Commissioner Mario Cecchini has confirmed the league is looking towards potential expansion in the American northeast in the coming years, as the league looks to grow its footprint stateside.
In the words of QMJHL commissioner Mario Cecchini, the QMJHL likes to be different.
It has been three years since Cecchini took over as commissioner of the Q, and he has wasted no time making changes. In his first year, he introduced significant moves, including adding new streaming services, shortening the schedule from 68 to 64 games, and renaming the league from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
The league is one of the three major junior hockey leagues that make up the Canadian Hockey League and remains the only one without an American team. However, that could change as early as the start of the 2026–27 season.
Quebec Remparts forward Maddox Dagenais takes on team USA at the 2025 CHL/USA top prospects game. (Photo: Jenn Pierce/CHL)Cecchini shared that the league has been actively exploring expansion into the United States in an interview with The Athletic's Scott Wheeler, specifically in cities such as Portland, Maine, and Manchester, N.H., as well as other New England markets.
New England has become a heavily targeted region because its geography helps keep travel costs manageable for the league. The region also produces strong hockey talent through both the NCAA and prep school systems. In addition, the QMJHL already holds territorial recruiting rights in portions of New England.
The league is expected to place at least two American teams together to promote regional rivalries while creating shared travel routes. This would help offset travel costs for a league that already faces some of the longest travel distances in the CHL, especially after adding flight travel to accommodate the Newfoundland Regiment.
The Q previously had an American franchise in Lewiston, Maine, from 2003 to 2011. The team even captured the President’s Cup in 2007. However, due to financial struggles and low attendance, the franchise was dissolved and later relocated to Sherbrooke, Que. for the 2012–13 season.
With fan attendance trending back toward an all-time high, the league surpassed 2 million fans this season. Attendance numbers were led by the Quebec Remparts, who averaged 9,381 fans per game, followed by the Halifax Mooseheads at 7,965, and the league’s newest expansion club, the Newfoundland Regiment, at 5,234 fans per game.
The league had not seen such an increase since the 2005-2006 season, when it had 2.17 million in total attendance (including playoff attendance) due to the Sidney Crosby era.
While the 2004-2005 season, which then had set a record of 2,715 fans per game to the 2005-2006 season saw a 28.8% rise in attendance after the first six weeks compared to the previous year at 3,496 fans per game after the same number of games (160).
The league has since slowed negotiations to ensure all parties are comfortable if a new system is put into place and to avoid creating conflicts with the USHL and USA Hockey.
Cecchini shared that geographically, the Q is in a strong position because expansion into New England would not heavily interfere with other American leagues. He added that expansion remains very much on the table for the coming years.
With more American players joining the league, approximately 40 active players in the 2025–26 season, according to Cecchini, the league’s growth in the United States continues to trend upward. The recent NCAA rule changes allowing CHL players to maintain eligibility have also helped make the QMJHL a more attractive pathway for players looking to advance toward the NHL.
Courtney Nielson is an intern for The Hockey News.
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