Gatineau Olympiques

The Gatineau Olympiques are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Gatineau, Quebec, that plays in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Starting with the 2021–22 season, the Olympiques play home games at Centre Slush Puppie, having previously played at the Robert Guertin Centre dating back to its beginnings in the Central Junior A Hockey League. The club, then known as the Hull Festivals, was granted membership in the QMJHL in 1973. The Olympiques have appeared in the Memorial Cup seven times, winning the 1997 Memorial Cup.

History
Before joining the QMJHL, the team was a member of the Central Junior A Hockey League, known originally as the Hull Blackhawks (Les Éperviers de Hull) but later as the Hull Beavers (Les Castors de Hull) and Hull-Volant Junior A. Originally Hull and the CJHL were eligible to compete for the Memorial Cup, the Major Junior crown, but were relegated to Tier II Junior "A" in 1970. The season before joining the QMJHL in 1973 they became the Hull Festivals, and in 1976, they became the Hull Olympiques; the team name was changed to the Gatineau Olympiques one year after the city of Hull was amalgamated into Gatineau in 2002.

The Olympiques share a junior hockey market with the Ottawa 67's, across the Ottawa River. Pre-season games between the two teams were a regular occurrence from 1975 to 1986. The teams have played interleague regular-season home and home games in the 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2009–10 seasons since.

The Olympiques have won the President's Cup seven times, most recently in 2007–08. The team has been to four Memorial Cup finals, losing three (1986, 2003 and 2004) and winning the 1997 Memorial Cup, which they also hosted.

From 1985 until 1992, the Olympiques were owned by Wayne Gretzky; it was under his ownership that the team first adopted black, silver and white as their team colours, similar to those of the Los Angeles Kings, whom Gretzky played for in 1988.

On May 31, 2010, it was announced that former Olympiques coach Benoit Groulx, who had left the organization to coach the Rochester Americans would be returning to be the general manager and head coach.

For the 2011–12 season, the Olympiques returned to the colours of black, silver and white following an eight-year absence.

In 2016, coach Groulx left the Olympiques again to become the head coach of the Syracuse Crunch. He was replaced by Mario Duhamel who would only coach 47 games with a 19–24–4 record. Duhamel was replaced by assistant coach Éric Landry.

Championships
Memorial Cup Canadian Hockey League champions
 * 1986 – Finalist vs. Guelph Platers
 * 1988 – 3rd place in tournament
 * 1995 – 4th place in tournament
 * 1997 – Champions vs. Lethbridge Hurricanes
 * 2003 – Finalist vs. Kitchener Rangers
 * 2004 – Finalist vs. Kelowna Rockets
 * 2008 – 4th place in tournament

President's Cup – League playoff champions
 * 1985–86 – Champions vs. Drummondville Voltigeurs
 * 1987–88 – Champions vs. Drummondville Voltigeurs
 * 1994–95 – Champions vs. Laval Titan Collège Français
 * 1996–97 – Champions vs. Chicoutimi Saguenéens
 * 1998–99 – Finalist vs. Acadie-Bathurst Titan
 * 1999–00 – Finalist vs. Rimouski Océanic
 * 2002–03 – Champions vs. Halifax Mooseheads
 * 2003–04 – Champions vs. Moncton Wildcats
 * 2007–08 – Champions vs. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
 * 2010–11 – Finalist vs. Saint John Sea Dogs

Jean Rougeau Trophy – Regular season champions
 * 1985–86, 1987–88, 1996–97, 2003–04

Division titles – Regular season champions
 * 1985–86, 1987–88, 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2021–22, 2022–23

Coaches
Notable coaches for the Olympiques include, Jean Bégin, Pat Burns, John Chabot, Benoit Groulx, Claude Julien, Bob Mongrain, Marcel Pronovost, Guy Trottier, and Alain Vigneault.

Season-by-season record

 * Hull Hawks (1969–1970)
 * Hull Festivals (1970–1976)
 * Hull Olympiques (1976–2003)
 * Gatineau Olympiques (2003–present)

Regular season
Complete results before 1969 unavailable.
 * OL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss, Pct = Winning percentage

NHL alumni
Lists of National Hockey League alumni. No player from the "Hull Hawks" went on the play in the NHL.


 * Hull Castors (1968–1969)


 * Billy Smith


 * Hull Festivals (1970–1976)


 * Ted Bulley
 * Nelson Burton
 * Richard David
 * André Doré
 * Pierre Giroux
 * Glen Sharpley
 * Brent Tremblay


 * Hull Olympiques (1976–2003)


 * Jeff Allan
 * Joel Baillargeon
 * Yves Beaudoin
 * Francis Bélanger
 * Martin Biron
 * Michel Bolduc
 * Sébastien Bordeleau
 * Martin Brochu
 * Paul Brousseau
 * Benoît Brunet
 * Jim Campbell
 * John Chabot
 * Stéphane Charbonneau
 * Sylvain Côté
 * Jonathan Delisle
 * Matthieu Descoteaux
 * André Doré
 * Christian Dubé
 * Gordie Dwyer
 * Karl Dykhuis
 * Jiri Fischer
 * Steven Fletcher
 * Michel Galarneau
 * Jean-Marc Gaulin
 * Jocelyn Gauvreau
 * Martin Gélinas
 * Martin Gendron
 * Rick Hayward
 * Aleš Hemský
 * Jean-François Labbé
 * Marc LaBelle
 * Mario Larocque
 * Eric Lavigne
 * John LeBlanc
 * Shane MacEachern
 * Don MacLean
 * Paul MacLean
 * Craig Martin
 * Stéphane Matteau
 * Andrew McKim
 * Jan Nemecek
 * Lee Norwood
 * Jason Pominville
 * Stéphane Quintal
 * André Racicot
 * Peter Ratchuk
 * Alain Raymond
 * Stéphane Richer
 * Serge Roberge
 * Luc Robitaille
 * Jeremy Roenick
 * Roberto Romano
 * Pavel Rosa
 * Jean-Marc Routhier
 * Cam Russell
 * Michael Ryder
 * Philippe Sauvé
 * Daniel Shank
 * Martin Simard
 * Maxime Talbot
 * José Théodore
 * Pascal Trepanier
 * Jean-Guy Trudel
 * Sylvain Turgeon
 * Alain Vigneault
 * Radim Vrbata
 * Colin White
 * Peter Worrell


 * Gatineau Olympiques (since 2003)


 * Vitaly Abramov
 * Paul Byron
 * Alexandre Carrier
 * Philippe Dupuis
 * Claude Giroux
 * Mike Hoffman
 * Tomas Hyka
 * David Krejci
 * Tristan Luneau
 * Zack MacEwen
 * Tye McGinn
 * Nicolas Meloche
 * Doug O'Brien
 * Jean-Gabriel Pageau
 * Emile Poirier
 * Joel Rechlicz
 * Maxime Talbot
 * Yakov Trenin
 * Francis Wathier
 * Valentin Zykov

Retired numbers
Ten Olympiques players have had their numbers retired by the team. Former coach Pat Burns has also been honoured.


 * # 10 Jean Poulin
 * # 15 Luc Robitaille
 * # 16 Sam Lang
 * # 20 Martin Gelinas
 * # 24 Colin White
 * # 25 Maxime Talbot
 * # 28 Claude Giroux
 * # 32 Marc Saumier
 * # 33 José Théodore
 * # 77 Guy Rouleau