Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
City	Sydney, Nova Scotia
League	Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
Conference	Eastern
Division	Atlantic
Founded	1997 (1997)–98
Home arena	Centre 200
Colours	Black, white, gold and grey
General manager	Pierre Roux
Head coach	Ronald Choules
Website www.capebretoneagles.com
Franchise history
1969–77	Sorel Éperviers
1977–79	Verdun Éperviers
1979–80	Sorel/Verdun Éperviers
1980–81	Sorel Éperviers
1981–95	Granby Bisons
1995–97	Granby Prédateurs
1997–present	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles are a major junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Their home rink is Centre 200 in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Franchise history (1969-1997)

The franchise was granted to the Sorel Eperviers (Black Hawks) for the 1969–70 season. They moved from Sorel to Verdun in 1977 to become the Verdun Eperviers. In 1979 they played in both Sorel and Verdun before moving back to Sorel for the next season. In 1981 they moved to Granby to become the Granby Bisons, and in 1995 they changed their names to the Granby Prédateurs. In 1996, the Prédateurs won the Memorial Cup. In 1997 they moved to Sydney to become the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Prior to the Eagles' arrival, Sydney played host to the AHL's Cape Breton Oilers from 1988 to 1996.

Cape Breton (1997–present)

Early years (1997–1999)

The Screaming Eagles' very first captain was Daniel Payette under coach Dany Dubé. They had very poor success in their first few seasons and often had difficulty earning respect around the league, with some players not wanting to come to Cape Breton or complaining while they were there. As enforcers were more common in the league at the time, the Screaming Eagles often made up for lack of skill by having an abundance of fighters.

The Vincent era (1999–2008)

The turn of the new millennium brought some hope to the Screaming Eagles franchise as new head coach and general manager Pascal Vincent was able to slowly turn things around. Some hardship continued when the Screaming Eagles attempted to strengthen the club by drafting Ilya Kovalchuk 10th overall in the 2000 CHL Import Draft. Kovalchuk, however, declined to play. Despite the setback, Star goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is often credited as the one who landed the Screaming Eagles on the map and prevented them from folding. Along with star players Dominic Noel, Stuart MacRae, and Stephen Dixon, the Screaming Eagles reached the league's conference final in 2002, only to lose in 5 games to Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Fleury's #29 went on to be retired by the Screaming Eagles in 2008.

Vincent made a bold move and stacked the Screaming Eagles lineup with many NHL prospects for the 2003–04 season in hopes of bringing a league title to Cape Breton. Most of the players came from a notorious "boomerang" trade with the Halifax Mooseheads. After the Screaming Eagles won 49 games and captured a division title, Fleury returned from the Pittsburgh Penguins, leading many to think the team would be unstoppable in the playoffs. The Screaming Eagles lost in the second round to the Chicoutimi Saguenéens.

Despite the embarrassment, President Greg Lynch opted not to fire Vincent. At the 2004 QMJHL draft, the Screaming Eagles chose James Sheppard with the 1st overall pick. In 2006–07, along with star players Luc Bourdon, Ondrej Pavelec, and Oskars Bartulis, Sheppard led the Screaming Eagles to the league semifinals, only to lose in 7 games to the Val-d'Or Foreurs.

The 2007–08 season saw 16 year-old goaltender Olivier Roy rise to prominence. The Screaming Eagles finished 4th in their division and won their first round playoff series despite having a roster that normally dressed at least ten rookies. Vincent went on to be named the 2008 QMJHL Coach of the Year. However, following the end of the season, Vincent violated the terms of his contract and became the head coach and general manager of the Montreal Junior Hockey Club.

The Durocher era (2008–2011)

Centre 200, the Screaming Eagles' home ice.

Following Vincent's departure, assistant coach Mario Durocher took over the role of head coach and general manager. In a bid to host the Memorial Cup in 2012, Durocher in 2010 added former NHL players Mike McPhee and Guy Chouinard, former NHL coach Pierre Creamer, and Michel Boucher to the hockey staff in consulting roles. Durocher was relieved of his duties effective immediately on April 12, 2011 after a lackluster season in which the team finished 16th in the league and last in the Atlantic Division with just 41 Points. With Cape Breton losing the Memorial Cup bid to host the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup and questions as to if the franchise could actually be a contender for 2012 arose as this would not make much sense as per the cycles of Junior Hockey.

Players

NHL alumni

Luke Adam Oskars Bartulis Luc Bourdon Jean-Philippe Cote Marc-Andre Fleury Ryan Flinn

Martin Houle Tomas Kloucek Guillaume Lefebvre Adam Pardy Ondrej Pavelec

Alexandre Picard Tim Ramholt James Sheppard Olivier Roy Logan Shaw

KHL alumni

Stephen Dixon Tomas Kloucek Artem Demkov NHL 1st round draft picks 2003 NHL Entry Draft - Marc-Andre Fleury #1 Overall (Pittsburgh Penguins) 2006 NHL Entry Draft - James Sheppard #9 Overall (Minnesota Wild) Retired numbers #29 - Marc-Andre Fleury Award winners CHL Scholastic Player of the Year 2007–08: Robert Slaney Humanitarian Award 2009-10: Nick MacNeil Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy 2003–04: Martin Houle (2.32) 2005–06: Ondrej Pavelec (2.51) 2006–07: Ondrej Pavelec (2.52) Luc Robitaille Trophy 2006–07: Cape Breton (308) Marcel Robert Trophy 2004–05: Guillaume Demers 2007–08: Robert Slaney Maurice Filion Trophy 2006–07: Pascal Vincent Mike Bossy Trophy 2002–03: Marc-Andre Fleury Philips Plaque 2001–02: Pierre-Luc Emond Raymond Lagacé Trophy 2005–06: Ondrej Pavelec 2007–08: Olivier Roy RDS Cup 2005–06: Ondrej Pavelec 2007–08: Olivier Roy Robert Lebel Trophy 2003–04: Cape Breton (2.33) Ron Lapointe Trophy 2007–08: Pascal Vincent Telus Cup – Defensive 2002–03: Marc-Andre Fleury 2004–05: Martin Houle Season-by-season record Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (1997–Present) Regular season OL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss, Pct = Winning percentage Season Games Won Lost Tied OL SL Points Pct Goals for Goals against Standing 1997–98 70 19 46 5 – – 43 0.307 211 295 6th, Dilio 1998–99 70 22 44 4 – – 48 0.343 226 272 6th, Dilio 1999–2000 72 24 39 3 6 – 57 0.396 230 302 3rd, Maritimes 2000–01 72 30 37 4 1 – 65 0.451 270 292 2nd, Maritimes 2001–02 72 38 20 10 4 – 90 0.625 286 224 3rd, Maritimes 2002–03 72 21 37 9 5 – 56 0.389 200 268 4th, Maritimes 2003–04 70 49 16 2 3 – 103 0.736 273 164 1st, Atlantic 2004–05 70 32 27 8 3 – 75 0.536 206 195 3rd, Atlantic 2005–06 70 40 23 – 3 4 87 0.621 236 206 3rd, Eastern 2006–07 70 46 22 – 2 0 94 0.671 308 200 2nd, Eastern 2007–08 70 40 24 – 3 3 86 0.614 242 230 4th, Eastern 2008–09 68 46 18 – 3 1 96 0.676 252 201 2nd, Atlantic 2009–10 68 41 22 – 2 3 87 0.603 238 185 3rd, Atlantic 2010–11 68 18 45 – 1 4 41 0.301 154 246 6th, Maritimes Playoffs Season 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Finals 1997–98 L, 0-4, Quebec Remparts - - - 1998–99 L, 1-4, Acadie-Bathurst Titan - - - 1999–2000 L, 0-4, Quebec Remparts - - - 2000–01 W, 4-3, Chicoutimi Saguenéens L, 1-4, Acadie-Bathurst Titan - - 2001–02 W, 4-1, Baie-Comeau Drakkar W, 4-2, Halifax Mooseheads L, 1-4, Acadie-Bathurst Titan - 2002–03 L, 0-4, Halifax Mooseheads - - - 2003–04 Bye L, 1-4, Chicoutimi Saguenéens - - 2004–05 L, 1-4, Gatineau Olympiques - - - 2005–06 W, 4-1, St. John's Fog Devils L, 0-4, Acadie-Bathurst Titan - - 2006–07 W, 4-0, St. John's Fog Devils W, 4-1, Acadie-Bathurst Titan L, 3-4, Val-d'Or Foreurs - 2007–08 W, 4-2, Lewiston MAINEiacs L, 1-4, Halifax Mooseheads - - 2008–09 W, 4-0, Saint John Sea Dogs L, 3-4, Quebec Remparts - - 2009-10 L, 1-4, Moncton Wildcats - - - 2010-11 L, 0-4, Saint John Sea Dogs - - - Team records Team records for a single season Statistic Total Season Most points 103 2003–04 Least points 41 2010–11 Most wins 49 2003–04 Most goals for 308 2006–07 Least goals for 154 2010–11 Least goals against 164 2003–04 Most goals against 302 1999–2000 Individual player records for a single season Statistic Player Total Season Most goals Cam Fergus 53 2006–07 Most assists Dominic Noel, James Sheppard 63 2001–02, 2006–07 Most points Dominic Noel 105 2001–02 Most points (rookie) Viktor Hertzberg 56 2009–10 Most points (defenceman) Jean-Claude Sawyer 77 2006–07 Most penalty minutes Pascal Morency 596 2001–02 Most wins (goaltender) Olivier Roy 35 2008–09 Best GAA (goaltender) Martin Houle 2.32 2003–04 See also List of ice hockey teams in Nova Scotia Canadian Hockey League Quebec Major Junior Hockey League References External links Official Site