The Sherbrooke Cougars of Collège Champlain are a junior ice hockey team from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. They were part of the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League from 2002 to 2015.
History The Champlain Cougars were founded in the 1970s, and played in collegiate leagues until 2002, when they joined the QJAAAHL in 2002.
The team played its first season as the Lennoxville Cougars, using the W.B. Scott Arena on the Bishop's University campus as their home arena, before moving to Sherbrooke in 2003 to fill in for the departed Sherbrooke Castors who relocated to Lewiston, Maine. In 2012, the Cougars moved out of the Palais des Sports to make way for the Sherbrooke Phoenix. The team now plays in the Thibault GM Complex.
In 2002–03, the Cougars won the Napa Cup as LHJAAAQ champions. They defeated the Longueuil Collège Français in the finals. Lennoxville won the Fred Page Cup by defeating the CJHL's Nepean Raiders in the final and traveled to Charlottetown for the Royal Bank Cup, where they bowed out of the semi-finals to the Camrose Kodiaks of the AJHL.
In 2008 and 2009, the Cougars returned to the Fred Page Cup, but did not make the finals. In 2014, the Cougars played a close series with the Granby Inouk, who lost the series in 7 games. Sherbrooke came close again, against the Longueuil Collège Français in the 2015 Napa Cup finals losing in 7 games, despite leading the series 2-0 and 3–2.
In 2015 the hockey team made a request to return to the re-established collegiate league for the 2016–2017 season. Following acceptance, the Sherbrooke Cougars were expelled by the QJAAAHL, so they would not be able to participate in the draft or play in the 2015–2016 season. The Sherbrooke Cougars were one of the most-dominant teams in the QJAAAHL. The Director of Athletics at Champlain College Lennoxville then made a special request to rejoin the collegiate league for the 2015–2016 season (not the required two-year wait), and it was accepted.
The Champlain Cougars will play all home games at the new arena in the recently renovated John H. Price Sports Complex on campus.
Season-by-season record Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs2002–03 50 41 5 2 2 231 136 86 1st QJAAAHL Won Championship2003–04 50 20 22 5 3 212 205 48 8th QJAAAHL2004–05 48 23 24 0 1 187 166 47 8th QJAAAHL2005–06 51 38 9 0 4 213 146 80 2nd QJAAAHL Lost semi-final2006–07 54 27 24 1 2 204 193 57 7th QJAAAHL Lost quarter-final2007–08 52 34 13 1 4 203 162 73 3rd QJAAAHL Won Championship2008–09 49 34 14 – 1 192 115 69 1st QJAAAHLWon Championship2009–10 51 30 16 – 5 219 173 65 6th QJAAAHL Lost quarter-final2010–11 49 37 9 – 3 231 163 77 1st QJAAAHL Lost semi-final2011–12 49 34 8 – 7 227 143 75 1st QJAAAHL 2012–13 52 27 20 – 5 230 184 59 8th QJAAAHL Lost semi-final2013–14 52 27 20 – 5 230 184 59 3rd QJAAAHL Lost final
External links Cougars Webpage