The Trois-Rivières Lions ( French: ''Lions de Trois-Rivières'') are 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 Nort ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

based in

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

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, ...

. The team began play in the 2021–22 season, with home games held at Colisée Vidéotron. They are affiliated with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

of the National Hockey League (NHL) and

Laval Rocket The Laval Rocket () are a professional ice hockey team based in Laval, Quebec. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) and Trois-Rivières Lions of the ECHL. The Rocket play ...

of the American Hockey League (AHL). The Lions won the

Kelly Cup The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the playoff champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner was awarded the Riley Cup, named after former American Hockey League president Jack Riley. Th ...

in the

2024–25 ECHL season The 2024–25 ECHL season was the 37th season of the ECHL. The regular season began on October 18, 2024, and ended on April 13, 2025, with the 2025 Kelly Cup playoffs to follow. Twenty-nine teams affiliated with an NHL team in 22 states and o ...

History

With construction beginning in early 2020 to replace the aging Colisée de Trois-Rivières, Dean MacDonald, majority owner of the

Newfoundland Growlers The Newfoundland Growlers were a professional minor league ice hockey team in the East Coast Hockey League, ECHL based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The team began play in the 2018–19 ECHL season, 2018–19 season with home games ...

(through his group Deacon Sports and Entertainment (DSE)), came to an agreement with

city officials to place an ECHL franchise in Colisée Vidéotron for the 2021–22 season. On November 30, the team finalized its lease agreement. Subsequently, the Lions organization was approved by the league's

board of governors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

on January 12, 2021. That same month, the

announced that the foregoing would serve as their ECHL affiliate. On June 10, 2021, the team name was announced as the Trois-Rivières Lions, a homage to the only previous professional team to play in the city, the

Trois-Rivières Lions The Trois-Rivières Lions ( French: ''Lions de Trois-Rivières'') are a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The team began play in the 2021–22 season, with home games held at Colisée Vid� ...

, from 1955 to 1960. Days later,

Éric Bélanger Éric Bélanger (born December 16, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played the majority of his professional career as a centre in the National Hockey League (NHL), representing the Los Angeles Kings, Carolina Hurrica ...

was appointed as the team's inaugural head coach. In early 2024, it was reported that DSE had been experiencing financial difficulties, and owed the city of Trois-Rivières nearly million in arena back rent. On April 2, 2024, the Growlers, likewise owned by DSE, ceased operations effective immediately. Despite this, the ECHL had reached an agreement to take temporary ownership of the Lions pending the sale of the franchise to new ownership, effectively allowing the team to complete play of the 2023–24 season. A week later, league officials approved the purchase of the Lions by American businessman Jeff Dickerson via his company Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E). Over the course of the ensuing 2024–25 season, the team would proceed to set a new single-season high in wins, and also clinch their first divisional title in franchise history, en route to winning the

Season-by-season records

Players and personnel

Team captains

*Cédric Montminy, 2021–2024 *Morgan Adams-Moisan, 2024–present

Head coaches

, Jun. 2021–Nov. 2022 * Marc-André Bergeron (interim), Nov. 2022–Jun. 2023 * Pascal Rhéaume (resigned prior to season), Jun. 2023–Aug. 2023 *Ron Choules, Aug. 2023–present

Notable players

The following alumni have advanced to play in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) after playing for the Lions as of the conclusion of the

2024–25 NHL season The 2024–25 NHL season is the ongoing 108th season of operation (107th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The regular season started on October 4, 2024, when the Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils played the first of two ga ...

: * Pierrick Dubé * Cameron Hillis * Artūrs Šilovs

References

External links

* {{Quebec Sports ECHL teams Trois-Rivières Lions players Ice hockey clubs established in 2021 Sport in Trois-Rivières Montreal Canadiens minor league affiliates 2021 establishments in Quebec Ice hockey teams in Quebec