QMJHL’s newest franchise to be named Newfoundland Regiment

The QMJHL is set to unveil the name of its newest franchise, to be known as the Newfoundland Regiment, according to trademark filings posted on SportsLogos.net.

The team moniker reflects the deep military history of Newfoundland and Labrador, while the logo features a navy blue shield behind a large caribou head, paying tribute to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.

The Newfoundland Regiment are a re-creation on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan who will relocate from Bathurst, N.B., to St. John’s, N.L., ahead of the 2025-26 QMJHL season.

The Regiment arrive in St. John’s as the city’s latest local hockey team, with past iterations including the St. John’s Maple Leafs, the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ AHL affiliate that played out of the Newfoundland capital from 1991 to 2005 prior to the team heading west to become the Toronto Marlies.

St. John’s was also home to the QMJHL from 2005-08, with the local team known as the Fog Devils. The team advanced to the QMJHL playoffs in each of its three seasons, with locals having the opportunity to take in future NHLers like New Jersey Devils netminder Jake Allen. In 2008, the team uprooted to Montreal, while a third iteration of the franchise is now known as the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

The AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps then called Newfoundland and Labrador home from 2011-17, a six-year stretch that saw the club hold two different NHL affiliations with the Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets. In 2015, the franchise uprooted to Winnipeg, becoming the Manitoba Moose.

Most recently, St. John’s hosted the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers, the second-tier affiliation of the Maple Leafs. In the Growlers’ inaugural season, the club went 43-21-4-4, later continuing its dominant performance into the postseason in toppling the Toledo Walleye en route to a Kelly Cup championship. Last April, the Growlers ceased operations, citing financial difficulties.