When you talk about where a player in the National Hockey league played prior to the professional levels of North American hockey, or hockey in general, the words “junior” or “college” traditionally makes an appearance. For Canadiens, the traditional route is to go to the Canadian Hockey League. The CHL is comprised of three different leagues that primarily span the majority of Canada’s southern provinces, but also have some teams in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Washington, and Oregon. They are the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. One of the teams in the QMJHL is the Gatineau Olympiques, who are just a couple minutes north of the Ontario-Quebec border.
The New York Islanders have two players that hail from Quebec: Anthony Beauvillier, who was born in Sorel-Tracy, and Derick Brassard, who grew up in Hull. Hull is less than ten minutes outside of Gatineau, and Brassard spent his time in youth hockey playing for the Gatineau-based  Gatineau L’Intrépide of the QMAAA. Brassard is a proud Quebec native, and he wanted to make an impact in his hometown and the town he grew up playing hockey in.

Yesterday, the Gatineau Olympiques announced that Brassard, along with businessmen Yan Hébert, and Michel Quesnel, became shareholders of the Olympiques, purchasing a combined 10% stake in the club.
Despite being a Hull, Quebec native, Brassard did not spend his QMJHL years with the Gatineau Olympiques. Brassard played his of junior hockey with the Drummondville Voltigeurs, scoring 75 goals and totaling 218 points in 151 games in the regular season, and added 15 goals and 39 points in 32 playoff games over four seasons with the Voltigeurs. In his rookie season, he won the Michel Bergeron Trophy, the QMJHL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

Derick Brassard has had an amazing NHL career spanning 13 seasons and seven teams, and now he wants to not only continue his career but also help out younger players who are trying to take the same path Brassard did when he was drafted and made his NHL debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2007. Congrats to Brassard, Hébert, and Quesnel for their new endeavors in the Gatineau Olympiques ownership group!

SEF