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 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 2018, the team won its first Memorial Cup championship, defeating the Regina Pats in the centennial edition of the tournament, coached by Mario Pouliot.
The Titan play in the smallest market in the Canadian Hockey League. With a population of 13,424 residents, the city of Bathurst is smaller than Swift Current, Saskatchewan, home of the WHL's Swift Current Broncos. After their Memorial Cup win in 2018, coach Mario Pouliot made this comment:[2]
"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..."
On February 7, 2009, the Titan franchise was given a 30-day relocation application extension by the QMJHL Board of Governors. Morrissette decided to sell the team to his daughter Annie Morrissette-Hébert and his son Stéphane Morrissette.[citation needed] 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. 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]
List of retired numbers from 1969 to present.[4]
The following players have played in at least one National Hockey League (NHL) game as of the 2023-24 season:[5]
List of first round selections in the NHL Entry Draft:[6]
QMJHL season standings.[7]
OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss
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.