QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan relocation to St. John’s expected to pass vote at upcoming board of governors meeting

One of the longstanding franchises in junior hockey is expected to be on the move.

According to Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek, the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s Board of Governors is expected to vote this week in favor of selling and eventually relocating the Acadie-Bathurst Titan to a group in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

This will be the first franchise relocation in the QMJHL since the defunct Lewiston Maineiacs were resurrected in 2012, becoming the Sherbrooke Phoenix. It will be the first QMJHL franchise in St. John’s since the St. John’s Fog moved to Verdun in 2008, becoming the Montreal Junior Hockey Club (now known as the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada).

The Titan have called the city of Bathurst, New Brunswick home since the franchise relocated from Laval in 1998. They have since won the President’s Cup twice–1999 and 2018. Led by future NHLers Noah Dobson and Jeffrey Viel, the team went on to win the Memorial Cup in 2018.

There were some relocation conversations surrounding the franchise over the last decade or so. In 2009, the team was given a 30-day relocation application extension. However, the team stuck around after a pair of sales, including a group of local investors, headlined by Philadelphia Flyers star Sean Couturier, in April 2013.

Other notable alumni include former Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron and Hendrix Lapierre of the Washington Capitals system.

The province of Newfoundland has been without a top-tier hockey team since the Newfoundland Growlers, formerly of the ECHL, abruptly ceased operations near the end of the 2023-24 regular season due to bankruptcy after over five years of operation. St. John’s has been the home for many pro hockey teams over the years. The Toronto Maple Leafs had their American Hockey League affiliate in the city, then known as the St. John’s Maple Leafs from 1991-2005. The Manitoba Moose would relocate to St. John’s, becoming the IceCaps, serving as the Winnipeg Jets’ premier farm team from 2011-15. The Montreal Canadiens would take over from 2015-17 before relocating the franchise to Laval.

Currently, Titan has a 17-11-0 record, sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference.