The Granby Prédateurs were a junior ice hockey

Junior ice hockey

Junior hockey is a catch-all term used to describe various levels of ice hockey competition for players generally between 16 and 20 years of age...

 team originally founded in 1981 after the team moved from Sorel-Tracy, Quebec

Sorel-Tracy, Quebec

Sorel-Tracy is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada and the geographical end point of the Lake Champlain Valley at the confluence of the Richelieu River and the St. Lawrence River, on the western edge of Lac Saint-Pierre downstream and east of nearby Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006...

, where they had previously been known as the Sorel Éperviers

Sorel Éperviers

The Sorel Éperviers were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 1969 to 1981. The team was one of the founding members of the QMJHL. They mostly played at the Colisée Cardin in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, but also spent a few seasons at the Verdun Auditorium in the...

. The team was originally known as the Granby Bisons

Granby Bisons

The Granby Bisons were a junior ice hockey team founded in 1981 after the team moved from Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, where they had previously been known as the Sorel Éperviers. The Bisons played at Arena Leonard Grondin in Granby, Quebec. In 1995 they were renamed the Granby Prédateurs. Today they are...

, but changed their name to the Prédateurs in 1995. They played at Arena Leonard Grondin

Aréna Leonard Grondin

The Arena Leonard Grondin is the main arena in Granby, Quebec. It was once host to the Granby Bisons and Granby Prédateurs QMJHL teams. The arena was built in 1968 and holds 2,385 people....

 in Granby, Quebec

Granby, Quebec

Granby is a city in southwestern Quebec, located east of Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 47,637. Granby is the seat of La Haute-Yamaska Regional County Municipality. It is the fifth most populated city in Montérégie after Longueuil, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Brossard and...

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History

In 1996 the Prédateurs, who had never known much success as the Bisons, capped a dream season by winning the QMJHL Championship

President's Cup (QMJHL)

The President's Cup is awarded annually by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to the league's playoffs champion.--Winners—Teams that went on to win the Memorial Cup are listed in bold font.-External links:* List of trophy winners....

. They then went on to the 1996 Memorial Cup

1996 Memorial Cup

The 1996 Memorial Cup occurred May 11-19 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre in Peterborough, Ontario. Participating teams were the host Peterborough Petes, who were also the champions of the Ontario Hockey League, as well as the OHL runner-up Guelph Storm, and the winners of the Quebec Major...

 in Peterborough, Ontario

Peterborough, Ontario

Peterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in southern Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto. The population of the City of Peterborough was 74,898 as of the 2006 census, while the census metropolitan area has a population of 121,428 as of a 2009 estimate. It presently ranks...

. In the Cup final they defeated the hometown Peterborough Petes

Peterborough Petes

The Peterborough Petes are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The team has played in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, since 1956, and is the oldest continuously operating team in the league.-History:...

 to become the first Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

-based team to win the Memorial Cup

Memorial Cup

The Memorial Cup is a junior ice hockey club championship trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League champion. It is awarded following a four-team, round robin tournament between a host team and the champions of the CHL's three member leagues: the Ontario Hockey League , Quebec Major...

 in 25 years. However, the combination of a small, aging arena and low attendance forced the team to move soon after. In 1997 the Prédateurs moved to Sydney, Nova Scotia

Sydney, Nova Scotia

Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....

, where they became the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles are a major junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Their home rink is Centre 200 in Sydney, Nova Scotia.-Franchise history :...

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NHL alumni

National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 alumni from the Prédateurs two seasons include Philippe Audet, Francis Bouillon

Francis Bouillon

Francis Bouillon is an American professional hockey defenseman for the Nashville Predators in the National Hockey League. Nicknames in English for Francis include "Cube" or "Soupy" , "Frank the Tank", and "Franky B"...

, Xavier Delisle

Xavier Delisle

Xavier Delisle is a former professional ice hockey centre. He was drafted in the sixth round, 157th overall, of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning...

, Jason Doig

Jason Doig

Jason Doig is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. Doig has also played for the Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, New York Rangers, and Washington Capitals. In the 2006–2007 season he played for Traktor Chelyabinsk in Russian Super League. In the 2007–2008 season, he played in...

, Daniel Goneau

Daniel Goneau

Daniel Goneau is a retired ice hockey player, formally of the National Hockey League's New York Rangers. He was originally drafted by the Boston Bruins at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, but chose not to sign with them. Two years later, he was drafted by the Rangers and played in 41 games during the...

, Benoit Gratton

Benoit Gratton

Benoît Gratton is a Canadian ice hockey forward.Selected 105th overall by the Washington Capitals in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, Gratton spent several seasons in the Capitals' system before he was traded to the Calgary Flames in 1999...

 and Georges Laraque

Georges Laraque

Georges Laraque is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey forward, who last played with the Montreal Canadiens before his contract was bought out in 2010. He is also a host for CFRN and deputy leader of the Green Party of Canada. During his NHL career he played for the Edmonton Oilers,...

. Michel Therrien

Michel Therrien

Michel Therrien is a hockey scout for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League. Prior to that he was a player and head coach for the Montreal Canadiens and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Therrien coached the Canadiens for three seasons, taking them to the Eastern Conference semi-finals in the...

, who coached the team to the Memorial Cup, was the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...

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Season-by-season record

• Granby Prédateurs (1995–1997)

Note :Pct = Winning percentage

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	Pct	Goals for	Goals against	Standing
1995–96 1995–96 QMJHL season The 1995–96 QMJHL season was the 27th season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The league continued to expand eastward, adding an expansion team in Moncton, New Brunswick, and the Saint-Jean Lynx relocated to the eastern Quebec city of Rimouski in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region...	70	56	12	2	114	0.814	389	191	1st, Lebel
1996–97 1996–97 QMJHL season The 1996–97 QMJHL season was the 28th season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The league continues explore new markets as the Saint-Hyacinthe Laser move north to Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. The New Faces Cup is renamed the RDS Cup, for its new sponsor, Réseau des sports. Fourteen...	70	44	20	6	94	0.671	304	210	2nd, Lebel