# Moncton Wildcats

The Moncton Wildcats are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Moncton, New Brunswick. The franchise was granted for the 1995–96 season, and were known as the Moncton Alpines for one season prior to rebranding as the Wildcats. The team played at the Moncton Coliseum from 1995 until 2018, and moved into the Avenir Centre prior to the 2018–19 season. After winning the 2005–06 QMJHL championship, the team hosted the 2006 Memorial Cup and reached the final game. The Wildcats also won the league championship in 2009–10, which sent the team to compete at the 2010 Memorial Cup in Brandon, Manitoba where they were eliminated from contention after going winless in the round-robin portion of the tournament.

## History

The Moncton Alpines joined the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for the 1995–96 season. They played for one season under the ownership of racing driver John Graham and coached by Lucien DeBlois. The franchise was purchased by Robert Irving in May 1996, and renamed to the Moncton Wildcats with new uniforms and logo.
Moncton hosted the 2006 Memorial Cup. The team hired former NHL coach of the year Ted Nolan, and acquired players such as Keith Yandle, and various rookies. The Wildcats finished in first place in the league, going 52-15-0-3 for 107 points and winning the Jean Rougeau Trophy for the first time. The Wildcats defeated the Quebec Remparts to the President's Cup. In the Memorial Cup, Moncton finished second in the round-robin after defeating Peterborough and Vancouver but losing to Quebec. The Wildcats defeated the Giants in the semi-final, but lost to the Remparts 6-2 in the Memorial Cup final.

## Coaches

* 1995–1996 Lucien DeBlois: 14–48–8–0
* 1996–1997 Bill Riley: 16–52–2–0
* 1997–2000 Réal Paiement: 111–77–21–3
* 2000–2001 Tom Coolen (Fired in November 2001): 43–82–10–9
* 2001–2005 Christian La Rue (Fired in January 2005): 126–91–21–0
* 2005 Daniel Lacroix: 8–8–5
* 2005–2006 Ted Nolan: 52–15–0–3
* 2006–2007 John Torchetti: 39–25–4–2
* 2007–2013 Danny Flynn: 222–151–47
* 2013–2019 Darren Rumble (Fired in January 2019): 33–32–0–3
* 2019 John Torchetti (Fired in December 2019): 24–9–0
* 2019–2024 Daniel Lacroix: 138–103–15–9
* 2024–present Gardiner MacDougall

## Players
### Retired numbers

* 29 Corey Crawford (Moncton Wildcats, 2001–2005)

### NHL alumni

The following players have played in at least one National Hockey League (NHL) game as of the 2023-24 season:
* Dmitry Afanasenkov
* Evgeny Artyukhin
* Jean-Sébastien Aubin
* Ivan Barbashev
* Mark Barberio
* Oskars Bārtulis
* François Beauchemin
* Steve Bernier
* Luc Bourdon
* Gabriel Bourque
* Corey Crawford
* Pierre Dagenais
* Jean-François Damphousse
* Phillip Danault
* Jason Demers
* Nicolas Deschamps
* Louis Domingue
* Philippe Dupuis
* Jonathan Ferland
* Gabriel Fortier
* Conor Garland
* Jonathan Girard
* Brandon Gormley
* Benoit-Olivier Groulx
* Dmitrij Jaškin
* Ross Johnston
* Dmitri Kalinin
* Mārtiņš Karsums
* Simon Lajeunesse
* Andrew MacDonald
* Zack MacEwen
* Brad Marchand
* Johnny Oduya
* Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau
* Jakob Pelletier
* Adam Pineault
* Jean-François Racine
* Jérôme Samson
* David Savard
* Zack Sill
* Jordan Spence
* Alexei Tezikov
* Patrick Thoresen
* Vladimir Tkachev
* Josh Tordjman
* Keith Yandle

### NHL first round draft picks

List of first round selections in the NHL Entry Draft:
| Year | # | Player | Nationality | NHL team |
| 1997 | 24 | Jean-François Damphousse (G) | Canada | New Jersey Devils |
| 2003 | 16 | Steve Bernier (RW) | Canada | San Jose Sharks |
| 2010 | 13 | Brandon Gormley (D) | Canada | Phoenix Coyotes |
| 2019 | 26 | Jakob Pelletier (LW) | Canada | Calgary Flames |

## Season-by-season results

* 1995–96 Moncton Alpines
* 1996–present Moncton Wildcats

### Regular season

OTL = Overtime loss SL = Shootout loss
| Season | Games | Won | Lost | Tied | OTL | SL | Points | Pct % | Goals For | Goals Against | Standing |
| 1995–96 | 70 | 14 | 48 | 8 | – | – | 36 | 0.257 | 215 | 360 | 7th in Dilio |
| 1996–97 | 70 | 16 | 52 | 2 | – | – | 34 | 0.243 | 192 | 354 | 7th in Dilio |
| 1997–98 | 70 | 39 | 32 | 9 | – | – | 67 | 0.479 | 240 | 229 | 4th in Dilio |
| 1998–99 | 70 | 38 | 25 | 7 | – | – | 81 | 0.593 | 257 | 235 | 4th in Dilio |
| 1999–2000 | 72 | 44 | 20 | 5 | 3 | – | 96 | 0.646 | 292 | 211 | 1st in Maritimes |
| 2000–01 | 72 | 23 | 41 | 6 | 2 | – | 54 | 0.361 | 246 | 323 | 4th in Maritimes |
| 2001–02 | 72 | 20 | 41 | 4 | 7 | – | 51 | 0.306 | 214 | 287 | 4th in Maritimes |
| 2002–03 | 72 | 37 | 20 | 10 | 5 | – | 89 | 0.583 | 255 | 216 | 3rd in Maritimes |
| 2003–04 | 70 | 46 | 19 | 3 | 2 | – | 97 | 0.679 | 270 | 206 | 2nd in Atlantic |
| 2004–05 | 70 | 37 | 23 | 8 | 2 | – | 84 | 0.586 | 206 | 175 | 2nd in Atlantic |
| 2005–06 | 70 | 52 | 15 | – | 0 | 3 | 107 | 0.776 | 345 | 184 | 1st in East |
| 2006–07 | 70 | 39 | 25 | – | 4 | 2 | 84 | 0.557 | 254 | 263 | 3rd in East |
| 2007–08 | 70 | 21 | 34 | – | 5 | 10 | 57 | 0.300 | 191 | 242 | 8th in East |
| 2008–09 | 68 | 48 | 14 | – | 2 | 4 | 102 | 0.706 | 236 | 149 | 1st in East |
| 2009–10 | 68 | 48 | 14 | – | 2 | 4 | 102 | 0.706 | 276 | 164 | 2nd in Atlantic |
| 2010–11 | 68 | 33 | 25 | – | 3 | 7 | 76 | 0.485 | 232 | 256 | 3rd in Maritimes |
| 2011–12 | 68 | 30 | 31 | – | 3 | 4 | 67 | 0.441 | 190 | 228 | 4th in Maritimes |
| 2012–13 | 68 | 42 | 23 | – | 2 | 1 | 87 | 0.640 | 274 | 202 | 2nd in Telus Maritimes |
| 2013–14 | 68 | 33 | 32 | – | 0 | 2 | 69 | 0.507 | 214 | 226 | 3rd in Telus Maritimes |
| 2014–15 | 68 | 46 | 19 | – | 0 | 3 | 95 | 0.699 | 287 | 232 | 1st in Maritimes |
| 2015–16 | 68 | 36 | 21 | – | 9 | 2 | 83 | 0.610 | 268 | 250 | 2nd in Maritimes |
| 2016–17 | 68 | 14 | 51 | – | 2 | 1 | 31 | 0.228 | 170 | 356 | 6th in Maritimes |
| 2017–18 | 68 | 27 | 33 | – | 5 | 3 | 62 | 0.456 | 233 | 282 | 5th in Maritimes |
| 2018–19 | 68 | 38 | 21 | – | 4 | 5 | 85 | 0.625 | 274 | 222 | 4th in Maritimes |
| 2019–20 | 64 | 50 | 13 | – | 1 | 0 | 101 | 0.789 | 276 | 148 | 1st in Maritimes |
| 2020–21 | 31 | 11 | 17 | – | 2 | 1 | 25 | 0.403 | 105 | 136 | 5th in Maritimes |
| 2021–22 | 68 | 28 | 31 | – | 6 | 3 | 65 | 0.478 | 208 | 273 | 5th in Maritimes |
| 2022–23 | 68 | 35 | 29 | – | 2 | 2 | 74 | 0.544 | 255 | 249 | 2nd in Maritimes |
| 2023–24 | 68 | 38 | 23 | – | 4 | 3 | 83 | 0.610 | 274 | 231 | 2nd in Maritimes |

### Playoffs

| Season | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | Finals |
| 1995–96 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1996–97 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1997–98 | W, 4–2, Chicoutimi | 3rd, round-robin, Quebec/Rimouski | | |
| 1998–99 | L, 0–4, Rimouski | | | |
| 1999–2000 | W, 4–0, Acadie–Bathurst | W, 4–3, Quebec | L, 1–4, Rimouski | |
| 2000–01 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2001–02 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2002–03 | L, 2–4, Quebec | | | |
| 2003–04 | W, 4–0, Baie-Comeau | W, 4–2, P.E.I. | W, 4–1, Rimouski | L, 1–4, Hull |
| 2004–05 | W, 4–2, Drummondville | L, 2–4, Rouyn-Noranda | | |
| 2005–06 | W, 4–1, Victoriaville | W, 4–1, Halifax | W, 4–1, Gatineau | W, 4–2, Quebec |
| 2006–07 | L, 3–4, Halifax | | | |
| 2007–08 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2008–09 | W, 4–1, P.E.I. | L, 2–4, Rimouski | | |
| 2009–10 | W, 4–1, Cape Breton | W, 4–1, Rouyn-Noranda | W, 4–1, Drummondville | W, 4–2, Saint John |
| 2010–11 | L, 1–4, Lewiston | | | |
| 2011–12 | L, 0–4, Halifax | | | |
| 2012–13 | L, 1–4, Victoriaville | | | |
| 2013–14 | L, 2–4, Blainville-Boisbriand | | | |
| 2014–15 | W, 4–1, Chicoutimi | W, 4–3, Halifax | L, 0–4, Quebec | |
| 2015–16 | W, 4–1, Victoriaville | W, 4–2, Gatineau | L, 2–4, Rouyn-Noranda | |
| 2016–17 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2017–18 | W, 4–3, Rimouski | L, 1–4, Blainville-Boisbriand | | |
| 2018–19 | W, 4–3, Baie-Comeau | L, 0–4, Halifax | | |
| 2019–20 | QMJHL playoffs cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic | QMJHL playoffs cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic | QMJHL playoffs cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic | QMJHL playoffs cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2020–21 | Lost round-robin tournament | | | |
| 2021–22 | L, 0–3, Charlottetown | | | |
| 2022–23 | W, 4–3, Baie-Comeau | L, 1–4, Halifax | | |
| 2023–24 | L, 0–4, Chicoutimi | | | |

### Memorial Cup

The Memorial Cup is contested annually by the champions of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), and Western Hockey League (WHL), as well as a predetermined host team. The competition consists of a round-robin, a semifinal game, and a final game. Below are the results of every game the Moncton Wildcats have competed in.
| Year | Round-robin | Semifinal | Final |
| 2006 | W, 3–2 Vancouver Giants W, 4–2 Peterborough Petes L, 3–4 Quebec Remparts | W, 3–1 Vancouver Giants | L, 2–6 Quebec Remparts |
| 2010 | L, 4–5 Calgary Hitmen L, 0–4 Brandon Wheat Kings L, 3–4 Windsor Spitfires | | |
* ↑ Host team