SYDNEY, N.S. — The commissioner of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League says the league’s branding has been adopted by everyone across the league, including teams in the Maritime provinces.
In an interview about the recent rebrand, Gilles Courteau told the Cape Breton Post Thursday, the league is well-known in the Maritimes and Quebec.
As part of the rebrand launched last Monday, the league modernized its logo while keeping the skate-shaped design from previous years as it’s known as one of the most influential sports brands in Canada.
After the unveiling of the new logo, many fans took to social media to question why the league didn’t take the rebranding opportunity to include “Maritime” in the league name.
“I understand that people can ask the question, but I think being in operation for the last 51 years, our brand is very solid,” said Courteau.
“When people were asking about the name of our league, there were lots of people in the Maritimes raising the point of not changing it because the QMJHL means a lot to them.”
The Maritimes have six teams in the league — the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, Cape Breton Eagles, Charlottetown Islanders, Halifax Mooseheads, Moncton Wildcats and Saint John Sea Dogs.
Halifax was the first Maritime team to join the QMJHL in 1994, which was followed by the formation of the Moncton Wildcats in 1995.
The Cape Breton franchise joined the league in 1997, moving to Sydney from Granby, Que. Acadie-Bathurst followed the Eagles, joining the league in 1998 after that franchise moved from Laval. Charlottetown, formerly known as the P.E.I. Rocket, moved to the Maritimes from Montreal in 2003.
The most recent Maritime team to join the league was Saint John, part of the league’s expansion in 2005, which also included the former St. John’s Fog Devils, who are now the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
“When the teams joined the league, one of the things that they joined was a brand and for them to be part of the QMJHL means a lot to them,” said Courteau.
“It means the league developed players like Guy Lafleur, Mario Lemieux, Pat Lafontaine, Raymond Bourque and Patrick Roy, later Nathan MacKinnon, Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards, all of those players went on to have good pro careers.”
Courteau acknowledged the contribution of the Maritime teams, noting all six are a big part of the league.
“Since the Maritimes came into our league, they’ve been a big boost for many reasons,” said Courteau. “It was a big decision for our league, but today we’re proud of those teams and happy with what they’ve brought to the league — the Maritimes have developed good hockey players.”
Courteau said there are no expansion plans at the moment and he’s focused on the teams who are already in the league.
“We’re happy with 18 teams and my priority is to do everything I can to keep our franchises where they are and make sure they’re able to operate on a mid-to-long-term basis.”
Because of COVID-19, the Canadian Hockey League, including the QMJHL, was forced to cancel the remainder of its regular season in mid-March as well as the playoffs and Memorial Cup.
The QMJHL is targeting a start date of Oct. 1 for the beginning of the 2020-21 season. The league is expected to present a return-to-play program to the provincial governments in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in the near future.
