History & Records section - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League

The franchise has changed address 3 times in 42 seasons.

There were the Ducs, the Draveurs, the Faucons, the Castors, the MAINEiacs

After eight seasons in Lewiston, USA, at the end of the 2010-11 season, the MAINEiacs surrendered their operating rights to the QMJHL authorities, against all odds. It was therefore the end of one of the 5 original franchises that had seen the very first days of the League's history.

The franchise was born in 1969 in Trois-Rivières. At that time, the team was called the Ducs.

Among the club's first big stars, we can name Jacques Royer, Richard Leduc and Luc Simard.

The franchise then changed its name to the "Draveurs", before the start of the 1973-74 season.

Richard Leduc in the Ducs uniform: 151 points and 253 penalty minutes during the 1969-70 season.

Luc Simard (Trois-Rivières | 1969-70 | 174 points in 56 games) - he overtook Guy Lafleur (Quebec) as the QMJHL's leading scorer.

The unforgettable big season of the Trois-Rivières Draveurs, 58 victories and 122 points!

Trois-Rivières Draveurs (1978-79) - champions across the board, with 58 wins, matching the mark set by Sorel in 1973-74. Their 122 points still remain a QMJHL record in 2024-25.

Pierre Lacroix (1978=>1982) - He holds the record for a defenseman of 263 lifetime points with the Draveurs)

Michel Bergeron behind the bench as head coach of this champion team, both in season and in the playoffs.

It should be noted that from 1978 to 1982, the Draveurs participated in the final 4 times, and won the President Cup on 2 occasions, in 1978 and 1979.

The fruitful reign of Michel Bergeron

With head coach Michel Bergeron behind the bench from 1974-75 to 1979-80, the Draveurs won two regular season championships and two President Cups (1977-78 and 1978-79). Bergeron then had a great career in the National League, with the Quebec Nordiques and the New York Rangers.

As for the Draveurs, after the Bergeron era, we would return to the League final, but the players would never again raise the Cup in their arms... before leaving for Sherbrooke. You read that right, the franchise would be sold and transferred to Sherbrooke, just after reaching the League final one last time. The Draveurs therefore died at the end of the 1991-92 season, after having lowered their flag to the champions, the Verdun Collège Français.

1992 - Action sequence during the Draveurs' last appearance in the QMJHL final, this time against the Verdun Collège Français.

Pierre Sévigny - He is the defenseman who has amassed the most points in the QMJHL playoffs. His 82 points in the playoffs, no other defenseman has been able to equal or surpass this feat in 56 seasons of QMJHL history.

DID YOU KNOW?

Pierre Sévigny also still holds numerous records for a defenseman of this franchise...

His two most brilliant springs, total of 33 points in 1981, and 40 in 1982 for the rear of the Trois-Rivières Draveurs. It was in fact the league record that stood for 15 years.

Yanic Perreault - in 1990-91, he had a terrific season. No less than 185 points in 1st place in the QMJHL scorers, he would score 87 goals, just 3 behind the franchise record holder Luc Simard (90 | 1969-70).

Trois-Rivières Franchise-1969

Most points by a player, lifetime


Pos	Player	Team	Season	Record
1	Claude Verret	Trois-Rivières	1980>>1983	462
2	Yanic Perreault	Trois-Rivières	1988>>1991	407
3	Jean-François Sauvé	Trois-Rivières	1978>>1980	368
4	Alain Daigle	Trois-Rivières-Trois-Rivières	1969>>1974	353
5	Claude Gagnon	Trois-Rivières	1983>>1986	340
6	Steve Larouche	Trois-Rivières	1987>>1990	338
7	Christian Dubé	Sherbrooke	1993>>1996	317
8	Richard David	Trois-Rivières	1975>>1978	307
9	Yves Richer	Trois-Rivières	1973>>1977	303
9	Michel Picard	Trois-Rivières	1986>>1989	303
11	Mario Rouillard	Trois-Rivières-Trois-Rivières	1971>>1975	300

Source: QMJHL History and Records

Jocelyn Thibault (1992-93 | Goaltender | 2.99 Avg. | .901 Save %) - After leading the Sherbrooke Faucons to the QMJHL final against Laval, he was selected in the 1st round of the NHL Draft by the Quebec Nordiques.

The Faucons

Newly installed at the Palais des Sports in Sherbrooke, the team changes its name; the “Faucons” take flight.

In their first season in 1992-93, head coach Guy Chouinard's team won the regular season championship before losing in the final to the Laval Titan.

At the start of the 1998-99 season, the "Faucons" became the "Castors", a team name synonymous with success in Estrie.

A few years later, the club's owner, Mark Just, requested that the franchise be transferred to American soil, which was granted in 2003, after having played eleven years in Sherbrooke.

MAINEiacs beat Foreurs in final

Then, the 2006-07 season was one to dream of. Successively, the team led by Clément Jodoin won the regular season championship and the playoffs.

The Lewiston MAINEiacs are champions, thanks to extraordinary performances by Marc-André Cliche and David Perron, defenseman Chad Denny and his star goalie Jonathan Bernier.

Representing the QMJHL at the 2007 Memorial Cup tournament, the MAINEiacs could only manage one win in 4 games, leaving the way open to the Vancouver Giants, the host club that would finally win the famous trophy on May 27th 2007.

...

After 8 seasons in Lewiston, at the end of the 2010-11 season, the team will be bought by the League, and will cease its activities. The QMJHL will therefore only have 17 teams for the 2011-12 season, but this is temporary because the Sherbrooke Phoenix will join the ranks of the Courteau circuit for the 2012-13 season. Ironically, let's remember that the Sherbrooke Castors were transferred to Lewiston in 2003-04...

The greatest names in the history of this franchise: Richard Leduc, Michel Bergeron, Pierre Lacroix, Jacques Cloutier, Jean-François Sauvé, Claude Verret, Pierre Sévigny, Yanic Perreault, Stéphane Julien, Jocelyn Thibault, Mathieu Dandenault, Jonathan Bernier, Clément Jodoin.

The Lewiston MAINEiacs (2007) - For the 1st and only time in the history of the QMJHL, the President Cup will parade in the United States.

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