Atlantic Canada when it added the Halifax Mooseheads and Moncton Alpines (later Wildcats). The league continues to steadily expand with the addition of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and a new entry from Montreal. The Montreal Rockets are named after arguably the greatest French Canadian hockey player in history, Maurice 'Rocket' Richard.