The 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 based in

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

, in the region of

Abitibi-Témiscamingue Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an 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 147,082 people as of the 2021 cens ...

, Quebec. They play 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 ...

, one of the three component leagues of the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; , 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 League, and is composed of its three me ...

. The team name, Val-d'Or Foreurs, translates to the "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 Agnico Eagle.

History

After years of Val d'Or residents attempting to get a local junior hockey team, the Val d'Or Foreurs started play for the 1993-94 season of the

(LHJMQ). Former

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

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 origin ...

star, Pierre Aubry was the team's first coach. The Foreurs have won the President's Cup 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 (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 ...

each of those years. The team was eliminated in 1998 tournament without advancing from the round robin phase. They made the

2001 The year's most prominent event was 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. The United States led a Participan ...

championship game, but lost to the

Red Deer Rebels The Red Deer Rebels are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta. The Rebels are members of the Western Hockey League and play home games at the Marchant Crane Centrium. The Rebels won the President's Cup and the Mem ...

in overtime. In the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

tournament, the Foreurs made the semi-finals, where they lost the longest game in Memorial Cup history, 4-3 in triple overtime to the Edmonton Oil Kings. In 1996, the

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League based in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. The team plays its home games at the Aréna Iamgold, Aréna Glencore. The Huskies finished first overal ...

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

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

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 Joseph Denis Stéphan Bégin (); born June 14, 1978) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in 13 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons. He was a second-round selection of the Calgary Flames, 40th overall, in the 1996 NH ...

Antoine Bibeau Antoine Bibeau (born May 1, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for KooKoo in the Liiga. Bibeau was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the sixth round, 172nd overall, of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Playing career Junior As ...

* Sébastien Bisaillon * Patrick Bordeleau * Luc Bourdon * Sébastien Charpentier *

Jean-Pierre Dumont Jean-Pierre "J.P." Dumont (born April 1, 1978) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey Forward (hockey), forward who played in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, and Nashville Predators. Dumont ...

* Benoît Dusablon * Simon Gamache * Jacob Gaucher * Julien Gauthier * Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre * Ryan Graves * Maxence Guenette * Samuel Henley * Nathan Légaré * Simon Lajeunesse * Francis Lessard * Kris Letang * Roberto Luongo * Anthony Mantha * Brad Marchand * Jakob Pelletier * Samuel Poulin * Brandon Reid * Anthony Richard * Justin Robidas * Mathieu Roy * Jerome Samson * Maxime Sauvé * Marco Scandella * Jordan Spence * Stéphane Veilleux

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 Maritimes Junior Hockey League teams Sport in Abitibi-Témiscamingue Val-d'Or