Acadie–Bathurst Titan

Acadie–Bathurst Titan
City	Bathurst, New Brunswick
League	Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
Division	Atlantic
Founded	1969
Home arena	K. C. Irving Regional Centre
Colours	Red, white, gold and blue
General manager	Léo-Guy Morrissette
Head coach	Eric Dubois
Captain	Brandon Hynes Alternates captains: Christophe Lalancette, Adam Stevens, Zach O'Brien and Matthew Bissonnette
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

The Acadie–Bathurst Titan is a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). They play at the K. C. Irving Regional Centre in Bathurst, New Brunswick.

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 goalie who spent parts of two seasons with the team.

Relocation speculation

On February 7, 2009, amid much speculation, the Titan franchise was given a 30-day relocation application extension by the QMJHL Board of Governors. With the club continuing to struggle with attendance and the recent struggles of the economy in the area, the team was rumored to be on the move if things did not turn around in the foreseeable future. The team's owner, Léo-Guy Morrissette, entertained offers from a group of local investors in the Bathrust area, as well as a group from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Morrissette eventually decided to sell the team to his daughter Annie Morrissette-Hébert and his son Stephane Morrissette, who would each own 50 per cent of the club. The move also ensured the team would remain in Bathurst for the 2009–10 season.

At the end of the 2009–2010 season, Léo-Guy Morrissette bought back control of the team from his children at their request. Léo-Guy Morrissette kept ownership of the Titan throughout 2010 to April 2013. But after the Titan were eliminated in the first round of the QMJHL league playoffs by Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and with a few years of really low attendance records Morrissette started contemplating selling the team for relocation. A few local investors approached Morrissette about possibly purchasing the Titan to keep them in Bathurst. With low attendance and some health issues Morrissette decided to sell the Titan to local investors as well as a few former NHL Titan alumni. For days it remained silent on who the investors were but on April 11, 2013, CBC confirmed that Local investors which include Leopold Theriault, Darrel Stohart along with hometown NHL player Sean Couturier as well as former Titan Alumni and NHL stars Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins), Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks), Bruno Gervais (Philadelphia Flyers), and Mathieu Perreault (Washington Capitals) will all be part of a new 28+ member group of investors lead by local steel businessman Leopold Theriault who are buying the team from former owner/general manager Léo-Guy Morrissette. Morrissette has been looking to sell the Titan for a few years, according to this Yahoo report. The team is reportedly worth just over $3 million. Also Sylvain Couturier, has been re-appointed GM - he'd been GM from 2005–2011, when Morrissette took over the GM duties along as being owner. The sale ends the Morrissette era in the QMJHL. Morrissette, a long-time owner and representative of the league, moved the team to Bathurst in 1998 from Laval. The team won the QMJHL’s President’s Cup in 1999, their first season in Bathurst.

Retired numbers

• 1 - Roberto Luongo — retired on August 19, 2012
• 10 - Claude Lapointe — used by Jules-Edy Laraque in 1999–2000
• 17 - Mike Bossy
• 19 - Neil Carnes — used by Ramzi Abid in 1999–2000
• 21 - Vincent Damphousse
• 22 - Martin Lapointe
• 30 - Gino Odjick — used by Phil Ozga in 1999–2000
• 37 - Patrice Bergeron on September 25, 2011
• 66 - Mario Lemieux

Note: numbers of players from entire franchise history from 1969 to present.

Note:The Acadie–Bathurst Titan retired the number 37, carried by Patrice Bergeron between 2001 and 2003, on September 25, 2011. Bergeron is the first player to have his number retired since the Titan moved to Bathurst. Bergeron then went on to win a Stanley Cup in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins defeating the Vancouver Canucks with whom were lead by fellow Titan alumni Roberto Luongo and also a Olympic Goal Medal in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver British Columbia Canada with Team Canada defeating Team United States of America (Team USA)but this time along side fellow Titan alumni goaltender Roberto Luongo. Bergeron is a member of the Triple Gold Club a group of ice hockey players and coaches who have won an Olympic Games gold medal, a World Championship gold medal, and the Stanley Cup

Note: The Acadie Bathurst Titan retired the number 1,carried by Roberto Luongo between 1998-1999,on August 19, 2012. Luongo a fan favorite of the people of Bathurst and also the people of New Brunswick was the second player to have his number retired since the Titan relocated to Bathurst NB from Laval Que., Luongo has competed for Team Canada in numerous tournaments. As a junior, he won a silver medal at the 1999 World Junior Championships, while being named Best Goaltender in his second tournament appearance. Luongo has won two gold medals at the 2003 and 2004 World Championships and a silver in the 2005 World Championships. He also won the 2004 World Cup championship and appeared in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin as a backup to Martin Brodeur in both instances. He succeeded Brodeur as Canada's starting goaltender during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, winning a gold medal defeating Team United States of America (Team USA)along side fellow Titan Alumni Patrice Bergeron.He also lead his NHL team Vancouver Canucks to game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final losing to the Boston Bruins and fellow Titan alumni Bergeron

NHL alumni

Ramzi Abid François Beauchemin Patrice Bergeron

Mathieu Carle Jean-Philippe Côté Jonathan Ferland

Ryan Flinn Bruno Gervais Jonathan Girard

Simon Lajeunesse Roberto Luongo Mathieu Perreault

Jānis Sprukts

Mascot

• The Acadie–Bathurst Titan mascot is name Bang-Bang.

Season-by-season record

• Acadie–Bathurst Titan 1998–2008

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

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

Team records

Team records for a single season
Statistic	Total	Season
Most points	99	2001–02
Most wins	45	2001–02
Most goals for	315	1998–99
Least goals for	163	2004–05
Least goals against	189	2002–03
Most goals against	314	2003–04

Individual player records for a single season
Statistic	Player	Total	Season
Most goals	Thomas Beauregard	71	2006–07
Most assists	Mathieu Perreault	80	2007–08
Most points	Thomas Beauregard	124	2006–07
Most points, rookie	Patrice Bergeron	73	2002–03
Most points, defenseman	Philippe Plante	80	1998–99
Most Penelty Minutes	Jonathan Tremblay	316	2003–04
Best GAA (goalie)	Adam Russo	2.41	2002–03
Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in New Brunswick

External links

• Official Site
• QMJHL Arena Guide profile