In 1999, the QMJHL awarded a franchise to a group of investors led by former Montreal Canadiens general manager Serge Savard.

 The franchise was baptized the "Rocket" in honour of Maurice "Rocket" Richard, whose legendary career is a part of the city's soul. Maurice Richard was on hand to witness the inaugural game of the franchise, which was played on September 9th, 1999 in the renowned Maurice Richard Arena. 

Following a four-year stint in Montreal, the franchise moved to PEI due to low attendance. But the nickname "Rocket" will be kept.
In 2004-05, during his 5th season, Pierre-André Bureau became the all-time leader for the number of games played with 346 games and a total of 239 points with the Rocket, a new lifetime record at the time.
 

In 2012-13, forward player Ben Duffy shined with a great 110-point-season, 5 points more than Jonathan Drouin (105 | Halifax). Duffy became the new franchise recordman with a total of 341 points while playing in the QMJHL.

During the spring of 2013, a wind of change blew on Prince-Edward Island, when the Savard family sold the team to new local investors. The Rocket became the Charlottetown Islanders.

February 28th, 2020, the 20-year-old goaltender Matthew Welsh (13080m20s at the end of the season) became a new QMJHL recordman. He broke the "MOST MINUTES PLAYED" record (12933M20S | Ryan Mior).
 

The 2020-21 regular season was really particular with this shortened schedule of 40 games. The Islanders won their first regular season championship (Jean-Rougeau Trophy | .875 Points Percentage) ... Cédric Desruisseaux scored 42 goals in 40 games, and the goaltender Colten Ellis broke the League record with the better Goals-against average (1.78); he won 23 of his 24 starts.

The Charlottetown Islanders had an outstanding 2021-22 season with 103 regular season points (2nd in the QMJHL). Their star defenseman Lukas Cormier became the franchise record holder in several categories, including most points (81) and goals (33) in a season for a defenseman. In June 2022, Head Coach Jim Hulton's men made it to the President Cup finals for the first time in their history, losing 4 games to 1 in a best-of-7 series that required three overtime games, all of which were won by their tough and opportunistic opponents, the Shawinigan Cataractes.

The team's notables over the years include: Gaston Therrien, Pascal Leclaire, Alain Vigneault, Pierre-André Bureau, Maxim Lapierre, Ben Duffy, Daniel Sprong, Matthew Welsh, Cédric Desruisseaux, Colten Ellis, Lukas Cormier...

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