Photo: QMJHL

After a month-and-a-half layoff, the Quebec Remparts will get back in action along with the other 17 teams of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) starting on Jan. 21.

The league’s Quebec teams will be in four different protected playing environments, similar to the one put in place at the Videotron Centre in late November.

Photo: QMJHL

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) assembly of members voted unanimously on Dec. 22 to modify the format of the standings and the playoffs for this season, due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The holidays are here and with them come the usual Christmas and New Year’s Day traditions.

Although traditional holiday gatherings and visits are restricted during this holiday season, there are some TV traditions that remain and will hopefully bring cheer during these hard times.

It has become a tradition, here at the QCT, that in the last issue of the year, we present the annual “LUC-ky” Awards, handed to the female and male athletes of the year, along with the best team.

Photo: Luc Lang

Quebec City golfer Anne-Catherine Tanguay is heading back out on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour.

The former CEGEP Champlain–St. Lawrence Lion had been taking some time off from the LPGA circuit since October 2019 to start a family with her husband and caddie, Jean-Hubert Trahan. The two now have a six-month-old daughter, Livia.

Photo: Quebec Remparts

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) has advised its 18 teams, including the Quebec Remparts, that all activities have been put on hold until Jan. 3, 2021.

Photo: Jonathan Roy - QMJHL

Goaltender Thomas Sigouin blocked 19 of 20 shots from the Gatineau Olympiques, including 12 in the third period, to lead the Quebec Remparts to a 2-1 victory on Nov. 26.

It was the team’s last game in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) bubble. Sigouin’s solid performance earned him the first star of the game.

Photo: GEPA pictures

Laurence St-Germain, 26, from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, started her 2020-2021 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season in Levi, Finland, with two top-10 finishes.

On Nov. 21, St-Germain, who was seventh in the first run of the slalom event, excelled in her second run and finished sixth overall, just 1.42 seconds behind the winner, Petra Vlhova of Slovakia.

Photo: Francis Vachon

The COVID-19 pandemic that has touched people around the world will certainly have effects on global sports franchises.

Hockey fans in Quebec City are still hoping for the return of a National Hockey League team to the Videotron Centre. I believe there may be a 2.0 version of the Quebec Nordiques, but “when” is the million-dollar question.

Photo: ATP Tour website

Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime captured his first-ever professional tennis title when he and partner Hubert Hurkacz of Poland won the doubles final in three sets over Mate Pavic of Croatia and Bruno Soares of Brazil at the Rolex Paris Masters, on Nov. 8.

Photo: LBJEQ

The number 19 has been associated with the novel coronavirus since the start of the pandemic that will change the rest of our lives.
On the local sports scene, the number 19 is also associated with many great athletes who have represented Quebec City. From the Nordiques to the Capitales and the Rouge et Or, here are some athletes who proudly wore the number 19 for local sports teams.

Photo: Dany Germain - QMJHL

Canada will host the 2021 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Under-20 World Junior Championships from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5.

Photo: International Judo Federation

Quebec City native Antoine Valois-Fortier won the silver medal in the men’s under-81-kilogram category at the Budapest Grand Slam judo event on Oct. 24.

Ranked fifth in the world, Valois-Fortier qualified for the semifinal when he defeated Hungary’s Ivaylo Ivanov in his third match of the day.

The Quebec government recently announced it will inject $70 million into sports associations, federations and leagues after public health authorities paused most sports activities to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Photo: Mathieu Bélanger, Université Laval

Félix Auger-Aliassime of L’Ancienne-Lorette reached the final of the Bett1 Hulks Cologne Indoors tennis tournament in Cologne, Germany on Oct. 18, but came out (almost) empty-handed.

Seeded third, Auger-Aliassime lost 6-3, 6-3 to top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany. Auger-Aliassime is still looking for his first career title. The Cologne tournament was his sixth career final.