UQTR: They Never Rebuild, They Just Reload

The Patriotes took home their 6th National Title this Spring. (photo from Le Nouvelliste)

In the early 2000’s, “they never rebuild, they just reload” was how Gary Thorne described Boston College following their third national championship in 5 seasons. Fast forward to today, and the same can be said about the University of Quebec Trois-Rivieres. The Patriotes have always been competitive, but since hiring Marc-Etienne Hubert in 2013 the program has been racking up wins like it’s a hobby. Winners of four of the last 5 OUA Tites, and 2 national championships in the same span, the Patriotes have been able to keep the talent rolling in and the win total exploding.

Coming off the latest national championship the Patriotes lost key players including leading scorer Felix Lafrance (1.18 PPG) and goaltender Charles-Antoine Lavallee (2.05 GAA, .906 AV), but that doesn’t seem to be a problem. The summer of recruitment has successfully brought in a new crop of talent including QMJHL Champion Marc-Olivier Beaudry, Louis-Charles Plourde (144 career QMJHL Points) and most recently Trois-Rivieres native Isaac Menard who is returning to the province after spending one season in the NCAA with Alaska-Anchorage. 

The recruitment is all the more impressive considering that the Patriotes don’t technically have a conference but participate in the (Ontario) OUA-East as an associate member. Travel is a slog, and there's no chance of hosting a conference championship, but none of that seems to matter; the Patriotes dominate their Ontario rivals year in and year out. 

Equally impressive is that while Canadian university teams had to deal with the NCAA rule change that caused CHL star power to head South in droves, UQTR never missed a beat. Sure, they lost out on local talent like Louis-Philippe Fontaine, but were still able to secure two-time QMJHL Champion Kassim Gaudet who would chip in a pair of goals during last March’s championship tournament. 

Head Coach Marc-Etienne Hubert has the Patriotes well established on the national scene. (Photo from Le Nouvelliste)

Just as winning brings in more winners, it brings in fans. Consequently, fans bring in winners as well. University Sports in Canada don’t draw like NCAA programs. Where many hockey teams play in small rinks, UQTR is one of the few that plays in an arena. Since 1969, the Patriotes have been drawing respectable crowds at the Jean-Guy Talbot Colisee. This past Winter, despite arctic-like temperatures, they drew a near sellout crowd at their lone game in Trois-Rivieres Winter Classic hockey festival. 

Combined with the on ice results, the box office success has helped the team land the 2027 national championship tournament which will be played across town at the Videotron Coliseum. The move guarantees them a spot in the national title tournament which, yes, helps them further recruit top talent.  

Changes may be coming in the next two years with universities in the province potentially adding enough teams to form a conference. This would pull from the same talent pool that Huber’s Patriotes do, but if the past is any indication, that will only be the next obstacle that gets overcome in Trois-Rivieres. In the meantime, the Patriotes will start their latest title defense on October 9th.