Our 20s: Victoriaville Tigres
Fans and staff of the Victoriaville Tigres will long remember their 20-year-old players from the 2023-2024 season, all three of whom have made their mark on the concession’s history.
Let’s start with Maxime Pellerin. To say he has the Victoriaville V tattooed on his heart is an understatement.
Born in Victo, his father, Charles, has been one of the Tigres’ owners for many years. Maxime, meanwhile, was a first-round pick in 2019 (12th overall), after a notable stint with the Trois-Rivières Estacades.
At just 16, he broke into the Tigres lineup and, at 17, helped them win the President’s Cup, now the Gilles-Courteau Trophy.
At just 18, he was named team captain, and in his last three seasons, he collected 219 points in 200 games, en route to a career of 238 points in 282 games. Only Marc-André Gaudet, Carl Mallette and Philip-Michaël Devos have played more games than him with the Tigres!
His 110 goals place him 13th all-time, his 128 assists 23rd and his 238 points 20th. In short, he’s one of the best ever to don the black and yellow jersey!
Pellerin will now try his luck at the Montreal Canadiens’ rookie camp in September.
Nathan Darveau, meanwhile, will continue his career at the University of Moncton, after a 138-game stint with the Tigres, punctuated by the best save percentage in QMJHL history, at .920 (tied with Ondrej Pavelec)!
No one expected such a performance from the diminutive 5′ 8” goaltender when he was drafted in the 11th round (187th pick), in 2019, from the Amos Forestiers.
Darveau returned to Amos at age 16, playing four games with the Tigres. Then, at 17, he was inactive due to the pandemic. At 18, he established himself as the Tigres’ number-one goalie, a position he held for three seasons!
Voted to the All-Rookie Team in 2021-2022, Darveau did even better in 2022-2023, being named the top goaltender in the entire Canadian Hockey League (CHL). That’s on top of being named to the third CHL All-Star team and the first QMJHL All-Star team, and having the best efficiency in our league (.929).
That season, in 50 games, No. 40 posted a 27-14-2 record with a 2.34 GAA.
Darveau was at it again in 2023-2024, with personal bests of 30 wins (30-14-2) and 5 shutouts.
In all in the Q, he posted an excellent 72-47-6 record, with 9 shutouts, a 2.69 average (17th all-time) and a .920 save percentage.
Unlike Pellerin and Darveau, Tommy Cormier didn’t spend his entire career in Victoriaville, being drafted in the 14th round by the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in 2019, while playing midget espoir for the Québec Cyclones.
Cormier was never able to make his mark with the Sags (only 11 games!), who traded him to Victo on October 19, 2021.
In the midst of a rebuild following the 2021 title, the Tigres quickly put their faith in the diminutive 5’7” forward, who repaid them with 34 points in 26 games in 2021-2022 (a season he had started in the Québec Junior AAA League).
Cormier continued his progression in 2022-2023, with 40 goals and 45 assists in 67 games, before amassing 79 points (30-49) in 67 games at age 20.
Author of 198 points (82-116) in 171 games with the Tigres, Cormier made his way into the Top 35 in team history for goals, assists and points. Not bad for a 14th-round pick who many thought was too small…
Cormier will try to continue to silence his critics with the Trois-Rivières Lions, the Canadiens’ ECHL farm-club. Will he be reunited with Maxime Pellerin? It’s a possibility.
