4 QMJHL Teams To Win 58 In A Season

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has been in existence since 1969-70. In that time, four different teams have finished the regular season with 58 wins, the QMJHL record. The latest team to do so was in 2012-13 when the Halifax Mooseheads recorded 58 wins over the 68 game regular season schedule. 2013-14 showed a little more parity with Halifax and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar tying for the league lead with just 47 wins each.

1973-74 Sorel Eperviers

The first team to win 58 was the Sorel Eperviers, or Sorel Black Hawks. Sorel won 58 of their 70 games in 1973-74. The team scored a ridiculous 620 goals over those 70 games, nearly nine goals per game. The Black Hawks had seven players with more than 100 points, three had over 200. Pierre Larouche led the way with 94 goals and 157 assists for 251 points. Larouche was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins eighth overall in 1974 and went on to play over 800 regular season games in the National Hockey League.

During the regular season, Sorel finished eleven points ahead of the number two team, the Quebec Remparts. After sweeping the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs in the quarter-finals and the Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge in the semis, Sorel came up against the Remparts in the finals. Quebec upset the Eperviers in six games.

1978-79 Trois Rivieres Draveurs

The next 58 win season came in 1978-79. The QMJHL regular season was two games longer for each team than in 1973-74. The Trois Rivieres Draveurs won 58 of their 72 games while losing just eight for 122 points. The Draveurs finished 26 points ahead of second place Sherbrooke Castors.

Unlike the Sorel Black Hawks in 1973-74, Trois Rivieres did not fail in the post season. The Draveurs swept the Shawinigan Cataractes in the quarter-finals and lost just one game in the semi-finals to the Montreal Juniors before earning a showdown with Sherbrooke in the finals. Sherbrooke did not win a game as Trois Rivieres won the President’s Cup.

The Draveurs earned a berth in the Memorial Cup tournament, which they co-hosted with Sherbrooke. The team won two and lost two in the round-robin and did not reach the final.

Trois Rivieres was led offensively by J.F. Sauve who led the QMJHL with 176 points. He would improve on that number the following season with 187 points, again leading the league. Sauve went on to play 290 regular season games in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres and Quebec Nordiques.

2010-11 Saint John Sea Dogs

Over three decades passed before another QMJHL team would equal the mark. In 2010-11, the Saint John Sea Dogs lost just seven of their 68 games in regulation time with another two shoot out losses and one loss in overtime.

Saint John lost just three of 19 games in the post season, one to Victoriaville in the quarter-finals and two to Gatineau in the finals. It was just their sixth year in the QMJHL and it was their second of three consecutive visits to the final series, winning it all in 2011-12, as well.

The Sea Dogs travelled to Mississauga, Ontario to compete in the Memorial Cup tournament. With a 3-1 victory over the host Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors in the final game, Saint John became just the second QMJHL team in eleven years to capture the Memorial Cup as the top major junior hockey team in Canada.

2012-13 Halifax Mooseheads

In 2012-13, the Halifax Mooseheads simply dominated the QMJHL with 58 wins and 120 points over 68 games. The team was led by Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon. Drouin is likely to be a star in the National Hockey League while MacKinnon has already reached that status with the Colorado Avalanche.

In the playoffs, Halifax didn’t lose a single game over the first three rounds, sweeping the Saint John Sea Dogs, Gatineau Olympiques and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies to earn a berth in the President’s Cup finals. The Mooseheads finally lost a game in the finals but won the series in five over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

Halifax moved on the Memorial Cup tournament held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The Mooseheads were beaten just once in the tournament, by the host Saskatoon Blades during the round robin. Ironically, it was the only game that the Blades won. Halifax then met the Portland Winterhawks in the final game and won 6-4.

 

3 QMJHL Players to Total 500 or More PIM in a Season

We’re now in an era where major attempts to eliminate fighting from Canadian major junior hockey are drastically reducing the penalty minutes totals of individual players. However, there was a time not too long ago when players were regularly sitting 300 or more PIM in a season. In the QMJHL, three players have accumulated more than 500 minutes in penalties in a single regular season.

As for the rest of the Canadian Hockey League, the Western Hockey League also has three players in league history that have accumulated 500 or more penalty minutes in a single season. The Ontario Hockey League has a much tamer record at just 384.

Joel Theriault – Halifax Mooseheads / Drummondville Voltigeurs

Theriault holds the QMJHL and CHL record for most PIM in a single season with 573 over 63 games in 1995-96, a 9.10 PIM per game average. Joel was in the last of three years in a QMJHL career that saw him play for the St. Jean Lynx, Beauport Hargangs, Halifax and Drummondville. Over his time in the QMJHL career, he played 189 games and sat 1,023 minutes in the box.

Joel was a fourth round pick of the Washington Capitals at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, 95^th overall. He played pro from 1996-97 to 2011-12 but never in the NHL. Theriault spent from 2000-01 to 2011-12 in the Quebec semi-pro leagues. In 297 combined games in the QSPHL and LNAH, Joel sat an amazing 2,899 minutes, a 9.76 PIM per game average.

Sylvain Nantel – Trois-Rivieres Draveurs

In 1983-84 with Trois-Rivieres, Nantel sat 564 PIM in just 53 games for an astounding 10.64 average. It was Sylvain’s second of three seasons in the QMJHL. Along with the Draveurs, he also played for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. In 135 QMJHL regular season games, Nantel totalled 1,208 PIM. The end of his QMJHL career was the end of his hockey career. Nantel did not advance to any form of professional hockey.

Jason Spence – Sherbrooke Faucons

As a rookie, Spence was assessed 515 penalty minutes over 64 regular season games, an 8.05 average. It was his first of two seasons in the QMJHL with the Sherbrooke franchise. In his first year, the team was known as the Faucons. In his second, the team changed names, reverting back to the traditional Castors moniker. In 131 QMJHL games, Spence was in the sin bin for 763 minutes.

Jason played professional hockey from 1999-00 to 2008-09, mostly in the ECHL with the Johnstown Chiefs. His PIM totals lowered significantly as his career progressed. With Johnstown, Spence most always had a ‘C’ or ‘A’ on his jersey.