Pionniers de Chamonix Mont-Blanc

The Pionniers de Chamonix Mont-Blanc (Chamonix Mont-Blanc Pioneers) are a French ice hockey team based in Chamonix, Haute-Savoie. They play in the country's top tier, the Ligue Magnus. For their inaugural 2016–17 season, they were known as Pionniers de Chamonix-Morzine.
==History==
===Origins===
In 2016, France's Ligue Magnus adopted an expanded schedule and cut its number of teams from 14 to 12. The league's two Haute-Savoie clubs, the Chamois de Chamonix and the Pingouins de Morzine-Avoriaz, decided to merge their respective professional teams in order to better face the economic and competitive challenges presented by the new setup. The result of that fusion was a joint team called the Pionniers, splitting its home games between Chamonix and Morzine-Avoriaz. The amateur sections remained separate and retained the Chamois and Pingouins names.
While both towns are located within the same department, they are not particularly close, with Chamonix nested in the Mont Blanc massif and Morzine-Avoriaz part of the Chablais region. Following negotiations between the two municipalities, it was agreed that Chamonix would be the united team's training base for its inaugural season, as well as the owner of its league franchise.
===2016-17 season===
The precarious balance between the two organizations was quickly challenged when the new Pionniers limped out of the gate to a dismal record.
Mid-February 2017, head coach Stéphane Gros was dismissed as the team was dead last in the standings. The move was not unexpected from a sporting standpoint, but it further aggravated the Morzine-Avoriaz side as Gros had previous ties to their club, while his replacement Christophe Ville was viewed as a Chamonix man. The Pioneers still finished the season in last place and Morzine-Avoriaz renounced the partnership after a single season.
===Aftermath===
As the fusion agreement was more protective of Chamonix's interests, Morzine-Avoriaz suffered the most damaging fallout. Chamonix kept the organization's trademarks and visual identity, and most importantly its position in the French hockey rankings. While their twelfth-place finish should have sent them to the lower division, they ended up being saved from relegation by the withdrawal of Dijon from the Ligue Magnus.
Morzine-Avoriaz on the other hand returned to its previous identity, the Penguins, and had to start all over at the country's fourth level, the Division 3, in 2017–18.
==Roster== 
Updated February 5, 2019.
Goaltenders	Goaltenders	Goaltenders 	Goaltenders	Goaltenders	Goaltenders
Number 	 	Player 	Catches 	Acquired 	Place of Birth
29 	 	Lucas Mugnierl	L 	2018 	Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France
33 	 	Richard Sabol 	L 	2017 	Prešov, Slovakia
Defencemen	Defencemen	Defencemen 	Defencemen	Defencemen	Defencemen 	Defencemen
Number 	 	Player 	Shoots 	Acquired 	Place of Birth 	
4 	 	Geoff Fortman 	R 	2018 	Crystal Lake, United States 	
5 	 	Colin Sullivan 	R 	2018 	Milford, United States 	
25 	 	Jérémie Penz 	L 	2016 	Sallanches, France 	
32 	 	Numa Bessone (C)	L 	2012 	Sallanches, France 	
44 	 	Maks Selan 	L 	2018 	Jesenice, Slovenia 	
45 	 	Vojtech Kloz 	L 	2018 	Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic	
57 	 	Jiri Klimicek 	L 	2018 	Ostrava, Czech Republic 	
94 	 	Clément Mermoux 	R 	2018 	Sallanches, France 	
Forwards	Forwards	Forwards 	Forwards	Forwards	Forwards	Forwards
Number 	 	Player 	Shoots 	Position	Acquired	Place of Birth
12 	 	Perry D'Arrisso 	R 	RW 	2018 	Mississauga, Canada
14 	 	Adrien Glévéau 	R 	RW 	2017 	Sallanches, France
16 	 	Julien Laplace 	L 	C 	2017 	Annecy, France
17 	 	Fabien Kazarine 	L 	LW/RW 	2018 	Compiègne, France
20 	 	Cody Freeman 	L 	RW 	2018 	Markham, Canada
22 	 	Quentin Fauchon 	R 	RW 	2018 	Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France
27 	 	Benjamin Lagarde 	L 	LW 	2018 	Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec, Canada
33 	 	Mathieu Briand 	L 	C 	2018 	Saint-Pierre, Saint Pierre and Miquelon
40 	 	Erik Higby 	L 	C 	2018 	New Braunfels, United States
54 	 	Scott Jacklin (A) 	L 	C/LW 	2018 	Kimberley, Canada
55 	 	Henric Andersén (A)	R 	RW 	2017 	Grums, Sweden
72 	 	Loïc Coulaud 	R 	RW 	2018 	Gap, France
77 	 	Maxence Leroux 	R 	C/RW 	2018 	Melun, France
==References==
Category:Ice hockey teams in France
Category:Ice hockey clubs established in 2016