The Cape Breton Eagles are a Canadian

junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

team in the

Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

(QMJHL) based in

Cape Breton Regional Municipality Cape Breton Regional Municipality (often referred to as simply "CBRM") is the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia's second largest municipality and the economic heart of Cape Breton Island. As of 2021 the municipa ...

, Nova Scotia. They are members of the Maritimes Division, and play their home games at

Centre 200 Centre 200 is Cape Breton Island, Cape Breton's primary sports and entertainment facility, located in Sydney, Nova Scotia. It is home to the QMJHL's Cape Breton Eagles. Besides ice hockey, the arena hosts many other events, such as rock concerts, ...

Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolv ...

History

The franchise was originally granted to the Sorel Éperviers (Black Hawks) for the 1969–70 season. They then moved from Sorel to

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

in 1977 to become the Verdun Éperviers. In 1979, they played in both Sorel and Verdun before moving back to Sorel for the next season. In 1981, they moved to Granby to become the Granby Bisons, and in 1995 changed their names to the Granby Prédateurs. In

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, the Prédateurs won the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

. In 1997, the franchise was relocated to Sydney to become the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Prior to the Eagles' arrival, Sydney played host to the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL)'s

Cape Breton Oilers The Cape Breton Oilers were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The team was the top minor league affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Oilers' organization relocated the team from Hal ...

from 1988 to 1996.

Early years in Cape Breton (1997–1999)

The Screaming Eagles' first captain was Daniel Payette under coach Dany Dubé.

The Vincent era (1999–2008)

In 1999, Pascal Vincent was promoted as the new head coach following the dismissal of Bruce Campbell. The Screaming Eagles attempted to strengthen the club by drafting future

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) star

Ilya Kovalchuk Ilya Valeryevich Kovalchuk (; born 15 April 1983) is a Russian former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), winger. He played for the Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, and Washington Capitals in ...

tenth overall in the 2000

CHL Import Draft The CHL Import Draft is an annual event in which every team in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) may select the rights to eligible import players. An import is classified as a player who does not have residency status in either Canada or the Un ...

. However, Kovalchuk declined to report to the team. Along with star players

Marc-André Fleury Marc-André Fleury (; born November 28, 1984) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender. Drafted out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2003 NHL entry draft, Fleury p ...

, Dominic Noel, Stuart MacRae and Stephen Dixon, the Screaming Eagles reached the QMJHL's conference final in 2002, only to lose in five games to Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Fleury's number 29 jersey went on to be retired by the Screaming Eagles in 2008. Kovalchuk's number 71 was retired in 2014, as an April Fools' Day prank. Vincent stacked the Screaming Eagles lineup with many NHL prospects for the 2003–04 season in hopes of bringing a league title to Cape Breton. After the Screaming Eagles won 49 games and captured a division title, with Fleury also returning from the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

before the playoffs, but the Screaming Eagles lost in the second round to the

Chicoutimi Saguenéens The Chicoutimi Saguenéens are a Canadian junior ice hockey team which plays in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The team is based in Chicoutimi, Quebec, and owned by the City of Saguenay. The team plays its home games at th ...

. At the 2004 QMJHL Draft, the Screaming Eagles chose James Sheppard with the first overall pick. In 2006–07, along with star players Luc Bourdon, Ondrej Pavelec and Oskars Bartulis, Sheppard led the Screaming Eagles to the league semifinals, only to lose in seven games to the

Val-d'Or Foreurs The are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Val-d'Or, in the region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec. They play in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, one of the three component leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The team n ...

. The 2007–08 season saw 16-year-old goaltender Olivier Roy rise to prominence. The Screaming Eagles finished fourth in their division and won their first round playoff series despite having a roster that normally dressed at least ten rookies. Vincent went on to be named the 2008 QMJHL Coach of the Year. Following the end of the season, Vincent became the head coach and general manager of the Montreal Junior Hockey Club.

2010s history (2008–2019)

Following Vincent's departure, assistant coach Mario Durocher took over the role of head coach and general manager. In a bid to host the

in 2012, Durocher added former NHL players Mike McPhee and Guy Chouinard, former NHL coach Pierre Creamer and Michel Boucher to the hockey staff in consulting roles in 2010. Durocher was relieved of his duties on April 12, 2011, after a lackluster season in which the team finished 16th in the league and last in the Atlantic Division with just 41 points. The team's then-head coach Ron Choules replaced Durocher as general manager in April 2011, though the team failed to improve on the ice. After a poor start to the 2012–13 season, Choules himself was fired on December 3, 2012, with former Val-d'Or head coach Marc-André Dumont announced as his replacement. The Screaming Eagles failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in the 2012–13 season. At season's end, assistant coach Jean-François David was fired. After being eliminated in the second round of the 2019 playoffs, the Screaming Eagles fired their coaching staff. Dumont was replaced with Nova Scotia native, Jake Grimes, along with former Eagles alumni Chris Culligan as assistant coach. The team mascot is an eagle named Screech.

Cape Breton Eagles (2019–present)

On August 14, 2019, the team rebranded itself as the Cape Breton Eagles. On November 30, 2021, head coach Jake Grimes resigned as head coach citing personal reasons. He finished with a winning record overall with the club, at 46–34–0–7 record over one-and-a-half seasons but had started the 2021–22 season with a 6–14–0–4 record. The Eagles spent approximately two months with an interim head coach before hiring Chadd Cassidy on January 7, 2022.

Players

Retired numbers

*7 Chris Culligan (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, 2004–2009) *29

(Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, 2000–2004)

NHL alumni

The following players have played in at least one

(NHL) game as of the 2023-24 season: * Luke Adam * Mark Barberio * Oskars Bartulis * Drake Batherson * Clark Bishop * Luc Bourdon * William Carrier * Jean-Philippe Côté * Pierre-Luc Dubois * Giovanni Fiore *

* Ryan Flinn * Martin Houle * Raman Hrabarenka * Ivan Ivan * Tomas Kloucek * Maxime Lagacé * Guillaume Lefebvre * Kevin Mandolese * Adam Pardy * Ondrej Pavelec * Alexandre R. Picard * Tim Ramholt * Logan Shaw * James Sheppard * Egor Sokolov * Evgeny Svechnikov

NHL first round draft picks

List of first round selections in the NHL Entry Draft:

Award winners

List of award winners:

CHL Scholastic Player of the Year The CHL Scholastic Player of the Year Award is awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League player who is best combines success on the ice with success in school. It is chosen from the winners of the constituent league awards; the Daryl K. (D ...

*2007–08: Robert Slaney QMJHL Humanitarian of the Year *2009–10: Nick MacNeil *2022–23: Cam Squires Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy *2003–04: Martin Houle (2.32) *2005–06: Ondrej Pavelec (2.51) *2006–07: Ondrej Pavelec (2.52) Kevin Lowe Trophy *2019–20: Adam McCormick

Luc Robitaille Trophy The Luc Robitaille Trophy is awarded to the team with the best goals for average during the regular season in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The trophy is named after Luc Robitaille, who played three QMJHL seasons with the Hull Olympique ...

*2006–07: Cape Breton (308) Marcel Robert Trophy *2004–05: Guillaume Demers *2007–08: Robert Slaney

Maurice Filion Trophy The Maurice Filion Trophy is awarded annually to the general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P ...

*2006–07: Pascal Vincent

Mike Bossy Trophy The Michael Bossy Trophy ('' French:Trophée Michael Bossy'') is awarded annually to the player in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) judged to be the best professional prospect. The award is named after former New York Islanders fo ...

*2002–03:

Philips Plaque *2001–02: Pierre-Luc Emond Raymond Lagacé Trophy *2005–06: Ondrej Pavelec *2007–08: Olivier Roy

RDS Cup The Sidney Crosby Trophy is awarded annually by the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) to the overall Rookie of the Year. The Cup was known as the Molson Cup from 1991 to 1994, and the New Face Cup from 1994 to 1996. From 1996 to 2025 th ...

*2005–06: Ondrej Pavelec *2007–08: Olivier Roy Robert Lebel Trophy *2003–04: Cape Breton (2.33) Ron Lapointe Trophy *2007–08: Pascal Vincent Telus Cup – Defensive *2002–03: Marc-André Fleury *2004–05: Martin Houle

Season-by-season results

Regular season

QMJHL season standings.
OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss

Playoffs

Due to local travel restrictions, all Nova Scotia-based teams were deemed ineligible to compete in the playoffs. Three New Brunswick-based teams competed in a six-game round-robin tournament to determine who would face the

Charlottetown Islanders The Charlottetown Islanders are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. They are members of the Maritimes Division, and play their home games at the ...

in the Maritimes Division final.

References

External links

Official Site
{{Nova Scotia Sports Sport in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League teams Ice hockey teams in Nova Scotia 1997 establishments in Nova Scotia Ice hockey clubs established in 1997