Gilles-Courteau Trophy

The Gilles-Courteau Trophy is awarded to the QMJHL champion, and it carries the name of the man who has shaped the league more than anyone else in its modern era. Gilles Courteau has served as commissioner of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League since 1988, one of the longest tenures of any executive in professional or major junior hockey.

When Courteau took office, the QMJHL was primarily a Quebec-based francophone circuit with limited national reach. Over the decades that followed he expanded the league's footprint significantly, adding teams in the Maritime provinces and building a bilingual identity that reflects the diverse communities the QMJHL now serves. His stewardship has been defined by stability, player development, and a commitment to making the league a genuine pathway to the NHL for players from across the country.

The trophy was known as the Presidents' Cup from 1986 until 2019, when the league voted to rename it in Courteau's honor - a rare distinction for a living executive and a reflection of how completely he has been identified with the QMJHL's growth. Unlike its counterparts in the OHL and WHL, which carry the names of historical figures, the Gilles-Courteau Trophy recognizes a career that is still unfolding.

The trophy's design is modern and distinctive, mirroring the league's forward-looking character: a slender silver bowl crowns a tall cylindrical body built from stacked horizontal rings, all resting on a dark base bearing the LHJMQ logo. Among the alumni who have lifted it are Guy Lafleur, Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, and Marc-André Fleury - players who carried the dreams of a generation and went on to become the greatest of their era.