Gilles Courteau (born October 7, 1957) is a Canadian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

administrator who has served as the president of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The ...

(QMJHL) since 1986, and is also a vice-president of the Canadian Hockey League. During his tenure as president, the QMJHL has expanded from 10 teams in Quebec only, to 18 teams and now includes Atlantic Canada. He implemented English as the language of instruction, and maintains the need for the league to provide education and player assistance. Courteau previously worked for the

Trois-Rivières Draveurs The Trois-Rivières Draveurs ("Raftmen") were a Canadian junior ice hockey team playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). They played home games at the Colisée de Trois-Rivières, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The team was origina ...

, the

Quebec Remparts There have been two junior ice hockey franchises known as the Quebec Remparts (french: Remparts de Québec) that played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The first edition played from 1969 to 1985; the current franchise has pla ...

, the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

, and was inducted into the

Hockey Québec Hockey Québec is the governing body of all ice hockey in Quebec, Canada. Hockey Québec is a branch of Hockey Canada. History Hockey Québec was organized in 1976 to take over from the various organizations governing hockey in Quebec. Hockey Q ...

Hall of Fame in 2016.

Early hockey career

Courteau was born on October 7, 1957, in

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. He began his career in hockey as a statistician for the

from 1975 to 1977. He worked with head coach Michel Bergeron for two seasons. Team owner Sylvain Cinq-Mars recommended Courteau apply for a similar position with the league after league president

Paul Dumont Paul Dumont (June 15, 1920 – April 9, 2008) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He was associated with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from its founding in 1969 to 1984. He served as the general manager of the Quebec Rempar ...

opened an administration office in the

Colisée de Québec Colisée de Québec (later known as Colisée Pepsi) is a defunct multi-purpose arena located in Quebec City, Quebec. It was the home of the Quebec Nordiques from 1972 to 1995, during their time in the World Hockey Association and National Hockey ...

. Courteau worked as a general administrator for the QMJHL from 1977 to 1980. He later became general manager of the

from 1980 to 1985 after the departure of Martin Madden. Courteau also served as a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

agent for the

from 1983 to 1985. When the original Quebec Remparts relocated in 1985, Courteau returned to working for the QMJHL as the administrative director.

QMJHL president

Courteau became president of the

(QMJHL) on February 13, 1986. He was appointed interim president upon the resignation of Guy Morissette, and remained as the tenth and longest-serving league president. He took on the added role of QMJHL commissioner in September 2001, is also a vice-president of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), and represents the CHL on the junior council of Hockey Canada. When Courteau took over in the 1985–86 QMJHL season, the league had ten teams and an office staff of three full-time employees; as of the

2014–15 QMJHL season The 2014–15 QMJHL season is the 46th season of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The regular season consisted of eighteen teams playing 68 games each, beginning on September 10, 2014, and ending on March 22, 2015. Regular season st ...

, the league had eighteen teams and a staff of twenty full-time employees. He led expansion into Atlantic Canada, starting with Halifax in the 1994–95 QMJHL season, which Courteau says is one of his biggest accomplishments as president. The decision was successful in allowing new owners and respected businessmen to join the league, raise expectations and the league profile, and increase the average worth of each franchise to $4.5 million in 2015. The growth allowed Courteau to negotiate a 12-year extension for QMJHL television rights with

TVA Sports TVA Sports is a Canadian French-language sports specialty channel owned by the Groupe TVA, a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The channel is a general-interest sports network, and the first major competitor to RDS, the only other ...

and Sportsnet networks, and established

revenue sharing Revenue sharing is the distribution of revenue, the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services among the stakeholders or contributors. It should not be confused with profit shares, in which scheme only the profit is share ...

to help smaller market teams. In the early 2000s, Courteau directed the league's coaches to speak English instead of French during practice, in locker rooms, and during games, in response to the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

's concern that players from Quebec did not speak the language well enough to play at professional levels. He was criticized in Quebec's French language media, but defended his decision as it prepared athletes for professional leagues that only use English. He also implemented French language courses for athletes with English as a first language, to help adapt to being billeted in French and attending local schools. In response to the

class action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

lawsuit against the CHL regarding the status of its players with respect to the

minimum wage in Canada Under the Constitution of Canada, the responsibility for enacting and enforcing labour laws, including the minimum wage, rests primarily with the ten Provinces of Canada. The three Territories of Canada have a similar power, delegated to them by f ...

, Courteau said that its players are not employees, but are student athletes. He successfully lobbied for amendments to labour standards in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, and

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

, and as of June 2018 is negotiating with the Quebec government. Courteau said that if players were paid a weekly salary, they would be less likely to continue schooling. He says the league's priority is to oversee players, ensure they have housing, food, education, hockey equipment, and receive a weekly stipend. He also stated that the league spends $75,000 per player each year including tuition and tutoring, and is more akin to a scholarship than a salary. He introduced a player assistance program in 2012 to help with on-ice and off-ice issues for players, and wants to maintain the trust of players and parents, as part of his own extended family. Courteau has maintained the status quo on not releasing numbers of concussions in the QMJHL, due to confidentiality of medical records, but has stated that the CHL may adopt a policy on the disclosure of statistics in the future. He also stated that the CHL has considered a possible renaming of the QMJHL, but that there are issues regarding branding and broadcasting. In December 2022, Courteau, announced that he will retire from the QMJHL in May 2024.

Honours and awards

Courteau received a commendation from Minister of Veterans Affairs of Canada for his role in establishing a veterans' week throughout the QMJHL in 2010. Courteau was inducted into the

Hall of Fame on June 11, 2016.

Personal life

Courteau coached baseball in Trois-Rivières in 1975. He worked at the CIP

pulp and paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

in Trois-Rivières, before relocating to

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

to follow a hockey career. After the QMJHL relocated to Boucherville, Courteau became a resident of

Varennes, Quebec Varennes is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada, on the Saint Lawrence River in the Marguerite-D'Youville Regional County Municipality. The city is approximately from Downtown Montreal. The population as of the Cana ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courteau, Gilles 1957 births Canadian Hockey League executives Canadian public relations people Canadian sports executives and administrators French Quebecers Hockey Canada personnel Ice hockey people from Quebec Living people Papermakers People from Varennes, Quebec Quebec Major Junior Hockey League executives Quebec Nordiques executives Quebec Remparts Sportspeople from Trois-Rivières