Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey


The Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey is a professional ice hockey league based in the Canadian province of Quebec. Teams in the LNAH compete for the Vertdure Cup.

History

The league was founded as the Quebec Semi-Pro Hockey League in 1996, and became fully professional and assumed its current name in 2004. It reached its peak in terms of number of teams that season, with ten.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019-20 playoffs were suspended and never concluded; Thetford Assurancia was the regular season champion. The league had hoped to start the 2021 season in January, but announced in November 2020 that it would not be going forward with one.

League play

Unlike higher-level minor professional leagues, such as the American Hockey League or the ECHL, the LNAH is not known for its skill level. Its teams employ many enforcers and has a rather infamous reputation for on-ice antics, primarily fisticuffs. The LNAH has a reputation as the world's toughest hockey league; a New York Times article stated that the league averaged 3.2 fights a game during the 2010–11 season, compared with 0.6 fights in the National Hockey League.
Despite this reputation, many of the players have been ex-National Hockey League or ex-American Hockey League players, including Patrick Côté, Michel Picard, Stéphane Richer, Bobby Dollas, Guillaume Lefebvre, Garrett Burnett, Daniel Shank, François Leroux, Jeremy Stevenson, Éric Fichaud, Mario Roberge, David Gosselin, Michel Ouellet, Jesse Bélanger, Donald Brashear, Yves Racine, Anthony Stewart and Juraj Kolník. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, some NHL players -- such as Sylvain Blouin, Donald Brashear, Sébastien Caron, Mathieu Biron, Marc-André Bergeron and Sébastien Charpentier -- played the entire season in the LNAH. This is abetted by the absence of a veteran limit rule which allows teams to stock up on experienced players.
The 15-round LNAH Draft is held during the summer. Players too old for junior ice hockey may be drafted even if they were already drafted by an NHL team. The league has had a rule that stipulates that all players must either have come from or played junior hockey in Quebec, though it has not been strictly used for LNAH teams based outside Quebec.

Teams

Current

TeamCityArenaJoined
Jonquière MarquisSaguenay, Quebec1996
Laval PétroliersLaval, QuebecColisée de Laval2018
Rivière-du-Loup 3LRivière-du-Loup, Quebec2008
Saint-Georges Cool FM 103.5Saint-Georges, QuebecCentre Sportif Lacroix-Dutil1996
Sorel-Tracy ÉperviersSorel-Tracy, QuebecColisée Cardin1996
Thetford AssuranciaThetford Mines, QuebecCentre Mario Gosselin1996
Saint-Hyacinthe BataillonSaint-Hyacinthe, QuebecStade Louis-Philippe-Gaucher2024
National de QuébecL'Ancienne-Lorette, QuebecComplexe Sportif Bonair2024

; Notes

Timeline


DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
ImageSize = width:950 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:01/01/1996 till:06/17/2025
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5
Colors =
id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:skyblue from:07/01/1996 till:06/01/2001 text:Acton Vale Nova/Beaulieu
bar:1 color:skyblue from:07/01/2001 till:07/01/2009 text:Saint-Hyacinthe Cousin/Cristal/Top Design/Chiefs
bar:2 color:skyblue from:07/01/1996 till:06/01/1997 shift: text:H-Rich.
bar:2 color:skyblue from:07/01/1997 till:06/01/1998 text:Iberville
bar:2 color:skyblue from:07/01/1998 till:06/01/2001 shift: text:Saint-Laurent
bar:2 color:skyblue from:07/01/2001 till:07/01/2006 text:Verdun/Verdun-Montreal Dragons
bar:3 color:skyblue from:07/01/1996 till:06/01/1999 text:Lachute Rapides
bar:3 color:skyblue from:07/01/1999 till:06/01/2003 text:LaSalle Rapides
bar:4 color:skyblue from:07/01/1996 till:06/01/1997 shift: text:L'tides
bar:4 color:skyblue from:07/01/1997 till:06/01/1998 text:St-Thérèse
bar:4 color:skyblue from:07/01/1998 till:06/01/2006 shift: text:Laval Chiefs/Summum Chiefs
bar:4 color:skyblue from:07/01/2006 till:06/01/2008 text:St-Jean Chiefs
bar:4 color:yellow from:07/01/2008 till:end shift: text:Saguenay/Jonquière 98.3/Marquis
bar:5 color:skyblue from:07/01/1996 till:06/01/1997 text:Louiseville Jets
bar:6 color:skyblue from:07/01/1996 till:06/01/2004 text:Pont-Rouge Grand Portneuf/Caron et Guay
bar:6 color:skyblue from:07/01/2004 till:06/01/2018 text:Trois-Rivières Caron et Guay/Vikings/Blizzard/Draveurs
bar:7 color:skyblue from:07/01/1996 till:06/01/1998 text:Rive-Sud
bar:7 color:yellow from:07/01/1998 till:end text:Saint-Georges Garaga/CRS Express/Cool FM 103.5
bar:8 color:skyblue from:07/01/1996 till:06/01/1998 text:St-Gabriel
bar:8 color:skyblue from:07/01/1998 till:06/01/2002 text:Joliette Blizzard/Mission
bar:8 color:skyblue from:07/01/2002 till:06/01/2004 shift: text:St-Jean-sur-Rich.
bar:8 color:skyblue from:07/01/2004 till:06/01/2008 text:Sorel Mission
bar:8 color:yellow from:07/01/2010 till:end shift: text:Sorel-Tracy GCI/HC Carvena/Éperviers
bar:9 color:skyblue from:07/01/1996 till:06/01/2004 text:Sorel Dinosaures/Royaux
bar:10 color:yellow from:07/01/1996 till:end text:Thetford Mines Coyotes/Prolab/Isothermic/Assurancia
bar:11 color:skyblue from:07/01/1996 till:06/01/1997 shift: text:Vanier
bar:11 color:skyblue from:07/01/1997 till:06/01/1998 text:Quebec Aces
bar:11 color:skyblue from:07/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 shift: text:Beaupre
bar:11 color:skyblue from:07/01/2001 till:06/01/2008 text:Quebec Aces/Radio X
bar:11 color:skyblue from:07/01/2008 till:06/01/2010 text:Pont-Rouge Lois Jeans
bar:12 color:skyblue from:07/01/1996 till:06/01/1997 shift: text:Waterloo 94
bar:12 color:skyblue from:07/01/1997 till:06/01/2004 shift: text:Granby Blitz/Prédateurs
bar:13 color:skyblue from:07/01/1996 till:06/01/2003 text:Windsor Papetiers/Lacroix
bar:13 color:skyblue from:07/01/2003 till:06/01/2011 text:Sherbrooke Saint-François
bar:13 color:skyblue from:07/01/2011 till:06/01/2012 shift: text:Windsor Wild
bar:13 color:skyblue from:07/01/2012 till:09/29/2016 text:Cornwall River Kings
bar:14 color:skyblue from:07/01/1997 till:06/01/2003 text:Asbestos Aztèques/Dubé
bar:15 color:skyblue from:07/01/1997 till:06/01/2002 text:Jonquière Condors
bar:15 color:skyblue from:07/01/2002 till:12/09/2004 text:Saguenay Paramédic/Fjord
bar:16 color:skyblue from:07/01/2001 till:06/01/2004 text:Rivière-du-Loup Promutuel
bar:17 color:skyblue from:07/01/2003 till:06/01/2004 text:Trois-Rivières Viking
bar:18 color:yellow from:07/01/2008 till:end text:Rivière-du-Loup CIMT/3L
bar:19 color:skyblue from:07/01/2008 till:03/01/2009 text:Ste-Marie Poutrelles Delta
bar:20 color:skyblue from:07/01/2013 till:12/01/2013 shift:-115 text:Valleyfield Braves
bar:20 color:skyblue from:12/01/2013 till:05/31/2017 text:Laval Braves/Prédateurs
bar:21 color:skyblue from:07/01/2018 till:11/09/2018 shift:-115 text:Berlin Blackjacks
bar:21 color:yellow from:11/10/2018 till:end shift:0 text:Les Pétroliers du Nord
bar:22 color:skyblue from:04/07/2022 till:06/29/2023 shift:-200 text:Bâtisseurs de Montcalm
bar:23 color:yellow from:11/10/2024 till:end shift:-200 text:Saint-Hyacinthe Bataillon
bar:24 color:yellow from:11/10/2024 till:end shift:-175 text:National de Québec
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1996

Defunct

  • Acton Vale Beaulieu
  • Acton Vale Nova
  • Asbestos Aztèques
  • Asbestos Aztèques
  • Asbestos Dubé
  • Bâtisseurs de Montcalm
  • Berlin BlackJacks
  • Cornwall River Kings
  • Côte-de-Beaupré As
  • Côte-de-Beaupré Caron et Guay
  • Granby Blitz
  • Granby Prédateurs
  • Haut-Richelieu Dragons
  • Iberville Dragons
  • Joliette Blizzard
  • Joliette Mission
  • Jonquière Condors
  • Lachute Rapides
  • LaSalle Rapides
  • Laurentides Gladiateurs
  • Laval Chiefs
  • Laval Summum-Chiefs
  • Laval Braves
  • Laval Predators
  • Louiseville Jets
  • Pont-Rouge Caron et Guay
  • Pont-Rouge Grand Portneuf
  • Québec As
  • Québec As
  • Rive-Sud Chacals
  • Rivière-du-Loup Promutuel
  • Rivière-du-Loup CIMT
  • Saguenay Fjord
  • Saguenay Paramédic
  • Ste-Marie Poutrelles Delta
  • Sainte-Thérèse Chiefs
  • Saint-Gabriel Blizzard
  • Saint-Georges Garaga
  • Saint-Hyacinthe Chiefs
  • Saint-Hyacinthe Cousin
  • Saint-Hyacinthe Cristal
  • Saint-Hyacinthe Top Design
  • Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Mission
  • Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Summum-Chiefs
  • Saint-Laurent Dragons
  • Sherbrooke Saint-François
  • Sorel Dinosaures
  • Sorel Mission
  • Sorel Royaux
  • Sorel-Tracy GCI
  • Thetford Mines Coyotes
  • Thetford Mines Isothermic
  • Thetford Mines Prolab
  • Trois-Rivières Blizzard
  • Trois-Rivières Draveurs
  • Trois-Rivières Viking
  • Valleyfield Braves
  • Vanier Voyageurs
  • Verdun Dragons
  • Verdun-Montréal Dragons
  • Waterloo 94
  • Windsor Lacroix
  • Windsor Papetiers
  • Windsor Wild

    Champions

The Vertdure Cup is the trophy awarded annually to champions of the LNAH. It was first awarded after the 1996–97 season, and was originally called the Futura Cup. In 2011, it was renamed the Canam Cup, and in 2014 as the Vertdure Cup. It was renamed the Evirum Cup for the 2023–24 season and the Gilles-Rousseau Cup for the 2024-25 season.