3 Two-Time Winners of the Jean Beliveau Trophy in the QMJHL

The Jean Beliveau Trophy has been awarded each season since 1969-70 to the player in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the most points during the regular season. Three times in the history of this QMJHL award, a player has won in consecutive seasons.

J.F. Sauve

Jean Francois (J.F.) Sauve of the Trois Rivieres Draveurs won the Jean Beliveau Trophy in 1978-79 with 176 points and 1979-80 with 187 points. In 1978-79, Sauve finished eighteen points ahead of Denis Savard. Savard was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000. The Draveurs were regular season champs (Jean Rouleau Trophy) and playoff champs (President’s Cup) in 1978-79.

In 1979-80, Sauve increased his point total but finished just five points ahead of Guy Carbonneau. Carbonneau would move on to a lengthy career with the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL. J.F. Sauve played a total of 290 games in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres and Quebec Nordiques.

Guy Rouleau

Guy Rouleau won his first of two Jean Beliveau Trophies five years after J.F. Sauve won his last. In 1984-85, Rouleau totalled 163 points with the Longueuil Chevaliers, placing him 15 points ahead of future Hockey Hall of Fame member Luc Robitaille. The following season, Rouleau was traded to the Hull Olympiques and finished the season tied with Robitaille with 191 points each. Guy was awarded the Jean Beliveau because he’d scored more goals than Lucky Luc.

Over his QMJHL season, Rouleau tallied 543 points in just 260 games. He never played a game in the National Hockey League but played professionally throughout the hockey world. In North America, Guy played in the AHL, ECHL and WCHL. In Europe, he played in Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany and Italy.

Sidney Crosby

The last QMJHL player to win the Jean Beliveau Trophy twice was none other than Sidney Crosby. Sid the Kid won the scoring title in 2003-04 and 2004-05 with the Rimouski Oceanic. In his first season, he totalled 135 points and finished 18 points ahead of teammate Dany Roussin. The following season, Crosby increased his numbers to 168 points and finished 52 ahead of Roussin, who once again came in second.

In Crosby’s final season in Rimouski, the team won the Jean Rouleau Trophy, the President’s Cup and lost in the final game of the Memorial Cup tournament to the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. Sidney, of course, was the first overall pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, shortly after that Memorial Cup game. He has been the leader of the NHL team since.

 

1982-83 QMJHL Scoring Leaders

1982-83 was the only year Pat Lafontaine played in the QMJHL and the second of three years in the Q for Mario Lemieux. That combination was a catalyst for an extreme season of offense in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Pat Lafontaine – Verdun Juniors

Pat Lafontaine led the league with 234 points, playing 70 games for the Verdun Juniors. Lafontaine scored 104 goals and assisted on 130 more. The New York Islanders quickly picked him up third overall at the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. Pat was drafted behind just Brian Lawton (Minnesota North Stars) and Sylvain Turgeon (Hartford Whalers).

Lafontaine spent much of the 1983-84 season with the United States Olympic team but did make his NHL debut, scoring 13 goals in just 15 regular season games for the Islanders. He also played in 16 playoff games as the Islanders reached the Stanley Cup finals before falling to the Edmonton Oilers. Lafontaine went on to play 865 regular season games in the NHL, scoring 468 goals while playing for the Islanders, Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers.

Claude Verret – Trois Rivieres Draveurs

Claude Verret of the Trois Rivieres Draveurs finished second with 188 points over 68 regular season games. It was his third and final season in the QMJHL. Verret topped 100 points in each of those three years. Claude was an eighth round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 1982. He played a total of 14 games in the NHL, all with the Sabres. In 1983-84, Verret was rookie of the year in the American Hockey League, amassing 90 points in 65 games for the Rochester Americans.

Mario Lemieux – Laval Voisins

Mario Lemieux of the Laval Voisins finished third with 184 points in 66 games, a mere warm-up for his record setting season the following year. Super Mario was in his second of three years with Laval. In 1983-84, he would set an unreachable Canadian Hockey League record of 282 points on 133 goals and 149 assists. With playoffs added in, he totalled 334 points.

The Pittsburgh Penguins grabbed Lemieux first overall at the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. Mario simply became the franchise, leading the team to their first two Stanley Cup championships and leading the league in scoring on six occasions.

Sylvain Turgeon – Hull Olympiques

Sylvain Turgeon finished fourth with 163 points in 67 games for the Hull Olympiques. It was his second of two seasons with Hull. As mentioned earlier, Turgeon was taken second overall by the Hartford Whalers at the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. Turgeon was an immediate star for the Whalers, scoring 40 goals in his rookie season. Sylvain played 669 regular season games in the NHL from 1983-84 to 1994-95 with the Whalers, New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators.

Paul Adey – Hull Olympiques

Paul Adey of the Hull Olympiques rounded out the top five with 162 points in 70 games. Adey is perhaps the most interesting of these five players. After playing three years in the QMJHL, Paul went undrafted and played three years of minor pro in North America. In 1988-89, he cross the Atlantic to play for the Nottingham Panthers of the BHL and he became a legend.

Scoring 1,600 points for Nottingham, Adey has his number 22 retired by the club and is a member of the British Hockey Hall of Fame. Paul is currently the Head Coach of Val Pusteria in Italy’s elite Lega Italiana Hockey su Ghiaccio.