Longtime Quebec Major Junior Hockey League commissioner Gilles Courteau said he will retire part way through the 2023-24 season.
Courteau, who has been involved in the league for 47 years, said the process of finding a replacement will start early next year, with a new commissioner nominated in May 2023.
Courteau said he will remain on for the first half of the 2023-024 season to mentor his replacement.
The 65-year-old Courteau took over the top job in the league in the middle of the 1985-86 season, replacing Guy Morissette.
He started his QMJHL career in 1975 as a statistician with the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs.
QMJHL teams have won 10 Memorial Cup titles during Courteau’s reign at the head of the league, including six of the past 10.
The league said the Presidents Cup awarded to the QMJHL champion will be renamed the Gilles Courteau Trophy starting with this season’s playoffs.