The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced Tuesday that Mario Cecchini will become the league's new commissioner and will officially take office on May 8.
“Following an exhaustive executive search, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Board of Members is very pleased to confirm the hiring of Mario Cecchini as Commissioner,” said QMJHL board president Richard Létourneau in a statement. “Mr. Cecchini is a very accomplished businessman with vast amounts of experience in sports and media.
"He has been the President of several reputable organizations. He will undoubtedly be an important asset for the League going forward and we are extremely pleased to welcome him.”
Cecchini, a Quebec-based media executive, was appointed interim president of the CFL's Montreal Alouettes on February 14 after the league assumed ownership of the team on an interim basis. He was initially hired as team president in January 2020 after the it was purchased by Sid Spiegel and Gary Stern.
“I am looking forward to the start of my mandate and I am excited to join the team. I would like to thank the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Board of Members for their confidence,” Cecchini said in a statement. “The QMJHL represents more than 50 years of elite player development, including some of the biggest stars in the history of the National Hockey League.
"But above all, it is an incredible school of life that offers players all the tools they need to develop in sports, academics and as individuals. Several excellent programs have been put in place. In the coming years, we will have the opportunity with the resources in place to see how we can improve and better communicate them.”
The news comes two days after commissioner Gilles Courteau announced his resignation amid intense scrutiny among the province’s politicians over hazing and initiations. The 65-year-old Courteau announced his departure after 37 years at the helm of the junior hockey league and just a year away from a planned 2024 retirement. Martin Lavallee is in the role of acting commissioner until Cecchini steps in.
Courteau was in the middle of a political firestorm after testifying at legislature hearings in Quebec City on hazing rituals in hockey last month, when he reassured politicians that none of the allegations described in a Radio-Canada report about an Ontario Superior Court ruling involved the league.
On Sunday, Courteau announced his abrupt departure in a statement in which he said it was time to pass the torch.
Courteau said that “recent events have been on such a scale that my family members have been affected,” in a letter published on social media. He added that continuing in the post would not be the right thing to do.
“When you have dedicated most of your life to an organization, it can be difficult to know when it is time to pass the torch,” Courteau wrote. “Yet, it is the only possible decision once you realize it.”
The Canadian Hockey League, the umbrella organization for the country’s three major junior leagues, expressed its appreciation for Courteau in a statement later Sunday.
“The Canadian Hockey League would like to thank Gilles Courteau for his extraordinary commitment to the development of hockey in Quebec and the Maritimes as QMJHL commissioner, and across Canada through his involvement with the CHL for close to four decades,” the CHL said in a statement.
Late last year, Courteau announced he would retire part way through the 2023-24 season, after 47 years of involvement in the Quebec league.
