QMJHL (LHJMQ): the 18 teams, playoff format and champions
The QMJHL, known in French as the LHJMQ, is the major junior hockey league of Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Its 18 teams are where many future NHL players spend their teenage years, and its champion goes on to the Memorial Cup against the champions of the Ontario and Western leagues. This guide covers the league's name, all 18 teams and their arenas, how the season and playoffs work, the Gilles-Courteau Trophy and its recent winners, the 2026-27 season, and where Montreal fans can watch a game.
The QMJHL at a glance
| Full name | Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (Ligue de hockey junior Maritimes Québec) |
| Founded | 1969, first season 1969-70 |
| Teams | 18 (12 in Quebec, 6 in Atlantic Canada) |
| Commissioner | Mario Cecchini, since 2023 |
| Regular season | 64 games per team (2025-26) |
| 2026-27 season | September 18, 2026 to March 20, 2027 |
| Championship trophy | Gilles-Courteau Trophy |
| 2026 champion | Chicoutimi Saguenéens |
| Most league titles | Gatineau Olympiques, 7 |
| Next step for the champion | The Memorial Cup |
From "Major" to "Maritimes"
The league was founded in 1969 when teams from the Quebec Junior Hockey League and the Metropolitan Montreal Junior Hockey League merged. For more than 50 years it was the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In December 2023 it dropped "Major" and added "Maritimes" to reflect its teams in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. In French, the new name is Ligue de hockey junior Maritimes Québec, so the familiar LHJMQ acronym stayed the same.
Gilles Courteau ran the league from 1986 to 2023. Mario Cecchini has been commissioner since 2023.
The 18 QMJHL teams
The league has two conferences, each split into two divisions.
| Team | City | Arena | Division |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baie-Comeau Drakkar | Baie-Comeau, QC | Centre Henry-Leonard | East |
| Chicoutimi Saguenéens | Saguenay, QC | Centre Georges-Vézina | East |
| Quebec Remparts | Quebec City, QC | Centre Vidéotron | East |
| Rimouski Océanic | Rimouski, QC | Colisée Financière Sun Life | East |
| Cape Breton Eagles | Sydney, NS | Centre 200 | Maritimes |
| Charlottetown Islanders | Charlottetown, PEI | Eastlink Centre | Maritimes |
| Halifax Mooseheads | Halifax, NS | Scotiabank Centre | Maritimes |
| Moncton Wildcats | Moncton, NB | Avenir Centre | Maritimes |
| Newfoundland Regiment | St. John's, NL | Mary Brown's Centre | Maritimes |
| Saint John Sea Dogs | Saint John, NB | TD Station | Maritimes |
| Drummondville Voltigeurs | Drummondville, QC | Centre Marcel-Dionne | Central |
| Shawinigan Cataractes | Shawinigan, QC | Centre Gervais Auto | Central |
| Sherbrooke Phoenix | Sherbrooke, QC | Palais des Sports | Central |
| Victoriaville Tigres | Victoriaville, QC | Colisée Desjardins | Central |
| Blainville-Boisbriand Armada | Boisbriand, QC | Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau | West |
| Gatineau Olympiques | Gatineau, QC | Centre Slush Puppie | West |
| Rouyn-Noranda Huskies | Rouyn-Noranda, QC | Aréna Glencore | West |
| Val-d'Or Foreurs | Val-d'Or, QC | Centre Agnico Eagle | West |
The East and Maritimes divisions form the Eastern Conference, and the Central and West divisions form the Western Conference. The Newfoundland Regiment is the newest club: it is the former Acadie-Bathurst Titan, which moved from Bathurst, New Brunswick, and played its first season in 2025-26.
Is there a QMJHL team in Montreal?
No. The closest team to the island is the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, which plays in Boisbriand on the North Shore. Drummondville, Sherbrooke, Victoriaville and Shawinigan make up the Central Division, also in southern Quebec. For pro hockey close to home, the Canadiens' farm team plays in Laval; see our Laval Rocket schedule.
How the season and playoffs work
Each team played 64 regular-season games in 2025-26. The team with the best record wins the Jean-Rougeau Trophy.
The playoffs use a format the league introduced for 2025-26:
- 16 of the 18 teams qualify, eight per conference.
- First round: within each conference, 1 plays 8, 2 plays 7, 3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5.
- Crossover: if the ninth-place team in the East has more points than the eighth-place team in the West, it moves to the West bracket. If it also has more points than the West's seventh-place team, it takes the seventh seed.
- From the second round on, the remaining teams are reseeded across the whole league by overall regular-season standings, instead of staying inside their conference until the semifinals.
- Every series goes to the first team to win four games.
The winner takes the Gilles-Courteau Trophy and a place at the Memorial Cup.
The Gilles-Courteau Trophy and recent champions
The playoff trophy was called the President's Cup until February 21, 2023, when it was renamed the Gilles-Courteau Trophy after the longtime commissioner announced his retirement. It has been awarded since the league's first season. The Gatineau Olympiques have won it seven times and the Quebec Remparts six.
| Season | Champion | Series | Finalist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | Chicoutimi Saguenéens | 4-2 | Moncton Wildcats |
| 2024-25 | Moncton Wildcats | 4-2 | Rimouski Océanic |
| 2023-24 | Drummondville Voltigeurs | 4-0 | Baie-Comeau Drakkar |
| 2022-23 | Quebec Remparts | 4-2 | Halifax Mooseheads |
| 2021-22 | Shawinigan Cataractes | 4-1 | Charlottetown Islanders |
| 2020-21 | Victoriaville Tigres | 4-2 | Val-d'Or Foreurs |
| 2019-20 | Not awarded (COVID-19) | ||
| 2018-19 | Rouyn-Noranda Huskies | 4-2 | Halifax Mooseheads |
| 2017-18 | Acadie-Bathurst Titan | 4-2 | Blainville-Boisbriand Armada |
| 2016-17 | Saint John Sea Dogs | 4-0 | Blainville-Boisbriand Armada |
| 2015-16 | Rouyn-Noranda Huskies | 4-1 | Shawinigan Cataractes |
The 2025-26 season in review
The Moncton Wildcats had the best regular season, with 50 wins and 104 points, one point ahead of Chicoutimi. Chicoutimi's Maxim Massé won both the Michel-Brière Trophy as league MVP and the Jean-Béliveau Trophy as top scorer. Moncton goalie Rudy Guimond won the Patrick-Roy Trophy.
In the playoffs, Chicoutimi beat Rouyn-Noranda 4-2 in the semifinals and Moncton beat Blainville-Boisbriand 4-3. Chicoutimi then won the final 4-2, closing it with a 5-1 win in Game 6, for its third title after 1990-91 and 1993-94. Moncton's Gabe Smith still won the Guy-Lafleur Trophy as playoff MVP. At the Memorial Cup in Kelowna, Chicoutimi went 1-2 in the round robin and lost 6-1 to Everett in the semifinal; our Memorial Cup 2026 guide has every result.
The 2026-27 season
The league released its schedule on June 16, 2026. The season opened on Friday, September 18, 2026, with Saint John hosting Newfoundland, and the regular season ends on Saturday, March 20, 2027. A few things to know:
- Chicoutimi raised its 2026 championship banner, and the two 2026 finalists meet again in Moncton on January 28.
- Thomas Boisvert, the first overall pick of the 2026 QMJHL draft, joined the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
- Drummondville opened with nine road games because of renovations at Centre Marcel-Dionne, and Shawinigan's first home game was set for no earlier than October 12 while new flexible boards went in.
- The holiday break runs December 19 to 27.
- The league plays eight interleague games against the Ontario Hockey League.
Since August 1, 2025, players who have played in the QMJHL, the OHL or the WHL can also play NCAA Division I hockey in the United States, as long as they were not paid beyond actual and necessary expenses. The NCAA Division I Council approved the change on November 7, 2024. Before that, major junior players were treated as professionals by the NCAA.
QMJHL teams at the Memorial Cup
QMJHL teams have won the Memorial Cup 15 times, by 10 different clubs:
- Quebec Remparts: 1971, 2006, 2023
- Cornwall Royals: 1972, 1980, 1981
- Saint John Sea Dogs: 2011, 2022
- Granby Prédateurs: 1996
- Hull Olympiques (now Gatineau): 1997
- Rimouski Océanic: 2000
- Shawinigan Cataractes: 2012
- Halifax Mooseheads: 2013
- Acadie-Bathurst Titan: 2018
- Rouyn-Noranda Huskies: 2019
Famous QMJHL alumni
The league has sent many players to the Hockey Hall of Fame, among them Guy Lafleur, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy, Ray Bourque, Denis Savard, Michel Goulet, Luc Robitaille and Pat LaFontaine, plus goalies Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo. The league has retired two numbers for all teams: No. 87 for Sidney Crosby in 2019 and No. 4 for Guy Lafleur in 2021.
Betting on junior hockey
Junior teams turn over much of their roster every year, and players can be called up, injured or away at international events, so team form can change quickly. If you bet on a QMJHL game or on the Gilles-Courteau Trophy, a bet on the champion is a futures bet and a single game is usually a moneyline or puck line bet. Our guide on whether sports betting is legal in Quebec explains your legal options, and Mise-o-jeu is Loto-Québec's own platform. Set a deposit limit first.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (founding, 2023 name change, commissioners, teams, arenas, divisions, Memorial Cup wins, alumni, retired numbers).
- Wikipedia, 2025-26 QMJHL season (64 games, standings, awards, playoff results and format).
- Wikipedia, Gilles-Courteau Trophy (2023 rename, champions and finalists, most titles).
- FloHockey, New QMJHL playoff format explained (first round, crossover rule, league-wide seeding from round 2).
- QMJHL via OurSports Central, QMJHL unveils its 2026-2027 schedule (June 16, 2026: dates, opener, banner, Boisvert, Drummondville and Shawinigan, holiday break, OHL games).
- CHL, Chicoutimi wins its third QMJHL title (Game 6, Guy-Lafleur Trophy).
- NHL.com, CHL players to be eligible to play NCAA hockey beginning in 2025-26 (NCAA Division I Council decision).
- TSN, Kitchener overpowers Everett in Memorial Cup final (Chicoutimi's Memorial Cup semifinal).
Key terms
- Futures bet
- A bet on something decided way down the road, like the Stanley Cup champion, that ties up your money until it settles.
- Moneyline
- The simplest hockey bet: you pick who wins the game, overtime and shootout included at most books, and the odds set your payout.
- Puck line
- Hockey's spread at 1.5 goals: back the favourite at -1.5 and they need a two-goal win, take +1.5 and a one-goal loss still pays.
- Mise-o-jeu
- Mise-o-jeu is Loto-Québec's sports betting brand: paper slips at lottery retailers and Mise-o-jeu+ online, for players 18+ who are in Quebec.
- Deposit limit
- A cap ("limite de dépôt") you pick for how much money can go into one casino account in a day, a week or a month.