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In Shawinigan, a city of traditions... The Bruins, the Dynamos and the Cataractes will leave no one indifferent.
The only QMJHL franchise to have remained in the same city since the beginning of what was called the Quebec Junior A Hockey League at the time in 1969, Shawinigan has had its share of successes and disappointments.
In their second season in 1970-71, the Shawinigan Bruins reached the final. But as would happen too often thereafter, the Bruins hit a wall, losing in 5 games to the Quebec Remparts, eventual Memorial Cup champions a few days later.
In 1973-74, the team's name was changed to "Dynamos". Difficult times would follow one after the other at the Auditorium municipal de Shawinigan, the team being excluded from the playoffs four years in a row (1975 to 1978).
It was in 1978-79 that the name CATARACTES arrived. And it was in the middle of a time when the rivalry with the Draveurs de Trois-Rivières was at its best. Among the oldest among us, who does not remember the duels where Ron Racette and Michel Bergeron, the two coaches, insulted each other from one side of the ice to the other. The penalty boxes overflowed during some of these rough and memorable games, to the great pleasure of fans of both teams!
After a 10-year drought during which Shawinigan failed to win a single playoff round, the Cataractes returned to victory in the spring of 1983. In fact, during the quarter-final round against St-Jean, they eliminated the Castors in only four games.
In 1984-85, Shawinigan won the regular season championship for the first time in its existence.
Then in 1985, the Cataractes hosted the Memorial Cup tournament. Shawinigan will lose in the final, suffering a defeat against the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western League, while this contest was played in Drummondville, for the special needs relating to the telecast of this game.
In November 1969, Drummondville Rangers goalie Daniel Sharp could not resist a shot from Bruins number 8 Mike Morton. Morton would amass 147 points in 56 games, which would give him 5th place among the best scorers in the new Quebec league.
In 1969... 11 teams resulting from the merger of the Provincial and Metropolitan leagues will form the QJAHL. This league offered a better caliber with the mix of these teams: Shawinigan, Drummondville, Quebec, Sorel, Trois-Rivières, Cornwall, Laval, Rosemont, Sherbrooke, St-Jérôme and Verdun.
In the Dynamos uniform, the failures and defeats added up from 1973-74 to 1977-78. Fortunately, goalie Yves Guillemette limited the damage on certain evenings! || During the game of February 19th 1976 against Cornwall in a 12-1 loss, the star goalie made 77 saves, receiving 89 shots; two QMJHL records!
A duo that accumulates 1175 points in 4 seasons!
Patrice Lefebvre and Stéphan Lebeau, from 1984 to 1988, were exciting and impressive offensively
In the mid-1980s, two extraordinary offensive accomplices were making waves across the province of Quebec, and they were two Cataractes players: Patrice Lefebvre and Stéphan Lebeau.
Lefebvre is the leading scorer in QMJHL history with 595 points, including 408 assists. As for Lebeau, he made the red light shine 280 times, ranking him second in QMJHL history behind Michel Bossy's fabulous tally of 309 goals (in the 1970s with Laval).
Patrice Lefebvre (Shawinigan | 1987-88) - he will be the very last player to have amassed 200 points in a single season in the QMJHL.
Stéphan Lebeau was only the second player in the QMJHL history to score eight goals in a single game, on December 22, 1986, in a 20-5 win against Verdun.
In the playoffs, Patrice Lefebvre and Stéphan Lebeau both collected 70 points; this is another record for the Shawinigan franchise.
However, on a collective level during the club's offensive era, the Cataractes could do no better than reach the semi-final round on 3 occasions. For the very first and long-awaited President Cup, fans will have to be patient for a few more... decades. Let's remember that in the 1984-85 regular season, Shawinigan had a lot of hope in its team because it had just won the Jean-Rougeau Trophy with a harvest of 48 victories. In addition, it hosted the Memorial Cup tournament. In the playoffs, the Verdun Junior quickly eliminated them. Then, the Memorial Cup tournament could not be held in full at the Shawinigan Auditorium, being transferred to the Marcel-Dionne Centre in Drummondville for television needs. It would seem that the lighting was inadequate for the broadcast of the games in Shawinigan...
The Denis Francoeur era is approaching
Nine consecutive winning seasons
The 1993-94 season marked a turning point for the organization. The Cataractes delivered the first of nine consecutive winning seasons, while at the same time the future team captain, Stéphane Robidas, arrived. In 4 seasons with the Cataractes, this future member of the QMJHL Hall of Fame would amass 245 lifetime points in the regular season, which still stands as a team record for a defenseman of the franchise.
Head coach Denis Francoeur, who took charge behind the team's bench in 1996-97, was one of the greatest builders the organization has ever known. His 656 games behind the Cataractes bench are a record for longevity in the QMJHL. His winning percentage is also exceptional (.591).
In 2000-01, the Cataractes set two new team records, 54 wins and 116 points, which was enough to win the regular season title. During this campaign, defenseman Marc-André Bergeron set a QMJHL new record for defensemen by scoring 42 goals.
During the 2008-09 season, the City of Shawinigan inaugurated a brand new 4,125-seat arena, the Centre Bionest, since renamed the Centre Gervais Auto. Since December 27, 2008, the Cataractes have made it their home, leaving behind the Jacques-Plante Arena, a building that dated back to 1937.
At the age of 20, Marc-André Bergeron made QMJHL history with 42 goals as a defenseman in one season, surpassing the feat of 41 goals scored by Derrick Walser of the Rimouski Oceanic, 3 years earlier, during the 1997-98 campaign.
Stéphane Robidas - a lifetime record of 245 points for a Cataractes defenseman.
Mathieu Chouinard (1998-99) - one of 7 goalies in QMJHL history to have won the Michel-Brière Trophy as the QMJHL Most Valuable Player.
The 2008-09 season seemed to be the right one...
The closest final series in QMJHL history, according to experts, was played in the spring of 2009 between Shawinigan and Drummondville.
A 7-game series where Guy Boucher's Voltigeurs managed to win 4 games, Eric Veilleux's Cataractes only won 3... Drummondville scored 24 goals, and Shawinigan scored 20...
The Voltigeurs had taken a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series, but the Cataractes scored in overtime in game #6 to force a 7th game in Drummondville...
In front of their fans, the Voltigeurs won the series with a 3-2 win in the final game. Another blow had just fallen on the heads of Shawinigan's leaders and loyal fans. Three years later, not without difficulty, the Cataractes would win the Memorial Cup in front of a sold-out home crowd.
2012 - As the host club of the Memorial Cup tournament, the Cataractes win the final against London, thanks to Anton Zlobin's goal in overtime (London 1 vs. Shawinigan 2). There is euphoria at the Centre Bionest because it is a first Cup for the franchise since their entry into the QMJHL, 43 years ago! Captain Michaël Bournival expresses all his joy and pride by lifting the Memorial Cup.
We head towards Saint-Tite on the site of the Grandes Estrades used for the annual rodeo...
The very first "Winter Classic" in the history of the QMJHL, January 23 & 24, 2015
Goalkeeper Marvin Cüpper in action against the Quebec Remparts.
Winter Classic - snowflakes in the 3rd period, during the very first outdoor game played between the Victoriaville Tigres and the Cataractes, on Friday January 23, 2015.
Anthony Beauvillier, well dressed with his headgear under his protective helmet!
After multiple constraints imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic
FINALLY, here is the very first President Cup
In the spring of 2016, the Cataractes participated in the QMJHL Grand Final, but lost in 5 games to the powerful Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. This was the last humiliation for the Shawinigan team.
In the 2022 playoffs, the hockey gods led the Cataractes to extraordinary opportunism. Quite simply invincible in overtime with 7 consecutive victories - a new QMJHL record -, the Shawinigan Cataractes won the President Cup for the very first time in their 53rd season in the QMJHL.
Captain Mavrik Bourque earned the Guy-Lafleur Trophy as the playoffs' "Most Valuable Player", with 25 points in 16 games. Pierrick Dubé and Xavier Bourgault each scored 12 goals, most of them in key moments of a game, either on a power play, late in the game to tie the score, or to help the team win in overtime. Bourgault alone scored 3 times in overtime, a new record in a single playoff year for a QMJHL player. Not to mention the performances of goaltender Antoine Coulombe, whose confidence and consistency reassured his teammates who were sometimes dominated in terms of shots on goal, mainly in the early stages of the final.
At the 2022 Memorial Cup tournament held in Saint John (NB) late in June, the Cataractes put up quite a showdown with all their opponents, with a record of 2 wins and 2 losses. In the semi-final, the "Cats" suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 overtime loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs; small consolation, on the individual level, Mavrik Bourque (7 points in 4 games) earned himself a place on the all-star team of the final end-of-season competition of the Canadian League, while the host club, the Sea Dogs, offered the Memorial Cup to their fans.
Samuel Girard (2015-16 | 74 points in 67 games, Plus-Minus differential of +21) - at just 17 years old, he inherited the title of defenseman of the year in the QMJHL.
Mavrik Bourque won the Guy-Lafleur Trophy at the end of the 2022 QMJHL playoffs. || On February 17, 2020, 17-year-old forward Mavrik Bourque scored a point on each goal in the Cataractes' 7-4 victory in Halifax, tying the franchise record of 7 points for a game played "on the road".
In the footsteps of Gabriel Lemieux and Stéphane Robidas
Jordan Tourigny: the next record holder? It's very possible!
The 2025-26 season's captain, Jordan Tourigny, will aim for the record number of games played by a defenseman in franchise history. He has been playing for Shawinigan since the 2021-22 season. The record will be achievable for the Victoriaville-born defenseman starting in March 2026.
The greatest names in the history of this franchise:
Claude Dolbec, Ron Lapointe, Stephan Lebeau, Patrice Lefebvre, Stéphane Robidas, Marc-André Bergeron, Jason Pominville, Denis Francoeur, Cédric Lalonde-McNicoll, Michaël Bournival, Anthony Beauvillier, Samuel Girard, Mavrik Bourque, Martin Mondou...
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