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Wikipedia / Gatineau Olympiques

The Gatineau Olympiques are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Gatineau, Quebec, that plays in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Starting with the 2021–22 season, the Olympiques play home games at Centre Slush Puppie, having previously played at the Robert Guertin Centre dating back to its beginnings in the Central Junior A Hockey League. The club, then known as the Hull Festivals, was granted membership in the QMJHL in 1973. The Olympiques have appeared in the Memorial Cup seven times, winning the 1997 Memorial Cup.

History

Before joining the QMJHL, the team was a member of the Central Junior A Hockey League, known originally as the Hull Blackhawks (Les Éperviers de Hull) but later as the Hull Beavers (Les Castors de Hull) and Hull-Volant Junior A. Originally Hull and the CJHL were eligible to compete for the Memorial Cup, the Major Junior crown, but were relegated to Tier II Junior "A" in 1970. The season before joining the QMJHL in 1973 they became the Hull Festivals, and in 1976, they became the Hull Olympiques; the team name was changed to the Gatineau Olympiques one year after the city of Hull was amalgamated into Gatineau in 2002.

The Olympiques share a junior hockey market with the Ottawa 67's, across the Ottawa River. Pre-season games between the two teams were a regular occurrence from 1975 to 1986. The teams have played interleague regular-season home and home games in the 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2009–10 seasons since.

The Olympiques have won the President's Cup seven times, most recently in 2007–08. The team has been to four Memorial Cup finals, losing three (1986, 2003 and 2004) and winning the 1997 Memorial Cup, which they also hosted.

From 1985 until 1992, the Olympiques were owned by Wayne Gretzky; it was under his ownership that the team first adopted black, silver and white as their team colours, similar to those of the Los Angeles Kings, whom Gretzky played for in 1988.

On May 31, 2010, it was announced that former Olympiques coach Benoit Groulx, who had left the organization to coach the Rochester Americans would be returning to be the general manager and head coach.

For the 2011–12 season, the Olympiques returned to the colours of black, silver and white following an eight-year absence.

In 2016, coach Groulx left the Olympiques again to become the head coach of the Syracuse Crunch. He was replaced by Mario Duhamel who would only coach 47 games with a 19–24–4 record. Duhamel was replaced by assistant coach Éric Landry.

Championships

Memorial Cup Canadian Hockey League champions

President's Cup – League playoff champions

Jean Rougeau Trophy – Regular season champions

  • 1985–86, 1987–88, 1996–97, 2003–04

Division titles – Regular season champions

  • 1985–86, 1987–88, 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2021–22, 2022–23

Coaches

Notable coaches for the Olympiques include, Jean Bégin, Pat Burns, John Chabot, Benoit Groulx, Claude Julien, Bob Mongrain, Marcel Pronovost, Guy Trottier, and Alain Vigneault.

Season-by-season record

  • Hull Hawks (1969–1970)

  • Hull Festivals (1970–1976)

  • Hull Olympiques (1976–2003)

  • Gatineau Olympiques (2003–present)

Regular season

Complete results before 1969 unavailable.

  1. OL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss, Pct = Winning percentage

NHL alumni

Lists of National Hockey League alumni. No player from the "Hull Hawks" went on the play in the NHL.

  1. Hull Castors (1968–1969)

  2. Billy Smith

  3. Hull Festivals (1970–1976)

  4. Ted Bulley

  5. Nelson Burton

  6. Richard David

  7. André Doré

  8. Pierre Giroux

  9. Glen Sharpley

  10. Brent Tremblay

  11. Hull Olympiques (1976–2003)

  12. Jeff Allan

  13. Joel Baillargeon

  14. Yves Beaudoin

  15. Francis Bélanger

  16. Martin Biron

  17. Michel Bolduc

  18. Sébastien Bordeleau

  19. Martin Brochu

  20. Paul Brousseau

  21. Benoît Brunet

  22. Jim Campbell

  23. John Chabot

  24. Stéphane Charbonneau

  25. Sylvain Côté

  26. Jonathan Delisle

  27. Matthieu Descoteaux

  28. André Doré

  29. Christian Dubé

  30. Gordie Dwyer

  31. Karl Dykhuis

  32. Jiri Fischer

  33. Steven Fletcher

  34. Michel Galarneau

  35. Jean-Marc Gaulin

  36. Jocelyn Gauvreau

  37. Martin Gélinas

  38. Martin Gendron

  39. Rick Hayward

  40. Aleš Hemský

  41. Jean-François Labbé

  42. Marc LaBelle

  43. Mario Larocque

  44. Eric Lavigne

  45. John LeBlanc

  46. Shane MacEachern

  47. Don MacLean

  48. Paul MacLean

  49. Craig Martin

  50. Stéphane Matteau

  51. Andrew McKim

  52. Jan Nemecek

  53. Lee Norwood

  54. Stéphane Quintal

  55. André Racicot

  56. Peter Ratchuk

  57. Alain Raymond

  58. Stéphane Richer

  59. Serge Roberge

  60. Luc Robitaille

  61. Jeremy Roenick

  62. Roberto Romano

  63. Pavel Rosa

  64. Jean-Marc Routhier

  65. Cam Russell

  66. Michael Ryder

  67. Philippe Sauvé

  68. Daniel Shank

  69. Martin Simard

  70. Maxime Talbot

  71. José Théodore

  72. Pascal Trepanier

  73. Jean-Guy Trudel

  74. Sylvain Turgeon

  75. Alain Vigneault

  76. Radim Vrbata

  77. Colin White

  78. Peter Worrell

  79. Gatineau Olympiques (since 2003)

  80. Vitaly Abramov

  81. Paul Byron

  82. Alexandre Carrier

  83. Philippe Dupuis

  84. Claude Giroux

  85. Mike Hoffman

  86. Tomas Hyka

  87. David Krejci

  88. Tristan Luneau

  89. Zack MacEwen

  90. Tye McGinn

  91. Nicolas Meloche

  92. Doug O'Brien

  93. Jean-Gabriel Pageau

  94. Emile Poirier

  95. Joel Rechlicz

  96. Maxime Talbot

  97. Yakov Trenin

  98. Francis Wathier

  99. Valentin Zykov

Retired numbers

Ten Olympiques players have had their numbers retired by the team. Former coach Pat Burns has also been honoured.

References