Acadie–Bathurst Titan

Acadie–Bathurst Titan
*Titan d'Acadie–Bathurst*
Acadie–Bathurst Titan; Titan d'Acadie–Bathurst
City	Bathurst, New Brunswick
League	Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League
Division	Maritimes
Founded	1969
Home arena	K. C. Irving Regional Centre
Colours	Red, gold, and white ;
General manager	Gordie Dwyer
Head coach	Gordie Dwyer
Website	www.letitan.com
Franchise history
1969–1971	Rosemont National
1971–1979	Laval National
1979–1985	Laval Voisins
1985–1994	Laval Titan
1994–1998	Laval Titan Collège Français
1998–present	Acadie–Bathurst Titan
Future	Newfoundland Regiment
Championships
Playoff championships	2018 Memorial Cup Champions ; 1999, 2018 QMJHL Champions
Current uniform

The Acadie–Bathurst Titan are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Bathurst, New Brunswick. They are members of the Maritimes Division, and play their home games at the K. C. Irving Regional Centre. The Titan won the 2018 Memorial Cup and have two President's Cup championships in franchise history: 1999 and 2018.

The Titan were sold in December 2024, and will relocate to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, for the 2025–26 season, where they will play as the Newfoundland Regiment.

History

The franchise was granted in 1969–70 as the Rosemont National. In 1971, they moved from Rosemont to Laval to become the Laval National, and later the Laval Voisins. In 1985, they became the Laval Titan, and in 1994, they became the Laval Titan Collège Français following a merger with the Verdun Collège Français, and then in 1998, they moved to Bathurst. The "Acadie" term in the team name refers to the city's surroundings, where the Acadian population is a majority.

The franchise has won five President's Cups, one of which (in 1999) came during the team's tenure in Bathurst. In the Memorial Cup that year, the team finished winless in the round-robin. The most famous player that has come through the organization would undoubtedly be Mario Lemieux, who was drafted in 1984 by the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Lemieux played for the team during its tenure in Laval. Other famous franchise alumni include Mike Bossy, Gino Odjick and Vincent Damphousse. Notable NHL alumni from Bathurst include Patrice Bergeron, François Beauchemin, Bruno Gervais and Roberto Luongo.

In the 1999–2000 season, the Titan had the first female to be drafted by a QMJHL team, Charline Labonté, a 17-year-old Quebec goaltender who spent parts of two seasons with the team.^[1]

In 2009, the team was rumored to move to Newfoundland to replace the departed St. John's Fog Devils.^[2] At the end of the 2009–10 season, Léo-Guy Morrissette bought back control of the team from his children at their request. He retained ownership of the team through to April 2013, and local investors including NHL player Sean Couturier purchased the team. At the time of the sale, the team was reported to be worth just over $3 million.^[3]

The Titan play in the smallest market in the Canadian Hockey League, with a population of 13,424 residents. In 2018, the team won its first Memorial Cup championship, defeating the Regina Pats in the centennial edition of the tournament, coached by Mario Pouliot. After their Memorial Cup win, coach Mario Pouliot made this comment:^[4]

"Being the smallest market in the entire CHL, it's a huge accomplishment for us. Four years ago we started from the bottom and we ended up tonight with the Memorial Cup..."

In 2021, the owners tried to sell the team, but received no offers.^[2] In the same year, the city of Bathurst announced $175,000 in grants to the team.^[5] Attendance averaged more than 3,000 spectators per game in the early 2000s, but declined to 1,627 spectators per game for the 2023–24 season. Team owners had annual deficits in the thousands of dollars, but could not find a local buyer.^[6] Owners had hired Ernst & Young to conduct a search for new local ownership to no avail.^[5]

On December 16, 2024, the QMJHL approved the sale of the team to a group of investors led by Glenn Stanford, who will relocate the team to the Mary Brown's Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, for the 2025–26 season.^[6] QMJHL commissioner Mario Cecchini had previously stated he would veto any sale that involving relocation, but the sale was approved when no serious offers would see the team remain in Bathurst.^[2]

Players

Retired numbers

List of retired numbers from 1969 to present.^[7]

1 Roberto Luongo (Acadie–Bathurst Titan, 1998–1999)
10 Claude Lapointe (Laval Titan, 1987–1989)
17 Mike Bossy (Laval National, 1972–1977)
19 Neil Carnes (Laval Titan, 1988–1989)
21 Vincent Damphousse (Laval Voisins, 1983–1985 / Laval Titan, 1985–1986)
22 Martin Lapointe (Laval Titan, 1989–1993)
28 Thomas Beauregard (Acadie–Bathurst Titan, 2002–2007)
30 Gino Odjick (Laval Titan, 1988–1990)
37 Patrice Bergeron (Acadie–Bathurst Titan, 2001–2003)
66 Mario Lemieux (Laval Voisins, 1981–1984)

NHL alumni

The following players have played in at least one National Hockey League (NHL) game as of the 2023-24 season:^[8]

NHL first round draft picks

List of first round selections in the NHL Entry Draft:^[9]

Year	#	Player	Nationality	NHL team
2018	12	Noah Dobson (D)	Canada	New York Islanders

Season-by-season results

Regular season

QMJHL season standings.^[10]
OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	OL	SL	Points	Pct	Goals for	Goals against	Standing
1998–99	70	42	25	3	—	—	87	0.621	315	255	3rd, Dilio
1999–2000	72	20	40	8	4	—	52	0.361	227	311	4th, Maritime
2000–01	72	29	38	4	1	—	63	0.438	239	281	3rd, Maritime
2001–02	72	45	18	4	5	—	99	0.688	257	225	1st, Maritime
2002–03	72	44	21	4	3	—	95	0.660	276	189	2nd, Atlantic
2003–04	70	18	49	3	0	—	39	0.279	184	314	5th, Atlantic
2004–05	70	18	42	7	3	—	46	0.329	163	244	5th, Atlantic
2005–06	70	43	19	—	3	5	94	0.671	291	223	2nd, Eastern
2006–07	70	35	28	—	2	5	77	0.550	291	269	5th, Eastern
2007–08	70	41	25	—	2	2	86	0.614	289	241	3rd, Eastern
2008–09	68	20	35	—	7	6	53	0.294	187	256	5th, Atlantic
2009–10	68	25	37	—	3	3	56	0.368	208	286	5th, Atlantic
2010–11	68	44	21	—	2	1	91	0.669	261	197	2nd, Maritimes
2011–12	68	32	31	—	2	3	69	0.507	250	264	3rd, Maritimes
2012–13	68	26	35	—	5	2	59	0.434	232	278	4th, Telus Maritimes
2013–14	68	22	40	—	4	2	50	0.368	144	249	4th, Telus Maritimes
2014–15	68	17	43	—	6	2	42	0.309	158	271	6th, Maritimes
2015–16	68	27	35	—	3	3	60	0.441	244	254	5th, Maritimes
2016–17	68	39	23	—	4	2	84	0.618	284	242	3rd, Maritimes
2017–18	68	43	15	—	8	2	96	0.706	270	183	1st, Maritimes
2018–19	68	8	54	—	3	2	22	0.145	141	336	6th, Maritimes
2019–20	64	12	40	—	8	4	36	0.281	171	279	6th, Maritimes
2020–21	33	21	10	—	1	1	44	0.667	146	121	2nd, Maritimes
2021–22	68	40	22	—	3	3	86	0.632	280	211	3rd, Maritimes
2022–23	68	20	40	—	5	3	48	0.353	203	278	6th, Maritimes
2023–24	68	30	31	—	3	4	67	0.493	227	243	4th, Maritimes

Playoffs

Season	1st round	2nd round	3rd round	Finals
1998–99	W, 4–1, Cape Breton	W, 4–1, Halifax	W, 4–3, Quebec	W, 4–2, Hull
1999–2000	L, 0–4, Moncton
2000–01	W, 4–0, Quebec	W, 4–1, Cape Breton	W, 4–2, Baie-Comeau	L, 0–4, Val-d'Or
2001–02	Bye	W, 4–1, Quebec	W, 4–1, Cape Breton	L, 2–4, Victoriaville
2002–03	W, 4–2, Chicoutimi	L, 3–4, Halifax
2003–04	Did not qualify
2004–05	Did not qualify
2005–06	W, 4–2, P.E.I.	W, 4–0, Cape Breton	L, 3–4, Quebec
2006–07	W, 4–2, P.E.I.	L, 1–4, Cape Breton
2007–08	W, 4–2, St. John's	L, 1–4, Saint John
2008–09	L, 2–4, Gatineau
2009–10	L, 1–4, Quebec
2010–11	L, 1–4, Victoriaville
2011–12	L, 2–4, Chicoutimi
2012–13	L, 1–4, Blainville-Boisbriand
2013–14	L, 0–4, Val-d'Or
2014–15	Did not qualify
2015–16	L, 1–4, Saint John
2016–17	W, 4–0, Quebec	L, 3–4, Blainville-Boisbriand
2017–18	W, 4–2, Chicoutimi	W, 4–0, Sherbrooke	W, 4–0, Victoriaville	W, 4–2, Blainville-Boisbriand
2018–19	Did not qualify
2019–20	QMJHL playoffs cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21	Won round-robin tournament	L, 0–3, Charlottetown
2021–22	W, 3–2, Halifax	L, 0–3, Charlottetown
2022–23	Did not qualify
2023–24	W, 4–0, Halifax	L, 0–4, Baie-Comeau

Memorial Cup

The Memorial Cup is contested annually by the champions of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), and Western Hockey League (WHL), as well as a predetermined host team. The competition consists of a round-robin, a semifinal game, and a final game. Below are the results of every game the Acadie–Bathurst Titan have competed in.

Year	Round-robin	Semifinal	Final
1999	L, 1–5 Ottawa 67's L, 1–4 Belleville Bulls L, 1–3 Calgary Hitmen
2018	W, 4–3 Swift Current Broncos W, 8–6 Regina Pats L, 2–3 Hamilton Bulldogs	Bye	W, 3–0 Regina Pats

References

^ Canadian Gold 2010, Andrew Podnieks, p. 152, Fenn Publishing, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55168-384-3
^ ^a ^b ^c Titus, Jacob (December 16, 2024). "QMJHL Returns To Newfoundland With Sale Of Titan". The Hockey News. Toronto, Ontario. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
^ CBC News (April 11, 2013). "QMJHL's Acadie-Bathurst Titan sold to local investors". CBC. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
^ "Acadie-Bathurst Titan win 100th Mastercard Memorial Cup – CHL". May 28, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Gill, Jordan (December 13, 2024). "Sale of Acadie-Bathurst Titan imminent, league says". CBC News. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Leroux, Stéphane (December 16, 2024). "Le Titan déménagera; la LHJMQ de retour à Terre-Neuve". Réseau des sports (in French). Montreal, Quebec. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
^ "Retired Numbers". CHL.ca. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
^ "Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL) Alumni". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
^ "Acadie-Bathurst Titan Drafted Player History". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
^ Season-by-season on hockeydb.com

External links

Official Site
Official Site (in French)

[1] Canadian Gold 2010, Andrew Podnieks, p. 152, Fenn Publishing, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55168-384-3

[Titus-2024-2] Titus, Jacob (December 16, 2024). "QMJHL Returns To Newfoundland With Sale Of Titan". The Hockey News. Toronto, Ontario. Retrieved December 18, 2024.

[3] CBC News (April 11, 2013). "QMJHL's Acadie-Bathurst Titan sold to local investors". CBC. Retrieved June 5, 2015.

[4] "Acadie-Bathurst Titan win 100th Mastercard Memorial Cup – CHL". May 28, 2018.

[Gill-2024-5] Gill, Jordan (December 13, 2024). "Sale of Acadie-Bathurst Titan imminent, league says". CBC News. Retrieved December 18, 2024.

[Leroux-2024-6] Leroux, Stéphane (December 16, 2024). "Le Titan déménagera; la LHJMQ de retour à Terre-Neuve". Réseau des sports (in French). Montreal, Quebec. Retrieved December 18, 2024.

[7] "Retired Numbers". CHL.ca. Retrieved May 20, 2024.

[8] "Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL) Alumni". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved May 20, 2024.

[9] "Acadie-Bathurst Titan Drafted Player History". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved May 21, 2024.

[10] Season-by-season on hockeydb.com

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