Océanic founder Maurice Tanguay to enter Quebec Sports Hall of Fame
After founding the Rimouski Océanic in 1995, retired business mogul and philanthropist Maurice Tanguay will be inducted into the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame in the builder’s category on Thursday.
A native of St-Philémon in the Bellechasse area, Tanguay founded his first hockey team as a 24-year-old, a junior team in Montmagny near Quebec City. A few years later, he then created another junior team in Sainte-Foy.
Clearly, his passion for the game goes back a long way.
Involved in discussions to become the owner of a QMJHL club since the middle of the 1980’s, a decade later he and his business partner Andre Jolicoeur purchased the Saint-Jean Lynx from Leo-Guy Morrissette, bringing a team to Rimouski.
“I consider Maurice Tanguay to be one of the great builders of the QMJHL”, says QMJHL Commissioner Gilles Courteau. “It is because of his involvement within the Oceanic organisation and also at other levels, that the League was able to progress. I have the outmost respect for the man and his many accomplishments and believe his honour within the Quebec Sports Pantheon is truly deserved”.
Under Tanguay’s leadership, the Océanic won three President’s Cups and the regular season championships in 2000, 2005 and 2015 and claimed the Mastercard Memorial Cup in 2000 in Halifax.
“He is a man with class”, said Sidney Crosby, who was the cornerstone of the Océanic during his brilliant run with the team from 2003 to 2005, in a message taped for Tanguay’s induction into the QMJHL Hall of Fame in 2010.
“Mr. Tanguay would always remind us that it was important to be role models both on and off the ice,” recalled the Penguins’ captain.
Maurice Tanguay now joins the founding President of the QMJHL, Robert Lebel (1991) and his successor Raymond Legacé (2000) as inductees in the builders category of the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame.
The Tanguay name remains associated with the Océanic as his grandson Alexandre is now the team’s majority shareholder since June 2015 after having himself played for the club from 2010 to 2012. Other sign of his great legacy in the QMJHL, Maurice Tanguay’s son Jacques (Alexandre’s father) is the current president of the Quebec Remparts.
Former QMJHLers members of the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame
Michael Bossy – player (Laval National 1972-77)
Raymond Bourque – player (Sorel/Verdun Eperviers 1976-79)
Martin Brodeur – player (St. Hyacinthe Laser, 1989-91)
Michel Goulet – player (Quebec Remparts 1976-78)
Guy Lafleur – player (Quebec Remparts 1969-71)
Raymond Lagacé – president (QMJHL 1974)
Guy Lapointe – general manager (Longueuil Chevaliers)
Robert Lebel – founding president (QMJHL 1969-74)
Jacques Lemaire – head coach (Longueuil Chevaliers 1981)
Mario Lemieux – player (Laval Voisins 1981-84)
Luc Robitaille – player (Hull Olympiques 1983-86)
Patrick Roy – player (Granby Bisons 1982-84), general manager & head coach (Quebec Remparts 2005-12)
