Inside the Numbers for Week 7

This week, our Numbers is going to be a little different but just as interesting. To mark the launch of our website’s totally revamped History and Records section, we’re going to highlight some of those records and some pages that touch on the history of the league and its teams since 1969. Consider it a guided tour for your 1st visit! We hope you enjoy it.

Approaching 25,000 games

• Summary – By the time the playoffs roll around in 2017, two QMJHL teams will be have played their 25,000^th franchise game – regular season and post season combined.
• Available – You can get information on every single game via our CALENDAR/RESULTS page. For example, here is all scoring for the very first games played in our very first season, 1969-70 Click on Game Centre, and you will find a game recap, including links to summaries of the goal scorers and goalies for the game.
• Essential – In order to be able to build these complete records, priority #1 was the colossal task of getting data on every game ever played. This job fell to dozens of volunteers all around the league, who manually entered over 10,000 score sheets from 2005 to 2009 – the year the first version of our History and Records section was launched. This how we are able to publish thousands of statistics every day.

FAMOUS RECORDS

• 133 goals – March 14^th, 1984 was the memorable day when Mario Lemieux needed to score 3 times to beat Guy Lafleur’s scoring record of 130 goals in a single season. Lemieux would score 6 times in that game, adding 5 assists for an 11-point night. Prime Mario. See the summary of the game here; a 16-4 Laval Voisins victory over the Longueil Chevaliers.
• Number 66 – you will notice that the ‘front door’ of the History and Records section serves as a reminder to Mario Lemieux’s achievements. Will his record of 282 points in a single season ever be beaten? Or his record of 61-straight games with at least one point? One can certainly question if these records that have stood for over 30 years will ever be beaten.
• Felix Potvin – goalies who worked before the 1990’s had to outdo themselves in order to lower their goals against average below 3.00 per game. For 19 years, Richard Brodeur held the
  record with 2.91. But what Chicoutimi’s Félix Potvin succeeded in doing in 1990-91 was phenomenal, when he was able to maintain a goals against average of 2.70! After him, Martin Biron (2.48), Patrick Couture (2.09) and Nicola Riopel (2.01) recorded new records in their turn. See the illustration for all these records. EVOLUTION OF THE RECORD Remember, records are made to be broken. Samuel Montembeault (BLB) is currently averaging 1.62 this season. Will he become the first goaltender in QMJHL history to maintain an average less than 2.00?
• Paul Boutilier – Since 1981-82, the Sea Dogs’ current assistant coach has held a record for a defenceman of 25-straight games with at least one point.

26 FRANCHISES, 18 CURRENT TEAMS

• HISTORIC – That is what one could call the 11 teams from the Provincial
  and Metropolitan Leagues, which were in 1969-70 consolidated by founding president, Mr. Robert Lebel to form the Quebec Junior A Hockey League, becoming the league of reference for junior hockey in Quebec. It is in the form of an illustrative photo, sometimes animated with video, that our HISTORY section is fronted. See the achievements and records of our greatest names and historic championships; it’s guaranteed to be worth the visit.
• Only 4 original franchises – in this, the 48th QMJHL season, only the city of Shawinigan has preserved its original franchise since 1969. The team name “Cataracts” was given to the Shawinigan team in 1978, after having previously been called the “Bruins” and “Dynamo” in theri earlier years. The 3 other clubs still in operation today after being relocated, are the Acadie-Bathurst Titan (from Rosemont-1969), the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (Sorel-1969) and the Rimouski Océanic (Sherbrooke-1969). The Eagles have just begun their 20th season since landing in Sydney in 1997, while the Océanic are preparing to compete in their 1,500th regular-season game on December 31^st. It is via each team’s page, under the tab “STATS / RECORDS”, you will discover the extent of our content: Lifetime club stats as well information for each season. Information on scorers and goaltenders for each season and major franchise records presented on a single page. You will also find short historical texts, illustrated by pictures of the teams stars over the years. Not to mention the “HISTORICAL SUPPLEMENT” where you find lists of all coaches, captains, retired jerseys, etc. in club history. You will also find a list of players for the team and the number or numbers that they wore.
• 8 DEFUNCT TEAMS – to find information on defunct teams, take a look at the start page of OUR FRANCHISES. You can select via the drop down menu each season in QMJHL history, then click on the logo of the team you want. It will say something like … the Laval Saints, the Drummondville Rangers, the Trois-Rivières Ducs, not to mention the fiasco that was the Plattsburgh Pioneers, a team that was dissolved after 17 consecutive losses early in the 1984-1985 season. You can also find the majestic Quebec Remparts, with their 5 President Cups in seven seasons in the 1970s. Also the Verdun Maple Leafs, the St-Jérôme Alouettes and the only Ontario franchise, the fearsome Cornwall Royals; kings and for some seasons, masters with their three conquests of the Memorial Cup (1972, 1980, 1981).

A LITTLE HISTORY

• To close – we are going to use one of our former players as an example, to show all the details that are available on player’s pages.
• Jonathan Audy-Marchessault – What a story! The former Remparts opened some eyes at the beginning of the 2016-17 Nation Hockey League season when he, now a Florida Panthers forward, was named the third star for the month of October, with a record of 11 points in 9 games – 2 of his 6 goals being game winners. Read about it here https://www.nhl.com/news/connor-mcdavid-three-stars-of-october/c-283293356 .
• His records – You can find his personal highlights and records, either with his team or elsewhere in the league, in his QMJHL page . Among other achievements, he holds along with 2 other players, the record for game winning goals; 11 for Beauport in 1990 which has now become the Quebec Remparts.
• Late choice – Audy-Marchessault made his entry into the QMJHL via the 2007 Midget draft late in the 12^th round as 208^th overall,. More often than not, players taken this late are often a long-term work in progress for a team.
• Perseverance – In his brilliant QMJHL Major career, he amassed 293 points in 306 games (regular season and playoffs included), and is ranked 7th all-time for the Remparts with 239 regular-season points. As you can see in the “History” tab of page Player, he was at the age of 20 during the 2010-11 campaign, selected for the first all-star team after a 40 goal and 95-point season. In the playoffs, he would shine, by finishing in 1st place in league scoring with 33 points in 18 games; an average of almost 2 points per game.
• 5’09”, 175 Lbs – Today, after 4 good seasons of 55 points or more in the American Hockey League, he is making his presence known in exactly the same way he did in his last junior game. This featherweight in the world of modern hockey proves that the desire to succeed is one of the key ingredients to achieve the heights, and that you have to seize your opportunities when they come. Congratulations Jonathan!
• NHL.COM – See his NHL player page: https://www.nhl.com/player/jonathan-marchessault-8476539

STUDY THE HISTORY OF THE QMJHL

• Confrontation – Quiz your friends on the history of the QMJHL! Challenge yourself! Which of you has your facts straight? You can share almost every on http://www.lhjmq-records.qc.ca/ on Facebook or Twitter on, so go for a trick question, and publish the answer with a link to the appropriate page.
• In a few months… – We are going to have a Quiz on the QMJHL and its history. We highly suggest that you prepare yourself by consulting the site and learn more and more about the league. It’s time for fans to get ready, and deepen their knowledge of the Q.