The Sherbrooke Castors or Beavers (in English) was the name of two different

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 ...

teams in the

Quebec Major 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 ...

and another team in the Quebec Eastern Provincial Hockey League. Both later franchises played at the Palais des Sports in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada.

Earlier Castors

The earlier Sherbrooke Beavers were a

senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose junior ice hockey, Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate un ...

team which won the 1965 Allan Cup, and previously played in the Quebec Eastern Provincial Hockey League, an amateur league and team from 1959 to 1962.

Original Castors

The Sherbrooke Castors (1969-1982) moved to

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal, located roughly halfway between Montreal and the Canada–United States border with the state of Vermont. It is sit ...

in 1982, named the Saint-Jean Castors. In 1989 they were renamed the Saint-Jean Lynx. In 1995 the team moved to

Rimouski Rimouski ( ; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski, whose motto is ''Legi patrum fidelis'' (Faithful to ...

to become the Rimouski Océanic. This original Castors franchise won the President's Cup in 1975, 1977 and 1982. The second incarnation never won. The Castors played in 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 those three years, and came closest to winning in 1982, when they lost in the tournament final to the

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

. On November 24, 1974 on the way to a game in

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi ( , ) is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and ...

; the team's bus was involved in an accident that killed Gaétan Paradis, and injured 30 more.Deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash brings up memories of 1974 Quebec tragedy
/ref>

Sherbrooke Faucons/Castors

The second Sherbrooke Castors team (1998-2003), originally the Trois-Rivières Draveurs, franchise moved to Sherbrooke in 1992 as the Sherbrooke Faucons ("Falcons"). The Faucons were renamed to Castors in 1998 and moved to

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ) is the List of municipalities in Maine, second most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine, with the city's population at 37,121 as of the 2020 United States census. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, Augusta, the sta ...

in 2003, to be renamed the Lewiston Maineiacs. The Maineiacs folded in 2011, and the City of Sherbrooke received an expansion franchise in 2012 in the form of the Sherbrooke Phoenix.

NHL alumni

The following Castors/Faucons later played in the

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 ...

: * Dmitry Afanasenkov * Norm Aubin * Alain Belanger * Yves Bélanger * Serge Boisvert * Paul Boutilier * Fred Burchell * Claude Cardin *

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy Awards, and is also a Cello, cellist who has reco ...

* John Chabot * Dan Chicoine * Rejean Cloutier * Jean Cusson * Claude Cyr * Mathieu Dandenault * Gord Donnelly * Gilles Dube * Norm Dube * Norm Dussault * Jean-Francois Fortin * Ray Fortin * Gerard Gallant * Jean-Marc Gaulin * Jere Gillis * Alan Haworth * Pierre Jarry * Brian Johnson * Claude Larose * Fern LeBlanc * Rejean Lemelin * Jean Lemieux * Mario Lessard * Gilles Lupien * Drew MacIntyre * Jimmy Mann * Peter Marsh * Sean McKenna * Corrado Micalef * Richard Mulhern * Simon Nolet * Michel Petit * Noel Picard * Roger Picard * Pascal Rheaume * Dany Sabourin * Richard Sévigny * Bobby Simpson * Claude St. Sauveur * Radoslav Suchy * Jocelyn Thibault * Rick Vaive * Sid Veysey * Kurt Walker

References

{{Authority control Defunct Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League teams Castors Ice hockey clubs established in 1969 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1982 Ice hockey clubs established in 1998 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2003 1969 establishments in Quebec 1982 disestablishments in Quebec 1998 establishments in Quebec 2003 disestablishments in Quebec Defunct ice hockey teams in Quebec