Legendary players who, among themselves, beat opposing goaltenders 913 times during their years in our major junior league.
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We dedicate this HISTORY & RECORDS section to
the memory of
Guy Lafleur and Mike Bossy,
both deceased
in April 2022.
Watch this video commemorating the first 50 seasons of the QMJHL, a tribute to the great players and the great champion teams.
11 teams, coming from a mix of Provincial and Metropolitain Leagues…
Drummondville, Québec, Shawinigan, Sorel, Trois-Rivières
Cornwall, Laval, Rosemont, Sherbrooke, St-Jérôme and Verdun.
He was the very first inductee into the QMJHL Hall of Fame on August 31, 1995. He received his plaque from the hands of the president at the time, Gilles Courteau.
February 5th, 1971 - Records : 12 points in one game by André Savard of the Remparts; Guy Lafleur scores 7 goals!
During the first 7 seasons of the League, the Québec Remparts won :
The #4 Remparts will take his famous "SLAP SHOT", a kind of shot that terrorized a lot of goaltenders in the juniors, and also in the NHL...
The Chicoutimi Saguenéens and the Hull Festivals will follow in 1973-74.
200 points each for members of the 1st line of the Sorel Eperviers.
The Sorel Eperviers set a QMJHL record with a streak of 27 consecutive games without losing, stretching from mid-November 1973 to the end of January 1974.
He had a brilliant professional career in Switzerland, with 5 prestigious franchises: HC Fribourg-Gottéron (1980-86), HC Martigny (1986-92), Lausanne HC (1992-97), HC Sierre-Anniviers (1997-98) and Geneva-Servette HC (1998-99).
Michel “Mike/Michael” Bossy still ranks 1st in QMJHL regular season scoring history. In 1976-77, just before beginning his prolific professional career with the New York Islanders, Bossy dislodged Jacques Jr. Locas, who had held the record since 1973-74 with 269 goals. SEE THE RECORD!
In the uniform of the Laval National...
Patrick Émond will succeed Dupont with 576 points.
Rank | Name | Number of times
1. Mario Lemieux ... (6 times)
2. Guy Lafleur & Michel Déziel ... (5 times)
4. Sylvain Locas ... (4 times)
5. Pierre Larouche, Jean Savard, Jean-François Sauvé, Guy Carbonneau, Normand Aubin, Pat LaFontaine & Stéphan Lebeau ... (3 times)
Marcel Vaillancourt | Phil Desgagnés | Luc Lachapelle | Richard Trottier | Normand Caisse
Spectacular Denis Savard, 1338 points in the NHL, 28th rank in the League history | He won the Stanley Cup in the Montreal Canadiens jersey in 1993.
Pierre Lacroix (1978-79 | Trois-Rivières) - his 137 points as a defenseman gave him a league record in a season that no other defenseman has been able to repeat over the years.
RAYMOND BOURQUE
He was a dominant QMJHL defenseman for 3 seasons. After being selected 8th overall in the 1979 draft, he immediately joined the regular lineup of the Boston Bruins. In an almost Hollywood scenario, he would finish his career in Colorado with the Avalanche, with the Stanley Cup in his arms in the spring of 2001...
QMJHL
Total of 197 lifetime points with the Eperviers, best scorer in the history of defensemen of the franchise that played in both Sorel and Verdun, from 1977 to 1979!
NHL
After a historic 58-win season in 1978-79, goaltender Jacques Cloutier continued to rack up the wins in net for the Trois-Rivières Draveurs. He completed his major junior career with 142 wins, a lifetime record that still stands 45 years later.
The 1983-84 season was without a doubt one of the most publicized in the history of the QMJHL. A unique athlete dominates, he is only 18 years old, his extraordinary talent combined with his impressive size of 6 feet 3 inches and 200 pounds, make all the organizations of the National League salivate. Mario Lemieux will become the 1st overall NHL Draft pick in 1984, and it is the Pittsburgh Penguins who will obtain this "MAGNIFICENT" gem. SEE ONE OF HIS MANY RECORDS: 133 goals! Or simply, see the next list, including the 61 games in a row, with at least one point.
Patrick Emond becomes the greatest passer of all time! Patrice Lefebvre of the Shawinigan Cataractes, at the end of his junior internship in 1988, will have amassed 408 assists; he is still the only one in 56 seasons to have broken the 400 assists barrier.
On February 13th, 1986, Gilles Courteau became the 10th president of the QMJHL. After 37 seasons at the helm of the League, he was inducted into the QMJHL Hall of Fame in September 2024.
Guy Lafleur | Dale Hawerchuk | Mario Lemieux | Pierre Turgeon | Alexandre Daigle | Vincent Lecavalier | Marc-André Fleury | Sidney Crosby | Nathan MacKinnon | Nico Hischier | Alexis Lafrenière
Patrice Lefebvre (595 points) and Stéphan Lebeau (580 points). They both played all their games in the Shawinigan Cataractes uniform, from 1984 to 1988.
Most goals by a rookie in a season in the QMJHL
| Pos | Player | Team | Season | Record |
| 1 | Pat LaFontaine | Verdun | 82-83 | 104 |
| 2 | Ladislav Nagy | Halifax | 98-99 | 71 |
| 3 | Michel Bossy | Laval | 73-74 | 70 |
| 4 | Reginald Savage | Victoriaville | 87-88 | 68 |
| 5 | Jean-François Sauvé | Trois-Rivières | 78-79 | 65 |
| 6 | Martin Gélinas | Hull | 87-88 | 63 |
| 7 | Jacques Richard | Québec | 69-70 | 62 |
| 8 | Jacques Cossette | Sorel | 72-73 | 61 |
| 9 | Daniel Rioux | Québec | 79-80 | 57 |
| 10 | Daniel Lecours | Chicoutimi-Québec | 73-74 | 55 |
| 10 | Normand Dupont | Montréal | 73-74 | 55 |
| 12 | Sidney Crosby | Rimouski | 03-04 | 54 |
| 13 | Pierre Larouche | Québec-Sorel | 72-73 | 53 |
| Louis Sleigher | Chicoutimi | 76-77 | 53 | |
| Yanic Perreault | Trois-Rivières | 88-89 | 53 |
Martin Brodeur, St-Hyacinthe Laser goalie, 1st round pick of the Devils (NHL)
NHL records, as a goalie, at the time of his retirement:
In 1990-91, Chicoutimi Saguenéens goaltender Félix Potvin had the best season ever for a goaltender, with a goals-against average of 2.70. Obviously, this mark was improved over the years, but for his time, Potvin was probably the best goaltender in the League.
EVOLUTION OF THE RECORD AT THE END OF EACH DECADE
BEST AVERAGE GOALS ALLOWED BY A GOALKEEPER
1. 1970/80... Richard Brodeur (2.91 | Cornwall | 1971-72)
2. 1990... Patrick Couture (2.09 | Val-d'Or/Québec | 1997-98)
3. 2000/10... Nicola Riopel (2.01 | Moncton | 2008-09)
4. 2020... Colten Ellis (1.78 | Charlottetown | 2020-21)
It was at the end of a long 7-game final series that the Collège Français got the better of the Trois-Rivières Draveurs.
The Titan's home was nicknamed the "HOUSE OF PAIN". The opponent never had it easy during this period at the good old Colisée de Laval.
In the early 1990s, Alexandre Daigle quickly became one of the great superstars in QMJHL history. Highly charismatic, he will be remembered as the most publicized player since Guy Lafleur and Mario Lemieux.
Unsurprisingly, the extremely fast skater with agile hands was selected 1st in the 1991 QMJHL draft. At 16, he was electrifying in Victoriaville, and led several offensive categories in the QMJHL, with 110 points including 42 on the power play: he was chosen as the Canadian League's rookie of the year.
In 1992-93, his average of 2.6 points per game was the best in the entire QMJHL. With a harvest of 137 points in 53 regular season games, he fed Claude Savoie like no other, and this teammate scored 70 goals, a record for the Tigres. The title of "Top Professional Prospect" attached to the Michael Bossy Trophy is awarded to Alexandre Daigle.
In 1993, the latter was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the very first place of the National League draft. In his very first season as a rookie, he made a successful entrance by participating in a quarter of the 201 goals of the young expansion franchise, with 51 points including 20 goals, finishing in 2nd place in his club's scorers.
In 1994-95, with the NHL in a lockout, he made a remarkable return to the QMJHL, and filled the arenas again. He would add to his impressive statistics even more, completing his junior internship with 292 points in 143 games (including the playoffs). In addition, he would be an asset for Canada at the World Junior Championship in 1995, and he would return with his 2nd gold medal, since he had also celebrated in 1993 with the unifoliate uniform on his back.
WATCH OUR VIDEO ARCHIVES - SEE BELOW...
Relive the 5th game of the 1996 final... An exciting game won by the "PREDS" by a score of 4-3 against the Beauport Harfangs.... Celebrations at the Léonard-Grondin Centre, the local arena in Granby, in front of more than 3,800 excited fans for this 1st Cup of their favorites... Jason Doig, the most valuable player of the QMJHL playoffs, lifted by his teammates, a few teeth missing...
" Quebec, we are here! Quebec, we are HERE!!!" That's how the general director and co-owner, Jean-Claude Morrissette, exclaimed in an interview, at the end of the final game won against the Peterborough Petes by a score of 4-0. Without knowing it, the Granby organization was launching a victorious era for the teams of the Courteau league.
THE RIMOUSKI OCÉANIC
1999-2000 | 2004-2005 | 2014-2015
2000 | 2005 | 2015
2000
Previously in 1981-82, it was Pierre Sévigny of the Draveurs de Trois-Rivières who established the 2 reference marks of 14 goals and 40 points, eclipsed by Frédéric Bouchard 15 years later.
Val-d'Or will win the President Cup three times (1998 | 2001 | 2014).
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The skate is effectively illustrated with the letters forming the French acronym of the "Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec": L-H-J-M-Q. A refresh that fits well with the celebrations of the League's 30th anniversary!
. . .
Below, a short video illustrating the evolution of the QMJHL logo over the years.
Remparts' STATISTICS in 1998-99:
Team Record | Players and Goaltenders | Game by Game
. . .
QMJHL RECORD
| RANK | TEAM | SEASON | FROM | TO | GAMES |
| 1 | Rimouski, Océanic | 2004-05 | 2005-01-07 | 2005-03-20 | 28 |
| 2 | Sorel, Éperviers | 1973-74 | 1973-11-19 | 1974-01-27 | 27 |
| 2 | Québec, Remparts | 1998-99 | 1998-09-27 | 1998-12-06 | 27 |
| 4 | Rouyn-Noranda, Huskies | 2018-19 | 2019-01-03 | 2019-03-06 | 25 |
| 5 | Hull, Olympiques | 1995-96 | 1995-11-22 | 1996-01-26 | 24 |
Source: QMJHL, Records Section
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The on-ice officials for the game were Luc Miville as referee, and his linesmen were Michel Jr. Cormier and Serge Parent. | A crowd of 2,566 spectators attended this game. Some fans had to justify their late return home, according to well-informed sources!
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TOP 100 | QMJHL | League Record | Lifetime | Playoffs
| 1 | Victoriaville / Hull | 98-99 | 1999-03-19 | 146:31 |
| 2 | Baie-Comeau / Cape Breton | 24-25 | 2025-04-04 | 141:42 |
| 3 | Cape Breton / Québec | 08-09 | 2009-04-03 | 132:57 |
| 4 | Chicoutimi / Rimouski | 18-19 | 2019-03-23 | 129:15 |
| 5 | Acadie-Bathurst / Halifax | 21-22 | 2022-05-11 | 116:14 |
| 6 | Cape Breton / Drummondville | 17-18 | 2018-03-24 | 114:26 |
| 7 | Val-d`Or / Blainville-Boisbriand | 15-16 | 2016-04-03 | 112:26 |
| 8 | Acadie-Bathurst / Baie-Comeau | 00-01 | 2001-04-21 | 106:37 |
| 9 | Hull / Longueuil | 89-90 | 1990-03-26 | 103:50 |
| 10 | Halifax / Cape Breton | 07-08 | 2008-04-08 | 103:02 |
| 11 | Victoriaville / Drummondville | 87-88 | 1988-03-20 | 103:00 |
| 12 | Val-d`Or / P.E.I. | 12-13 | 2013-04-01 | 101:03 |
| 13 | Hull / Val-d`Or | 95-96 | 1996-04-11 | 100:45 |
| 14 | Rouyn-Noranda / Halifax | 16-17 | 2017-03-31 | 100:26 |
| 15 | Saint John / Gatineau | 10-11 | 2011-05-11 | 99:16 |
Following the team's transfer to Acadia in New Brunswick, moving from Laval to Bathurst, the Titan became conquerors again. Luongo, Benoit, Bouchard, Abid, Beauchemin, Girard, Groulx and company allowed the Titan to win the President Cup, against the Hull Olympiques in an hard and interminable series of 7 games.
"The team of an entire region" will please its many supporters from Bas St-Laurent and Gaspésie, by presenting them with the Memorial Cup! The Oceanic wins the top Canadian honours!
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 by Derrick Walser of the Rimouski Océanic, 3 years earlier, during the 1997-98 campaign.
Never drafted, the quality of his slap shot was one of his assets for a future career in the NHL, where he would score 89 goals in 547 games!
In over 55 years of history, the QMJHL has only seen 5 defensemen reach the 300-point mark in a regular season. Robert Picard (313 points | 1977) was the first, while the last was Danny Groulx (332 | 2002). Pierre Sévigny (318 points | 1982), Billy Campbell (321 | 1984) and Jean-Marc Richard (301 | 1987) are also members of this select club.
Eric Bétournay also holds the record for most regular season games played in the QMJHL, with 352.
In May 2003, it was at the Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City that a new attendance record was set for the presentation of the Memorial Cup tournament, when 84,675 spectators passed through the turnstiles at the entrance to the Colisée to watch the games played by the teams from Quebec City, Hull, Kelowna and Kitchener. In fact, an average of 10,584 fans were present per game. Quebec City, a hockey city!
On the ice, the Remparts lost their 3 games as host team. But the Hull Olympiques, our President Cup champions, made it to the finals of the competition, losing to the Kitchener Rangers by a score of 6-3 in the deciding game.
A longevity that spanned five decades in the QMJHL or with one of its teams, for this great, respected leader with a strong character. Let's remember that it all started for him with the Hull Olympiques as a scout in 1982. He officially retired from hockey at the end of the 2023-24 season, after 42 seasons. Gilles Courteau, the one who hired him in the QMJHL, worked 47 years in the QMJHL.
2 QMJHL scoring championship titles for Sidney Crosby
JEAN-BELIVEAU TROPHY
Unsurprisingly, the team led by Doris Labonté will be the QMJHL representative at the Memorial Cup tournament, but will lose 4-0 in the decisive game against the powerful London Knights (OHL).
Two new franchises are awarded. Saint John (New Brunswick) and St. John's (Newfoundland) will respectively host the Sea Dogs and the Fog Devils.
The QMJHL waited 36 years before one of its goaltenders was credited with a goal, the very first being Antoine Lafleur of the PEI Rocket. François Brassard, with Cape Breton and then Gatineau during the same 2014-15 campaign, scored twice during his major junior training internship.
In 2006, it was the first time that two QMJHL clubs faced each other in the Memorial Cup final
(Québec 6 vs Moncton 2)...
For the first and only time in history, the President Cup will parade in the United States. The Lewiston MAINEiacs are champions, thanks to extraordinary performances by Marc-André Cliche and David Perron, defenseman Chad Denny and star goaltender Jonathan Bernier.
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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 have only 17 teams for the 2011-12 season, but this is temporary because the Sherbrooke Phoenix will join the ranks of the Courteau league for the 2012-13 season. Ironically, let's remember that the Sherbrooke Castors had been transferred to Lewiston in 2003-04...
For head coach Benoit Groulx, this is a third President Cup, a feat that no other head coach in the League has achieved to date.
The closest final series in the history of the QMJHL, according to the experts.
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...
The QMJHL record for regular season wins...
And later...
New record now held by the Huskies...
The Shawinigan Cataractes, as host club, won the Memorial Cup tournament. The final went to overtime, and it was Anton Zlobin who scored the winning goal against the London Knights on May 27th 2012 at the Bionest Centre.
He is ranked 2nd in history behind Jacques Jr Locas (153).
Most points by a player, in career, in PLAYOFFS
| Pos | Player | Team | Season | Record |
| 1 | Jacques Jr Locas | St-Jérôme-Québec | 1970>>1974 | 153 |
| 2 | Jonathan Drouin | Halifax | 2012>>2014 | 102 |
| 3 | Mario Lemieux | Laval | 1982>>1984 | 98 |
| 4 | Jacques Richard | Québec | 1970>>1972 | 97 |
| 5 | Claude Verret | Trois-Rivières | 1981>>1983 | 94 |
| 6 | André Savard | Québec | 1970>>1973 | 90 |
| Gerard Gallant | Sherbrooke-Verdun | 1981>>1983 | 90 | |
| Martin Lapointe | Laval | 1990>>1993 | 90 | |
| Brad Richards | Rimouski | 1998>>2000 | 90 | |
| Yannick Riendeau | Rouyn-Noranda-Drummondville | 2005>>2009 | 90 |
In total, 26 franchises have played in the QMJHL since 1969. See the history, statistics and records of each of them!
The Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in 7 games in the League final. Mantha scored 24 goals in post-season games, and allowed himself the winning goal in the decisive game of the series. In total, his performance was 6 goals and 7 assists in the grand final against the Drakkar!
Don't forget, however, that goaltender Antoine Bibeau was also sensational with the Foreurs, and he was named the most valuable player of the 2014 Playoffs.
For a 2nd season in a row, in 2013-14, Jérémy Grégoire of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar was awarded the MARCEL-ROBERT TROPHY for his exceptional academic performance.
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Annually, the QMJHL awards scholarships to approximately 250 of its former players. See the progression in terms of amounts of money awarded annually over the past ten years.
It was goaltender
Champions in 2011, 2012, 2017...
The Acadie-Bathurst Titan took top honours, winning 3-0 against the Regina Pats in the 2018 grand final.
After weeks of work by an independent committee, the unveiling of the 50 best players of all time in the history of the QMJHL left no one indifferent. It was in Quebec City during the Golden Puck Gala evening, on April 3rd 2019, that the players selected on the "TOP 10" were presented.
After the Jean-Rougeau Trophy (regular season champions) and the President Cup (playoff champions), it was with the Memorial Cup in their arms that the members of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies organization completed their memorable 2018-19 season as champions of the Canadian Hockey League.
It was during the 2019 end-of-season playoffs that this Gatineau resident completed his long career. Season and playoffs included, Eric Charron's total of 1,473 games is threatened by Nicolas Dutil; the latter in 2025, has no less than 1,462 games on his record as an on-ice official.
The playoffs had to be cancelled; the President Cup could not be awarded after the final game, a first in 51 seasons…
The Rimouski Oceanic left winger also won the QMJHL scoring championship and the Jean Béliveau Trophy in 2019-20 with a harvest of 112 points. In 3 seasons in the QMJHL: 297 points in 173 games. Not to mention that his Plus-Minus differential of +128, places him in 3rd place in history, just behind Jonathan Huberdeau (+139) and Sean Couturier (+141), but ahead of a certain Sidney Crosby (+127)...
All games of the semi-final and final series were presented in the protected environment of the Centre Videotron in Quebec City, due to the imposed "social distancing"; approximately 2,000 spectators per game – the limit allowed by the government – were able to take their seats to watch the last 5 games of the final.
The evolution of the record for the best lifetime goals against average for a goaltender... There have been 10 changes in leaderboard from 1970 to 2024 - from William "Billy" Smith and his goals against average of 4.47, to Colten Ellis' current record of 2.31...
1 - William Smith | Cornwall 1969>>1970 | 4.47
2 - Michel Deguise | Sorel 1969>>1971 | 3.94
3 - Richard Brodeur | Cornwall, Verdun 1970>>1972 | 3.72
4 - Tim Bernhardt | Cornwall 1975>>1978 | 3.64
5 - Robert Desjardins | Shawinigan, Hull, Longueuil, Victoriaville 1984>>1988 | 3.35
6 - Jocelyn Thibault | Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke 1991>>1995 | 3.01
7 - Martin Biron | Beauport, Hull 1994>>1997 | 2.81
8 - Patrick Couture | Beauport, Val-d`Or, Québec, Rouyn-Noranda 1995>>1998 | 2.60
9 - Ondrej Pavelec | Cape Breton 2005>>2007 | 2.52
10 - Colten Ellis | Cape Breton, Rimouski, Charlottetown 2016>>2021 | 2.31
Then, at the Memorial Cup tournament hosted in Saint John by the Sea Dogs, the host team, it was a return to the stakes of the precious trophy; in 2020 and 2021, the tournament had been cancelled due to Covid-19. In the grand final, the Saint John Sea Dogs defeated the representatives of the Ontario League (Hamilton) to give a 3rd consecutive Memorial Cup victory to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In fact, in the last 10 editions of the competition, representatives of the QMJHL have won the Memorial Cup on 6 occasions, which is a credit to our major junior teams based in Quebec and the Maritimes.
Mario Cecchini, a few weeks before Mr. Courteau's resignation, had been hired by the QMJHL Members' Assembly to take on the role of commissioner in the spring of 2023.
The Remparts won all the team championships in 2023: Jean-Rougeau Trophy, the Gilles-Courteau Trophy, the Memorial Cup: the TRIPLE CROWN!
For the head coach Patrick Roy, that is the end of his numerous years in the QMJHL.
Here’s a brief overview, by the numbers, of the 57-year-old’s brilliant career:
At a meeting held in Pointe-Claire (QC), on December 14th, 2023, the QMJHL Members’ Assembly adopted a resolution to change the league’s name and unveil an English-language logo. From now on, the League will be known as the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The French-language logo remains unchanged.
From 1974-75 to 2020-21, no fewer than 7 goalies managed to shut out opposing teams on 7 occasions in a single season. William Rousseau of the Huskies rose above the fray in 2023-24, with a total of 8 shutouts, writing a new page in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League record book.
It was during the 2024 end-of-season playoffs that Sylvain Losier managed to overtake Serge Carpentier for the number of games as linesman during his career in the QMJHL, season and playoffs included.
On December 20, 2024, in the middle of the regular season, Marc Guignard and Serge Thériault, two of the Titan's 11 shareholders, had some very bad news to share with their fans. After a year of searching for new owners, accompanied by league commissioner Mario Cecchini, they confirmed that the Acadie-Bathurst Titan team had been sold to a trio of investors from Newfoundland and Labrador: John Harvey Patten, John R. Steele, and Jason Sharpe.
The team's long 27-season tenure in Bathurst will be remembered. They've experienced some tough times, but also some memorable, historic moments:
* 1 Memorial Cup (2018)
* 2 President Cups (1999 & 2018)
* 1 regular season championship (2001-02)
* 4 appearances in the League Finals (1999, 2001, 2002 & 2018)
* A game where QMJHL records were tied by the Titan, with Mathieu Benoit scoring 8 goals while defenseman François Beauchemin recorded 8 assists (1999-11-14)...
Some highlights from 2024-25:
At the Memorial Cup tournament in a very high-level competition, the Wildcats gave all the efforts. But in the semi-final game, against the eventual champions, the London Knights, the Wildcats' historic season was cut short by an opponent packed with more than 10 future NHL prospects.
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