The Val-d'Or Foreurs are a

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 ...

team based in

Val-d'Or Val-d'Or (, , ; "Golden Valley" or "Valley of Gold") is a city in Quebec, Canada with a population of 32,752 inhabitants according to the Canada 2021 Census. The city is located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region near La Vérendrye Wildlife R ...

, in the region of

Abitibi-Témiscamingue Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an List of regions of Quebec, administrative region located in western Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of and its population was 146,717 peo ...

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. The team was founded for the 1993–94 season of 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 l ...

, a member of the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...

. Former

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 ...

and

Trois-Rivières Draveurs The Trois-Rivières Draveurs ("Raftmen") were a Canadian junior ice hockey team playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). They played home games at the Colisée de Trois-Rivières, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The team was origina ...

star,

Pierre Aubry Pierre Aubry (born April 15, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played five seasons in the National Hockey League for the Quebec Nordiques and Detroit Red Wings from 1980–81 to 1984–85. Aubry played 202 ca ...

was the team's first coach. The literal translation of Val-d'Or Foreurs is "Valley of Gold Drillers"; this name references the drilling operations associated with mining and exploration which are a major source of blue-collar work in the area. The Foreurs play their home games in the

Centre Air Creebec The Centre Agnico Eagle, formerly known as the Centre Air Creebec and Palais des Sports, is a 3,504 capacity (2,140 seated) multi-purpose arena in Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada. It is home to the Val-d'Or Foreurs ice hockey team. It was built in 1949 ...

History

The Foreurs have won 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 ...

three times: in 1997–98, 2000–01 and 2013–14 and consequently have also played 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 ...

each of those years. The team was eliminated in 1998 tournament without advancing from the

round robin Round-robin may refer to: Computing * Round-robin DNS, a technique for dealing with redundant Internet Protocol service hosts * Round-robin networks, communications networks made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology * Round-robin schedu ...

phase, lost in the

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

championship game to the

Red Deer Rebels The Red Deer Rebels are a Western Hockey League junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. The Rebels play at the Peavey Mart Centrium. History A "Name the Team" contest ran in Red Deer from October 7 to 17, 1991. The top t ...

and in the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

tournament, lost the semi-final in triple overtime to the

Edmonton Oil Kings The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers ...

. In 1996, the

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies are a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League based in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada. The team plays its home games at the Aréna Glencore. The Huskies finished first overall in the QMJHL, durin ...

began play, giving the Foreurs a natural geographical rival in north-western Quebec.

Rouyn-Noranda Rouyn-Noranda ( 2021 population 42,313) is a city on Osisko Lake in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada. The city of Rouyn-Noranda is a coextensive with a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census ...

lies approximately 100 kilometres to the west of Val d'Or. Games between the two teams are a major event in the region and draw much larger than average crowds.

NHL alumni

* Nicolas Aube-Kubel * Steve Bégin *

Antoine Bibeau Antoine Bibeau (born May 1, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing with the Belleville Senators in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract with the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NH ...

* Sébastien Bisaillon *

Patrick Bordeleau Patrick Bordeleau (born March 23, 1986) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Colorado Avalanche. Playing career As a youth, Bordeleau played in the 1999 Que ...

Luc Bourdon Joseph Luc Bourdon (February 16, 1987 – May 29, 2008) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League from 2006 until 2008. After overcoming childhood arthritis, he was s ...

* Sébastien Charpentier * Jean-Pierre Dumont * Benoît Dusablon *

Simon Gamache Simon Gamache (born January 3, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career As a youth, Gamache played in the 1995 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a m ...

Julien Gauthier Julien Gauthier (born October 15, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Gauthier was drafted 21st overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He ha ...

Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre (born February 2, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and current studio analyst for the Columbus Blue Jackets on Bally Sports Ohio. He was drafted in the seventh round, 179th overall, by the St. L ...

* Ryan Graves *

Samuel Henley Samuel Henley D.D. (1740 – 1815) was an English clergyman, school teacher and college principal, antiquarian, and man of letters. Life Born in England, he began his career when he was recruited as a professor of moral philosophy for the Colleg ...

Simon Lajeunesse Simon Lajeunesse (born January 22, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He was drafted in the second round (48th overall) of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators and played a single National Hockey League (NHL) ...

Francis Lessard Francis Lessard (born May 30, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He last played with the Trois-Rivières Blizzard of Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH). He has played for the Atlanta Thrashers and Ottawa Senator ...

Kris Letang Kristopher Joseph Pierre Irwin Letang (born April 24, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and Captain (ice hockey)#Alternate captains, alternate captain for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played ...

Roberto Luongo Roberto Luongo (, , ; born April 4, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers and the Vancouver Canucks. Luongo is a two ...

Anthony Mantha Anthony Mantha (born September 16, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). Mantha was drafted 20th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2013 ...

Brad Marchand Brad Marchand ( ; born May 11, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), left winger and alternate captain for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Bruins selected Marchand in the third round, 71st o ...

Brandon Reid Brandon Reid (born March 9, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward, who spent parts of three seasons in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks. Until December 12, 2019, Reid served as the head coach of the Kre ...

* Anthony Richard * Mathieu Roy * Jerome Samson * Maxime Sauvé *

Marco Scandella Marco Scandella (born February 23, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played major junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for t ...

Jordan Spence Jordan James Spence (born 24 May 1990) is an English professional footballer who most recently played for ADO Den Haag in the Eredivisie. Predominantly as a right-back, Spence can also operate as a centre-back. He has represented and captained E ...

Stéphane Veilleux Stéphane Veilleux (born November 16, 1981) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), left winger. He most notably played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning and the ...

Playoffs results

References

External links

Official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Val-D'or Foreurs 1993 establishments in Quebec Ice hockey clubs established in 1993 Ice hockey teams in Quebec Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams Sport in Abitibi-Témiscamingue Val-d'Or