The Rimouski Océanic are a Canadian

junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

team in the

Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

(QMJHL). The franchise was granted for the 1969–70 season as the Sherbrooke Castors. The Castors played in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

from 1969 to 1982 before moving to

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal, located roughly halfway between Montreal and the Canada–United States border with the state of Vermont. It is sit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, in 1982 to become the Saint-Jean Castors. In 1989, the team was renamed the Saint-Jean Lynx. In 1995, the team then moved to

Rimouski Rimouski ( ; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski, whose motto is ''Legi patrum fidelis'' (Faithful to ...

, Quebec, to become the Rimouski Océanic.

History

The team won the QMJHL championship in the 1999–2000 season and went on to win the

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

that year, with a team featuring future NHL star

Brad Richards Bradley Ray Richards (born May 2, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre (ice hockey), centre. Richards was drafted in the third round, 64th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and played for the Li ...

Sidney Crosby Sidney Patrick Crosby (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre and Captain (ice hockey), captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Sid the Kid" and dubb ...

joined the team during the

2003–04 QMJHL season The 2003–04 QMJHL season was the List of QMJHL seasons, 35th season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The league continued to expand to new eastern markets, with teams relocating to Maine and Prince Edward Island. Confe ...

. Crosby's 135 points for the club set a new record for a 16-year-old in the QMJHL and was second only to

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

in that particular age-group for all Canadian hockey. In 2005, the Océanic set a QMJHL record after going 28 consecutive games without a loss. The team then went on to win seven games in a row in the playoffs, improving the unbeaten streak to an unofficial 35-straight. They won their second QMJHL championship in five years and subsequently represented the QMJHL in the 2005 Memorial Cup. After losing the opener against the hometown

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their ...

, the Océanic beat both the defending Memorial Cup champion

Kelowna Rockets The Kelowna Rockets are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia. The team plays in the B.C Division of the Western Hockey League's Western Conference, playing their home games at Prospera Place. The Rockets a ...

, who were in their third-straight Memorial Cup, and the

Ottawa 67's The Ottawa 67's are a major junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that plays in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Established during Canada's centennial year of 1967 and named in honour of this, the 67's currently play thei ...

. Rimouski then beat the 67's again in the semi-finals to set up a rematch of their opening game against the Knights. However, the Océanic were shut out in the final game 4–0. The QMJHL announced on April 3, 2008, that the Océanic were chosen to host the 2009 Memorial Cup. In the 2014–15 season, the Océanic captured the QMJHL championship in double overtime of the seventh game against the

Quebec Remparts The Quebec Remparts () are a Canadian junior ice hockey based in Quebec City, Quebec. The team plays in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), and is named after the Ramparts of Quebec City (). There have been two franchises name ...

. Because the Remparts were the hosts of

2015 Memorial Cup The 2015 Memorial Cup (branded as the 2015 Mastercard Memorial Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a four-team round-robin format tournament that began on 22 May and ended on 31 May, 2015. It was the 97th Memorial Cup championship and determined ...

, they had already qualified for the Memorial Cup tournament prior to the QMJHL final, thus entering Rimouski into the Cup tournament. The Océanic finished 1–2 in the round robin portion in the tournament, advancing to the tie-breaker to play the Remparts, ultimately losing 5–2.

Logo and jerseys

The Océanic logo is an ocean liner with a set of teeth on the bow, jutting out of waves creating both a profile that suggests both a striking shark and a

fleur-de-lis The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...

. The team colours are royal blue, navy blue and white, and their home arena is the Colisée Financière Sun Life. The team's sweater has proven popular in the United States, as

Reebok Reebok International Limited ( ) is an American footwear and clothing brand that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company which had bee ...

has issued it with Crosby's number 87 on it.

Playoff results

Season-by-season playoff results.

Players

Retired numbers

* Allan Sirois's # 12 was retired on September, 20, 2003. *

Vincent Lecavalier Vincent Lecavalier (born April 21, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre currently working as a special advisor of hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected first ove ...

's # 4 was retired on September, 26, 2004. *

's # 39 was retired on September, 26, 2004. * Jonathan Beaulieu's # 9 was retired on March, 10, 2006. * Michel Ouellet's # 28 was retired on January, 30, 2015. *

's # 87 was retired on September, 27, 2019, and retired for all teams in the QMJHL.

NHL alumni

Alumni of the Océanic who have played in the National Hockey League. * Éric Bélanger * Francis Bélanger * Alex Belzile * Zachary Bolduc * Marc-André Bourdon * Jordan Caron *

Sébastien Caron Sébastien Caron , born on June 25, 1980, is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He last played for the defunct Hamburg Freezers of the then Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Playing ...

* Ryane Clowe * Patrice Cormier * Philippe Cornet * Patrick Coulombe *

* Cédrick Desjardins * Michael Frolik * Frédérik Gauthier * Aaron Johnson * Juraj Kolnik * Samuel Laberge * Alexis Lafrenière *

* Maxime Macenauer * Tomas Malec * Samuel Morin *

Liam O'Brien Liam Christopher O'Brien (born May 28, 1976) is an American voice actor, writer, and director. He is a regular cast member of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' actual play series '' Critical Role,'' playing Vax'ildan ("Vax"), Caleb Widogast, and Orym. ...

* Michel Ouellet * Jean-Marc Pelletier * Marc-Antoine Pouliot * Adam Raska *

* Philippe Sauvé * Petr Straka * Derrick Walser

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rimouski Oceanic Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League teams Ice hockey teams in Quebec Sport in Rimouski Ice hockey clubs established in 1995 1995 establishments in Quebec