Shawinigan Cataractes

The Shawinigan Cataractes are a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The team is based out of Shawinigan, Quebec. The Cataractes have been previously known as the Shawinigan Bruins until 1973, and were called the Shawinigan Dynamos from 1973–78.

The Cataractes play their home games at the Centre Bionest de Shawinigan. The former home of the team was Aréna Jacques Plante.

History

Shawinigan was a founding member of the QMJHL in 1969, and is the only team to operate continuously in the same city since then. The team originated in the Quebec Junior Hockey League. The Bruins of 1965–66 were runners-up in the eastern Canadian championship for the George Richardson Memorial Trophy versus the Oshawa Generals.

The 1977–78 Dynamos set a futility record, with 3 wins, 4 ties and 56 losses. In a single game versus Sherbrooke, they allowed a record-breaking 22 goals scored against.

The Cataractes have had good seasons in their history, winning the Jean Rougeau Trophy for most points in the regular season twice (in 1985 and 2001), but have never managed to win the QMJHL championship. Theirs is currently the second-longest drought in the Canadian Hockey League, second only to the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL.

The team has participated in the Memorial Cup tournament once, in 1985, when they were the host team. They managed to make it to the cup final but lost to the Prince Albert Raiders. The Jacques Plante Arena only hosted the first two games of the tournament, as the arena has a large number of support columns in the seating area that made televising the games impossible. The remainder of the tournament was played in Drummondville, Quebec.

The name "Cataractes" often confuses English-speaking hockey fans. The name literally translates as "Cataracts" meaning "Waterfalls"; the team is named for Shawinigan Falls, a prominent waterfall in the city, even though they do not have a waterfall on their uniform. A Quebec Senior Hockey League team operated in the city as the Shawinigan Falls Cataracts (1945–53) and the Shawinigan Cataracts (1954–58). It won the playoffs in the 1954–55 season.

In 2008–09, the Cataractes have established a new franchise record of 15 consecutive wins. They have broken the record previously established during the 1994–95 season.

On December 18, 2008, the Cataractes played their last game at the Jacques Plante Arena.

On December 27, 2008, the Shawinigan Cataractes played the first-ever game in their new state-of-the-art facility, the Centre Bionest de Shawinigan, and the new arena was sold out with 4,112 spectators in attendance. Matthew Pistilli recorded the first goal in the history of the new Centre Bionest de Shawinigan. The Cats won the game 5-1 vs. Junior de Montréal.

The Shawinigan Cataractes have no links with the Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts, a Newfoundland West Coast Senior Hockey League team.

On April 7, 2011, the Shawinigan Cataractes were selected to be the host for the 2012 Memorial Cup.

NHL alumni

Yearly results

• 1969–73 Shawinigan Bruins
• 1973–78 Shawinigan Dynamos
• 1978–present Shawinigan Cataractes

Legend: OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss

^†Seeded 8th in Eastern Division for 2006–07 playoffs.

^††Seeded 5th in Telus Division for 2008–09 playoffs.

External links

• Official Site