What's New

Every time the guide is updated, details will appear on this page.

July 22, 2008: Tim Burns has sent in an interior shot of the Colisée de Laval.

June 8, 2008: New information added to the Baie-Comeau page courtesy a local named Tommy D'Aigle, whom I thank. I've also added an architectural rendering of the future renovations to the Ronald B. Stafford Arena in Plattsburgh.

May 22, 2008: As promised, a new page is now online for Granby. In addition, I've been advised that the rumoured renovations in Val-d'Or are going ahead, and so architectural renderings can now be seen on the page in the "Future Developments" section.

May 21, 2008: New pages are online for both arenas in Plattsburgh - Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena and The Crete Memorial Civic Center, thanks to pictures from Ivan Freedman. Ivan also sent in pictures of Granby, which should be online within the next few days.

April 29, 2008: A profile page for the Colisée de Laval is now online. The picture came from Chris Mayberry, who is disappointed he was not able to get inside.

March 19, 2008: More updates courtesy my outstanding American roadtripper colleagues Andy Ritter and Joe Tasca, who together have provided enough source material to create pages for the Palais des Sports in Sherbrooke and the Pavillon de la Jeunesse in Quebec City. Thanks, gentlemen!

March 16, 2008: Hooray for Andy Ritter of Roaming the Rinks, who recently was in St. Hyacinthe and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and sent me pictures to get a start on those two new pages. So thanks, Andy, and I hope that anyone reading this gives his site a look-see - it's quite well done. In other news, I'm sure most of you have heard of the underwhelmingly boring new uniforms and ridiculously high ticket prices for the new Montreal Fog Devils Juniors. I will be catching one of their games next fall, and I certainly expect to be one of the only ones at the ancient Auditorium. Unless the owners come to their senses regarding the $45 QMJHL tickets, I give it three years, tops.

January 31, 2008: I love the QMJHL website. The blessed souls at Q Central in Boucherville are currently putting every single gamesheet from the league's entire history online. (They're not done, most of the 1990s are missing, but they're coming.) As such, I put my history training to use (finally!) and scanned the directory looking for curiosities. And find them I did! So. Back in February 2007 I apparently drove right by a former home of the Remparts - they played a few dozen odd games in the mid-80's at the Pavillon de la Jeunesse on the Expo-Cite grounds, just a stone's throw away from the Colisée. I also found a pair of one-game regular season curiosities - a 1984 game between Shawinigan and St-Jean played at the Iberville Palladium, and a 1993 game between Verdun and Chicoutimi at the CEGEP de Valleyfield. So, I've got me a few new places to visit next time I'm in la belle province!

January 22, 2008: It's a sad day to be a fan of the Q, and a sad day as an adopted Newfoundlander. The St. John's Fog Devils have been sold and are being moved for the 2008-09 season to Verdun, Quebec. As a fan of the Devils from the year I lived on the Rock, it's a sad day, but not entirely surprising - the team has been screwed by both St. John's Sports and Entertainment and the Q itself for three years, and the Dobbins have obviously decided they can't afford to lose any more money. So on the cards for 2008-09 is a trip to Verdun for sure (I plan to do it and Shawinigan at the same time), and it's looking like my dream of heading back to Newfoundland to see the Devils in front of a packed house isn't likely to ever happen again. Sad.

January 7, 2008: Just an "I'm still here" update today - and unfortunately, it's not exactly good news. Time and financial constraints have conspired to cancel out my planned trip to Gatineau in February, so it's looking like the prognosis for seeing another Q game in 2007-08 is essentially zero. So that blows. However, I always knew that getting to new frontiers was going to be hard for me, and I have already crossed off two Q rinks this season. So I'll say that next year I'll be going to Shawinigan in the fall for sure (have to get to Jacques-Plante before it closes), and in the meantime, keep the fan submissions coming.

October 31, 2007: A massive watermain break at my office building has given me an unexpected day off, so I'm getting caught up on some things I've been meaning to do. I have rewritten the Fog Devils page with the perspective of someone who is now more than a year removed from living on the Blessed Rock. I wasn't happy with the old writeup anymore, so hopefully this new one will be better. Also, construction started on a new arena in Shawinigan in September 2007. Check the Cataractes page for architectural drawings. The new rink is expected to open at the start of December 2008, so you've got a little over a year to see the Q in its oldest and most intimate setting.

October 26, 2007: The profile for Arena Dave Keon in Rouyn-Noranda is now online. Hope you enjoy.

October 24, 2007: The Foreurs page has been updated with a full writeup and pictures from my recent visit. It's an amazing building, and I had a great time in a place that I never expected I would ever get to. In case you missed it, the IceDogs page on the OHL site was updated yesterday, and the montage on the front page of this site is updated as well. The Rouyn-Noranda update should tentatively be online tomorrow.

October 17, 2007: I am leaving for Val-d'Or and Rouyn-Noranda tomorrow. It is going to be awesome.

October 14, 2007: A new writeup of the Colisée de Rimouski from Rhode Islander Joe Tasca, who was there earlier this month. Thanks, Joe!

October 7, 2007: I never really thought about this when I launched this site, but the updates probably aren't going to come that often considering how far away I am from the league. So, this is an "I'm still here" update, with a few notes. First of all, I've hooked up with the former head scout for the Plattsburgh Pioneers, who has been a great source of info on the ill-fated team. The appropriate Q History page has been updated, but a lot of the info will be saved until I someday visit Plattsburgh and make a page for it. Also, I've been sent a picture of the centre ice dot in Rimouski, but I am going to wait to update the montage until after I visit Rouyn and Val in two weeks. Looking forward to my trip immensely!

September 17, 2007: The day after launching the site, my computer's power supply decided to self-destruct. So, apologies to all those who emailed and haven't heard back from me yet - I will respond to everyone within the next few days. In the meantime, a few of the corrections I've been sent are posted.

September 14, 2007: QMJHL Arena & Travel Guide launched, and there was much rejoicing. Welcome to the new site. The goal of this particular site is to provide a record of the history and culture of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as told through its buildings, similar to the old OHL site. If you're looking for anything that used to be on the OHL site, it's probably still there - this place is only for the Q. If you have anything at all to contribute, please send it to email. Finally, although I've proofread the site countless times, I am sure there are still typos and other errors. If you spot one, please let me know.

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