Gérard Bolduc (August 3, 1906 – March 8, 1993) was 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. He co-founded the

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

in 1960, served as president of the tournament for 15 years, and sought to bring international youth teams 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 play. He was also involved with the

Quebec Amateur Hockey Association 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 ...

and 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 ...

, and was posthumously inducted into the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame.

Early life

Gérard Bolduc was born on August 3, 1906, in

Montmagny, Quebec Montmagny () is a city in the Montmagny Regional County Municipality within the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec. It is the county seat and had a population, as of the Canada 2011 Census, of 11,491. The city is on the south shore of the Sai ...

, to parents Joseph Bolduc and Diana St-Pierre. As a youth, he won medals competing in skiing and

snowshoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...

ing. He later worked as a civil servant in the Government of Quebec overseeing hunting and fishing activities, and also volunteered his time in recreation at the parish of Saints-Martyrs in Quebec City.

Hockey career

Bolduc was an officer in the

during the 1950s, and was chairman of the Quebec District Committee which oversaw the Quebec Hockey School that trained players and referees. He toured with youth teams to tournaments in

Goderich, Ontario Goderich ( or ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario and is the county seat of Huron County. The town was founded by John Galt and William "Tiger" Dunlop of the Canada Company in 1827. First laid out in 1828, the town is named after ...

and

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

, and proposed having a similar event in

to coincide with the annual

Quebec Winter Carnival The Quebec Winter Carnival (french: Carnaval de Québec), commonly known in both English and French as Carnaval, is a pre-Lenten festival held in Quebec City. After being held intermittently since 1894, the ''Carnaval de Québec'' has been celeb ...

. Bolduc collaborated with

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 ...

, Jacques Boissinot, Pat Timmons, and Edmond de la Bruere, to establish the first

, which began on February 20, 1960 at

Quebec Arena Quebec Arena was an indoor ice hockey arena in Quebec City, Quebec. It was built in 1913 and was the home of the Quebec Bulldogs of the NHA and NHL until the team moved to Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provin ...

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

. Bolduc successfully recruited 28 teams to the first tournament, which drew nearly 20,000 spectators. The event proved so popular, that he switched games later in the week to the

Quebec Coliseum 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 ...

, to accommodate the larger crowds. He also set up a recurring donation of each year's proceeds from the tournament to the Patro Roc-Amadour parish. Bolduc served as president of the tournament from 1960 to 1974. He aspired to have teams from around the world at the tournament, and by the 12th event he had recruited teams from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

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, and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. The tournament operated within the festivities of the Quebec Winter Carnival during this time, but later became more autonomous from it in 1977, after Bolduc retired. His contributions to the tournament were chronicled in the book ''The story of a fantastic tournament: which each year makes the Quebec Coliseum vibrate during the Winter Carnival'' by Jacques Revelin, published in 1969. In 1969, Bolduc was one of the founders of the

Later life and legacy

Bolduc died on March 8, 1993, in

Saint-Romuald, Quebec Saint-Romuald is a district within the Les Chutes-de-la-Chaudière-Est borough of Lévis, Quebec, Canada, located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from Quebec City. The district was formerly a town (Saint-Romuald d'Etchemin) ...

. He frequently wore a

Tyrolean hat The Tyrolean hat (german: Tirolerhut, it, cappello alpino), also Bavarian hat or Alpine hat, is a type of headwear that originally came from the Tyrol in the Alps, in what is now part of Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. It is an essenti ...

. He is the namesake of the Gérard Bolduc trophy, awarded to the winning team of the pee-wee tournament's AA division from 1965 to 2001. He was named Man of the Year in 1973 by the

Molson Brewery The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its Ca ...

, and was honoured in the Circle of Molson Builders. He was posthumously inducted into the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolduc, Gérard 1906 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Canadian civil servants Canadian sports builders Canadian sports executives and administrators French Quebecers Ice hockey people from Quebec People from Lévis, Quebec People from Montmagny, Quebec Quebec civil servants Quebec Remparts