The Longueuil Chevaliers ("Cavaliers") were a junior ice hockey team in the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The ...

, playing in

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly ac ...

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 at

Colisée Jean Béliveau The Colisée Jean-Béliveau (originally known as Aréna Jacques-Cartier) is a multi-purpose arena built in 1966 in Longueuil, Quebec, and home to the ice hockey team of Le Collège Français de Longueuil, that play in the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey ...

. They were founded in 1982 and set a Canadian Hockey League record for the most successful season ever by an expansion franchise, going 37-29-4 under the coaching of

Jacques Lemaire Jacques Gerard Lemaire (born September 7, 1945) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward and head coach who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984. He spent his entire twelve-year National Hockey League (NHL) playing career with the Mo ...

. Longueuil reached the league finals for the

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

in both of their first two seasons. The Chevaliers finished runners-up both times losing to

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 ...

rival teams, the

Verdun Juniors The Verdun Juniors were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 1982 to 1984. They played at the Verdun Auditorium. History The Verdun Juniors were assembled by general manager Eric Taylor, and coached by Pierre Cre ...

in 1983, and the

Laval Voisins 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, Luxe ...

in 1984. Longueuil failed to qualify for the playoffs in their next two seasons, but in returned to the playoffs in 1987 coached by

Guy Chouinard Guy Camil Chouinard (born October 20, 1956) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the 1970s and 80's for the Atlanta Flames, Calgary Flames, and St. Louis Blues. He has also had a lengthy career as a coach in the QMJH ...

. The team started the season with

Guy Lapointe Guy Gerard Lapointe (born March 18, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League. He currently serves as Coordinator of Amateu ...

as general manager, who was promoted to assistant coach with the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

mid-season. Lapointe was then replaced with Michel Larocque. The Chevaliers survived the round-robin to start the post-season, then faced the Laval Titan in the division finals. Laval won the first three games then Longueuil came back, winning four consecutive games and the series. Returning to the league finals, the Chevaliers defeated the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. The Chevaliers travelled to

Oshawa, Ontario Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Gr ...

to compete in the

1987 Memorial Cup The 1987 Memorial Cup occurred May 9–15 at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium in Oshawa, Ontario. It was the 69th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Oshawa earne ...

versus the host Oshawa Generals and the

Medicine Hat Tigers The Medicine Hat Tigers are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) who play in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Established in 1970, the team has won two national Memorial Cups, five WHL League Championships and seven Divis ...

, finishing in third place. However, low attendance doomed the team to failure and they moved to

Victoriaville Victoriaville is a town in central Quebec, Canada, on the Nicolet River. Victoriaville is the seat of Arthabaska Regional County Municipality and a part of the Centre-du-Québec (Bois-Francs) region. It is formed by the 1993 merger of Arthabaska, ...

in 1987, becoming the

Victoriaville Tigres The Victoriaville Tigres are a junior ice hockey team that plays in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The team is based in Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada. The team plays its home games at the Colisée Desjardins. History The franchise was gra ...

. The team was owned by Gilles Lupien.

NHL alumni

Ten alumni who played for Longueuil in the QMHL also played in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

References

{{Defunct QMJHL 1982 establishments in Quebec 1987 disestablishments in Quebec Defunct Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams Ice hockey clubs established in 1982 Sport in Longueuil Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1987