Q begins new campaign tonight A dozen Newfoundlanders are on opening-day rosters The Telegram

Newfoundlanders Jordan Escott (left), Evan Mosher and Brandon Street are all starting the season with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's P.E.I. Rocket. - Photo by Brendan McCarthy/The Telegram

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League begins its 41st season tonight and the league's commissioner promises a continuation of a crackdown on violence that started last season.

"The QMJHL's 40th season represented a turning point in the very culture of hockey," said Gilles Courteau on Wednesday. "Important adjustments were made in order to eliminate gratuitous violence and with the help of our owners, governors, general managers, coaches and players we were able to reach our goals. Unacceptable incidents were punished swiftly and severely. The result: A very significant decline in gratuitous violence and a sizeable drop in fights per game.

"Furthermore, we created a Players Help Program; a pilot project destined to educate players on the consequences of their actions and life choices."

The QMJHL and Canadian Hockey League season opens tonight as the defending Presidents Cup champion Drummondville Voltigeurs host the Val-d'Or Foreurs. Play in the CHL's other two major junior circuits - the Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League - begins next week.

A dozen players from Newfoundland and Labrador are on the opening-day rosters of QMJHL clubs. One quarter of that contingent can be found on the P.E.I. Rocket, where 19-year-old goaltender Evan Mosher of Conception Bay South is joined by 18-year-old forwards Brandon Street of Bonavista and Jordan Escott of St. John's.

The Montreal Junior have two Newfoundlanders in their lineup - defenceman Alex Wall of St. John's and centre Chris Thorne of Paradise - both 19-year-old and both of whom were with the St. John's Fog Devils before the franchise was sold and relocated to Verdun, Que., two years ago.

Another former Fog Devil, centre Luke Adam of Kilbride, is expected to be the top forward with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles after having been acquired in an off-season trade with Montreal. Adam, 19, is currently at the training camp of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, who selected him in the second round of the 2007 draft.

Other players from this province in the Q include 19-year-old Labrador City native Nicolas Champion, who starts the season as the No. 1 goalie for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan; 19-year-old Brad Yetman of Mount Pearl, who heads up the blueline corps of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies; Victoriaville Tigres right-winger Brandon Hynes, 17, of Norris Point, who was the third overall pick in the 2008 QMJHL midget draft, 17-year-old rookie defenceman Steve Gillard of St. John's and 18-year-old right-winger Travis Randell of Twillingate, both with the Halifax Mooseheads; and 16-year-old Scott Trask of St. John's, a first-year forward with the Moncton Wildcats, who begin the season as one of the top-10 rated teams in the CHL.

Note

On Wednesday, the QMJHL also officially announced a new initiative to raise awareness for the fight against breast cancer. During the month of October, each of the 18 QMJHL teams will select a home game in which their players will wear a pink jersey.

Over 400 game-worn jerseys will then be sold or raffled off ,with the proceeds going either directly to the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (Atlantic division) or to a local branch. Foundation (Atlantic division) or to a local branch.