Hockey Québec is the governing body of all

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. Hockey Québec is a branch of

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

History

Hockey Québec was organized in 1976 to take over from the various organizations governing hockey in Quebec. Hockey Québec is formed by 15 different regional associations.

Quebec Amateur Hockey Association

The Quebec Amateur Hockey Association (QAHA) was founded at the

Montreal AAA Montreal Amateur Athletic Association is Canada's oldest athletic association, located in Montreal, Quebec. It was renamed as the ''Club Sportif MAA'' or just ''MAA'' (Montreal MAA) in 1999 after a brush with bankruptcy, but is still widely known ...

clubhouse on January 19, 1919, with

Hartland MacDougall Hartland Brydges MacDougall (March 10, 1876 – April 28, 1947) was a Canadian ice hockey player and businessman. MacDougall was generally regarded as one of the most versatile players of the pre- NHL era of the sport. He initially played the posi ...

elected as president and

W. R. Granger William Rowen Granger (December 13, 1873April 24, 1925) was an American-born Canadian sports administrator and businessman. He served as president of the Montreal AAA from 1918 to 1920, oversaw the revival of the association's ice hockey, baseb ...

as the vice-president. The association affiliated with the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction include ...

(CAHA), and required

Amateur Athletic Union of Canada The history of Canadian sports falls into five stages of development: early recreational activities before 1840; the start of organized competition, 1840–1880; the emergence of national organizations, 1882–1914; the rapid growth of both amateur ...

registration cards for all players which prevented any professionals from joining. The Interscholastic Hockey League joined the Montreal City Amateur Hockey League under the jurisdiction of the QAHA and became eligible for the

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...

playoffs as the

senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate under the jurisdict ...

champions of Canada, and the Junior Amateur Hockey Association also joined the QAHA and became eligible for the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

playoffs as the

junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

champions of Canada. Allan Cup

The Gazette The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Recor ...

'' credited Granger for being instrumental in founding the QAHA, fighting to maintain amateurism and for allowing hockey to thrive in Quebec. The establishment of the QAHA protected its leagues from the loss of players to the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association, from which the Montreal City Amateur Hockey League had resigned during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in a dispute that the association operated under veiled professionalism. Granger warned that anyone playing against professionals would jeopardize their amateur status, and that the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association had never affiliated with the QAHA or the CAHA. Granger was elected president of the QAHA on December 8, 1919, and continued his campaign to clean up amateur hockey and expand the influence of the CAHA when he welcomed the Ottawa Amateur Federation into an affiliation with the QAHA. The affiliation settled the differences between multiple leagues in Ottawa now unified under the same jurisdiction. The QAHA implemented standard rules to rid its leagues of unsporting physical play, and grew with the additions of the Montreal City Amateur Intermediate League and the Bankers League of Montreal. With the intent to stabilize rosters for the playoffs, Granger enforced a deadline of January 31 where teams could mutually agree to allow players to transfer from one team to another. The Ottawa Amateur Federation left the QAHA in 1920, when it was granted branch status in the CAHA as the Ottawa and District Amateur Hockey Association (ODAHA). Despite the loss of the Ottawa teams, the QAHA grew by accepting three new leagues based in Montreal, the Montreal Independent Intermediate Hockey League, the Pulp and Paper Company League, and the Montreal Industrial League; and expected applications from the Quebec City Intermediate League and the Quebec City Junior League, in addition to the existing Quebec City Senior League. In March 1921, the QAHA registration committee listened to an appeal by George Dufresne for an amateur card which he had been refused. Dufresne admitted that he had played semi-professional baseball, and argued that he should be reinstated as an amateur since he had not reached the

age of majority The age of majority is the threshold of legal adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when minors cease to be considered such and assume legal control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the contr ...

when the incident occurred. He filed legal action seeking a writ of

mandamus (; ) is a judicial remedy in the form of an order from a court to any government, subordinate court, corporation, or public authority, to do (or forbear from doing) some specific act which that body is obliged under law to do (or refrain from ...

to be issued an amateur card, and testified that he was young and inexperienced at the time, did not know that he was playing with professionals. Granger and the QAHA registration committee agreed to give Dufresne a fresh start and issued him an amateur card. The CAHA unanimously elected Granger its president on March 19, 1921. He remained president of the QAHA, and called a special meeting in April 1921 to discuss incorporation into the CAHA and revisions to the QAHA constitution necessitated by the Dufresne court action. Granger welcomed recommendations from members of the association and sought to have the constitution and registration forms printed in both English and French. Commercial leagues in Montreal gave Granger a vote of confidence and agreed that professionals in another sport should be excluded from amateur hockey. At the QAHA general meeting in December 1921, Granger recommended revisions to the constitution to improve finances and ensure amateur player registrations, and retired as president because he held the same position with the CAHA. The QAHA approved his recommendations to automatically suspend any player who filed legal action, to compel players to accept rulings of the registration committee unless an appeal was heard by the CAHA, and to charge registration fees to senior players and annual dues to leagues to help fund the QAHA. In April 1924, the QAHA changed its structure to be more similar to the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

, where clubs affiliated directly with the association instead of as a members of a league. The QAHA felt that the calibre of play was reduced when leagues competed against each other for players, and that clubs would better develop talent by eliminating the struggle to find players. Memorial Cup at the 2015 championship

Frank Greenleaf was unanimously elected president of the QAHA in April 1927. He appointed a special committee to revise the constitution and by-laws to resolve a lack of clarity that had resulted recurring petty differences, and chaired a meeting requested by the leagues to discuss a "one-man, one-league" regulation. QAHA by-laws at the time allowed for a person to play for a team operated by his employer and one other recreational team. The leagues felt that players were fatigued, and agreed that by limiting a player to one team and playing fewer games it would increase the overall quality of hockey and subsequently improve the QAHA's results in the Allan Cup playoffs. The leagues were also concerned about increasing competition for players by commercial leagues. The Mount Royal Junior Hockey League was founded in 1928, which created a venue for

talent to develop and be regularly featured on Saturday afternoons at the

Montreal Forum Montreal Forum (french: Le Forum de Montréal) is a historic building located facing Cabot Square in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by ''Sporting News'', it was an indoor arena which served as the h ...

. During the 1935–36 season playoffs, the QAHA established a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

board and named

Norman Dawe Robert Norman Dawe (October 18, 1898January 4, 1948) was a Canadian sports executive. He originated as an ice hockey referee for minor ice hockey games in Verdun, Quebec, before becoming involved in the administrative aspect of sports. He was ...

the convenor. He sought to unify all referees in Quebec under a governing body to assign games in the provincial playoffs and establish a grading system. In 1938, the QAHA established an inter-provincial playoff for the juvenile age group champion in

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

versus the ODAHA champion. Dawe was elected president of the QAHA in 1940. He wanted the QAHA to support hockey teams composed of Canadian servicemen during the war, and appointed a committee to liaise with military leaders on how the QAHA could provide a place to play or provide financial assistance. Military leagues from

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

, Montreal, and

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...

, then affiliated with the QAHA. ''The Gazette'' credited the QAHA for having carefully handled expenses which profited more than C$2,400 during wartime conditions, and allowed the QAHA to invest $4,000 into victory bonds for the war effort. By 1941, the QAHA minor hockey board oversaw its own player registrations, had grown to include a vice-chairman and district convenors, and established the first constitution for minor hockey in the province. Queen's Hotel in Montreal circa 1895

The QAHA and Dawe sought for teams from Eastern Canada to have more home games during the Memorial Cup and Allan Cup playoffs. At the 1941 CAHA general meeting, his motion was approved to allow the eastern and western portions of the national playoffs to be handled by the respective CAHA branches. Despite the approval, the CAHA had expressed concerns about the low gate receipts at the Montreal Forum, compared to expected profits elsewhere. The QSHL proposed forming an Eastern Canada Hockey Association for the Allan Cup playoffs. Under the proposal, the QAHA, the ODAHA, and the Maritime Amateur Hockey Association, would work together in the playoffs to determine one team to play against the Ontario champion; and share the profits from the gate receipts among themselves before the CAHA took its share. Dawe stated that the proposal may seem like mutiny, but that the QAHA wanted to form a new association within the CAHA, and voice Eastern Canada's concerns. The QAHA also contested that with more playoffs games, Montreal could be built into a junior hockey city with profitable gate receipts. The CAHA chose to increase travel expenses to teams during the playoffs instead of forming the Eastern Canada Hockey Association. In November 1942, CAHA past-president

George Dudley George Samuel Dudley (April 19, 1894 – May 8, 1960) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He joined the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) executive in 1928, served as its president from 1934 to 1936, and as its treasurer from 1936 to 1960 ...

felt that, "the QAHA now has the best executive in its history". The QAHA had purchased almost $7,000 in victory bonds by 1942, permitted teams composed of military servicemen to play without paying an entrance fee or annual dues, and Dawe urged for more support of military sports organizations. The QAHA also planned a roll of honour for any of its players who had enlisted or would enlist in the Canadian military. The QAHA continued to grow when it welcomed the Montreal Minor Hockey Association into membership, which controlled almost 100 hockey rinks in

Greater Montreal Greater Montreal (french: Grand Montréal) is the most populous metropolitan area in Quebec and the second most populous in Canada after Greater Toronto. In 2015, Statistics Canada identified Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) as with a ...

. The QAHA divided its

leagues into tiers, when it adopted the junior-B rating, similar to other CAHA branches. Forum de Montreal 1945

The ODAHA denied permission for the

Ottawa Commandos The Ottawa Senators, also known as the Ottawa Commandos and Senior Senators, was an amateur, later semi-professional, senior-level men's ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In 1934, the Ottawa Auditorium, owners of the Ottawa Hockey ...

and the

Hull Volants Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in aff ...

to play in the QSHL, and wanted the teams to play in the

Ottawa City Hockey League The Ottawa City Hockey League (OCHL) was an amateur ice hockey league with junior, intermediate and senior level men's teams in Ottawa, Canada. Founded in 1890 by the local Ottawa Hockey Association (Ottawa HA), the OCHL was created to organize p ...

. The QSHL subsequently voted to operate the 1944–45 season with four teams independent of the QAHA and CAHA. Dawe attempted to mediate the dispute by allowing the ODAHA to keep the five per cent share of

gate receipts Gate receipts, or simply "gate", is the sum of money taken at a sporting venue for the sale of tickets. Traditionally, gate receipts were largely or entirely taken in cash. Today, many sporting venues will operate a season ticket scheme, which wil ...

for the Ottawa and Hull teams, instead of the funds being paid to the QAHA. After a week of discussions, the ODAHA accepted Dawe's recommendation. Rumors about the QSHL becoming a professional

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

persisted in ''The Gazette'', which reported that teams were upset with the amount of travel expenses given by the CAHA in the Allan Cup playoffs. The ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...

'' reported that the QSHL was the best senior hockey league in Canada, and that NHL executives resented that the Montreal Canadiens had the first pick of any player from the league. Dawe stated that

Lester Patrick Curtis Lester Patrick (December 31, 1883 – June 1, 1960) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach associated with the Victoria Aristocrats/Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (Western Hockey League after 1924), and t ...

of the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

, and

Art Ross Arthur Howe Ross (January 13, 1885 – August 5, 1964) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and executive from 1905 until 1954. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his era by his peers, he was one of the first to skate with the puck ...

of the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

, wanted to see the QSHL and other CAHA senior leagues become professional for the best interests of the other NHL teams. The QSHL remained an amateur league for the 1945–46 season, which resulted in the QAHA being in its best financial position to date with the majority of income from QSHL gate receipts. By the 1946–47 season, the QAHA had grown to include 59 leagues, 281 clubs, and increased its registration by 1,847 players from the previous season. The QAHA referee's committee had grown to become a self sufficient, and established a scouting and evaluation process to encourage new officials. He also wanted to stop the abuse of referees by players, and give indefinite suspensions to any offender. TournoiPee-WeeQuébec2009

Lionel Fleury Lionel Fleury (December 25, 1912July 12, 1997) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator who served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association from 1964 to 1966. Under his leadership, the Canada men's national ice hockey team trans ...

was elected president of the QAHA to succeed Robert Lebel in June 1955, and was the first person to live outside of Greater Montreal to hold the position. He planned to replace the Quebec Junior Hockey League with a new league composed of local talent on teams that operated at a lower level of junior hockey, and be purely amateur without seeking financial assistance from the NHL. The new league grew as two seasons passed, but its teams were unable to compete at same level as the

Montreal Junior Canadiens The Montreal Junior Canadiens were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Junior Hockey League from 1933 to 1961, and the Ontario Hockey Association from 1961 to 1972. They played out of the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History The ...

or teams in the Ontario Hockey Association. The QAHA contended those teams were operating on a semi-professional basis since they paid a weekly stipend to their players and were too strong of competition in the Memorial Cup playoffs for the Canadian junior championship. In January 1957, the QAHA reached an agreement with the Maritime Amateur Hockey Association and the ODAHA to establish a new junior championship at a lower level than the Memorial Cup. They invited teams from the

Northern Ontario Hockey Association The Northern Ontario Hockey Association (NOHA) is an ice hockey governing body for minor, junior and senior ice hockey. The NOHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation and Hockey Canada. The major league run by the NOHA is the Northern ...

and Western Canada to join, then presented the plan for approval by the CAHA. The CAHA voted instead to allow its weaker branches to strengthen their championship teams by adding up to six players in the Memorial Cup playoffs. The Confederation of Recreation in Quebec City chose to operate independently and leave the jurisdiction of the QAHA in 1959. The QAHA regained a presence in the city after it gave approval to establish the

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

in 1960, which operated as a minor hockey event during the

Quebec Winter Carnival The Quebec Winter Carnival (french: Carnaval de Québec), commonly known in both English and French as Carnaval, is a pre-Lenten festival held in Quebec City. After being held intermittently since 1894, the ''Carnaval de Québec'' has been celeb ...

Presidents

, 1919 *

, 1919 to 1921 * Frank Greenleaf, 1927 to 1930 *

, 1940 to 1947 * Robert Lebel, 1951 to 1955 *

, 1955 to 1960 * Michael Brind’Amour

Leagues

;Junior AAA: *

Quebec Junior Hockey League The Ligue de Hockey Junior du Québec (LHJQ) or Quebec Junior Hockey League (QJHL) is a Hockey Québec Canadian Junior A ice hockey league and is a member of Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League. The winner of the QJHL playoffs co ...

( Canadian Junior A) ;Junior AA: *

Chaudiere-Appalaches Junior AA Hockey League The Chaudiere-Appalaches Junior AA Hockey League is a junior ice hockey league in the Province of Quebec, Canada. The league is sanctioned by Hockey Quebec Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter te ...

* Capitale Junior AA Hockey League * Laurentides-Lanaudière Junior AA Hockey League *

Lac St-Louis Junior AA Hockey League The Ligue de Hockey Junior AA Lac St-Louis (Lac Saint-Louis Junior AA Hockey League) was a Junior "AA" (Junior "B" Canada-wide) ice hockey league in the province of Quebec, Canada. The league was sanctioned by Hockey Quebec and Hockey Canada. Si ...

* Metropolitaine Junior AA Hockey League *

Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean Junior AA Hockey League The Ligue de Hockey Junior AA Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean or Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean Junior "AA" Hockey League is a Junior "AA" (Junior "B" Canada-Wide) ice hockey league in the Province of Quebec, Canada. The league is sanctioned by Hockey Quebec and Hock ...

; Junior A: * Boucherville Junior A Hockey League * Hockey Expert Junior A Hockey League * Laval Junior A Hockey League * Lac St-Louis Junior A Hockey League * Lac St-Jean Junior A Hockey League * Mauricie Junior A Hockey League * Montreal Junior A Hockey League * Orford-St-Francois Junior A Hockey League * Ligue de Hockey Junior A Rive-Sud * Rive-Nord Junior A Hockey League *

Saguenay Junior A Hockey League Saguenay may refer to: Places in Canada *Saguenay, Quebec, a city *Saguenay River, a major river in Quebec * Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, the region of the Saguenay *Le Fjord-du-Saguenay Regional County Municipality (The Saguenay Fjord), Regional Co ...

* Yamaska-Missisquoi Junior A Hockey League ; Junior B: * Hockey Expert Junior B Hockey League *

Laval Junior B Hockey League Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...

* Lac St-Louis Junior B Hockey League * Mauricie Junior B Hockey League * Montreal Junior B Hockey League * Orford-St-Francois Junior B Hockey League * Rive-Nord Junior B Hockey League * Rive-Sud Junior B Hockey League * Yamaska-Missisquoi Junior B Hockey League ; Collegiate: *

Ligue de hockey féminin collégial AA The Hockey collégial féminin RSEQ is an amateur women's ice hockey league in Quebec, Canada. The former name of the League was ''Ligue de hockey féminin collégial AA''. In autumn 2011, the names of different Leagues by letters AA and A with ...

; Defunct: * Montreal Senior Group—men's senior amateur league, until 1944 *

Quebec Senior Hockey League The Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL) was an ice hockey league that operated from 1941 to 1959 , based in Quebec, Canada. The league played senior ice hockey under the jurisdiction of the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association until 1953, when it became ...

—men's senior amateur league, until 1953 *

Quebec Junior A Hockey League The Quebec Junior A Hockey League (QJAHL) was a Canadian junior ice hockey league based in Quebec that operated from 1972 until 1982. The QJAHL was a member of Hockey Quebec and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and was eligible for the Dud ...

(1972-1982; Junior "AAA") * Bas St-Laurent Junior AA Hockey League (Unknown-2013) * Estrie-Mauricie Junior AA Hockey League * Quebec-Est Junior AA Hockey League

Provincial championships

The Junior "AA" Provincial title is the

Coupe Dodge The Quebec Provincial Hockey Championship (French: ''Championnats Provinciaux de Hockey'', known as Coupe Dodge, or the Dodge Cup for commercial reasons) is a provincial championship in the men's and women's amateur ice hockey leagues in Quebec, ...

Special events

The

is an annual

event in Quebec City co-founded by

Gérard Bolduc Gérard Bolduc (August 3, 1906 – March 8, 1993) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He co-founded the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament in 1960, served as president of the tournament for 15 years, and sought to bring interna ...

Paul Dumont Paul Dumont (June 15, 1920 – April 9, 2008) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He was associated with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from its founding in 1969 to 1984. He served as the general manager of the Quebec Rempar ...

and others in 1960.

Notes

References

External links

Hockey Québec web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hockey Quebec Hockey Quebec Que

Ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

Sports organizations established in 1976