Commissioner reveals the make-up of an independent consulting committee

BOUCHERVILLE, Tuesday, May 13, 2008 – The Commissioner of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Gilles Couteau, today announced the composition of a newly appointed committee, whose purpose is to support the QMJHL Hockey Orientation Committee’s initiative to eliminate gratuitous violence in hockey.

"I am very pleased to announce the creation of a fourteen-member consulting committee, whose mandate is to guide the QMJHL Hockey Orientation Committee in finding concrete solutions to the ongoing problem of gratuitous violence in the sport hockey, a strategy supported by Michelle Courchesne, the <i>Ministre de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport</i>," mentioned Gilles Courteau. "This committee shall count on the cooperation and insight of former QMJHL and NHL players, journalists, agents, lawyers as well as parents. I anticipate that the quality individuals on this committee will generate an enlightened discussion, raise important questions and recommend sound solutions. Moreover, I am happy to be able to count on the collaboration of Danielle Sauvageau and Jacques Letellier as co-Presidents of the committee."

Along with the consulting committee, Mr. Courteau projects to have ongoing talks with his colleagues from the Canadian Hockey League, David Branch, the Commissioner of the OHL, and Ron Robison, the Commissioner of the WHL, as well as with Bob Nicholson, the President of Hockey Canada, and Michelle Courchesne, the <i>Ministre de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport</i>.

The consulting committee will include the three members of the QMJHL’s Hockey Orientation Committee: Denis Arsenault, the Commissioner’s consultant and Coordinator of the QMJHL Education Policy, Raymond Bolduc, the Director of Hockey Operations, Pierre Leduc, the assistant to the Director of Hockey Operations as well as eleven other members. They are:

Jean Brousseau, President of the QMJHL Board of Governors as well as Principal and Vice-President of Bristol, a company specialized in professional marketing services;

Enrico Ciccone, former QMJHL and NHL defenseman and current player agent as well as Radio-Canada hockey analyst;

Mario Clermont, Governor of the Shawinigan Cataractes;

Michel Côté, President of the QMJHL Hall of Fame selection committee, President of <i>Groupe Vision d’affaires inc.</i> and a former QMJHL franchise owner;

Pierre David, President of <i>Groupe HPDG</i> and father of a former QMJHL player;

Éric Desjardins, former QMJHL and NHL defenseman, who was enshrined in the QMJHL Hall of Fame this year, and frequent contributor to the sports show <i>La Zone</i> and the sports pages of <i>La Presse</i>;

The Honourable François Godbout, former judge and former President of Tennis Canada;

Jacques Letellier (co-President), former crown prosecutor for the Quebec justice and Canadian justice Ministers, who has been associated with the QMJHL for over thirty years while acting as either a member of the disciplinary committee or as an independent arbitrator regarding appeals resulting from severe disciplinary sanctions;

Marc Lachapelle, Journal de Montréal columnist who covered the QMJHL for over 35 years and a 1999 QMJHL Hall of Fame inductee;

Natacha Llorens, Coordinator of the RCMP’s illicit drug program for over ten years;

Finally, Danielle Sauvageau (co-President), coaching consultant, gold-medal winning head coach of the 2002 Canadian women’s ice-hockey team and spokesperson for the Canadian Hockey Associaton.

Meetings are set to take place in the next few weeks and recommendations will be presented to League General Managers and Governors at the Annual Assembly, which will be held in Cape Breton from June 4 to 7.