job to start the 2000–01 season, while Marcel Patenaude took over as general manager. After a slow 2–12 start to the season, the team improved and finished the season in first place in the Atlantic Division, only to lose to Rimouski in five games in the first round of the playoffs. A third place-overall finish the next season propelled Halifax into the second round, ending with a six-game second round loss to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. In 2002, Sidney Crosby, a skilled forward from the Halifax suburb of Cole Harbour, had attracted media attention from an early age and often played with older teammates. In early 2002, he was 14 and playing triple-A midget hockey when the Mooseheads approached the QMJHL for permission to sign Crosby for the 2002–03 season. The club asked the league to adopt a rule similar to one in the Ontario Hockey League allowing an underage player to play a season with his hometown club prior to draft eligibility. The QMJHL board of governors turned down the request. The 2002–03 season became the club's most successful at the time, marking its first appearance in a President's Cup final. With a regular season record of 44–15–10–3, the club secured first place in its division, before sweeping Cape Breton in the first round, then beating Acadie Bathurst and Baie Comeau each in seven-game series. The team then met the Hull Olympiques in the final, taking them to seven games before dropping a 7–2 decision in the deciding game. The 2002–03 season was also significant as the city of Halifax played host to the World Junior Hockey Championship and original majority owner Moosehead Breweries disclosed the company was looking for a buyer for its 64 percent share of the club. Before the start of the 2003–04 season, the club announced that Bobby Smith, a Nova Scotia native and former NHL forward and general manager, had become majority owner. The club retained the rights to the Mooseheads' name and logo. New ownership: 2003–2011 After having brought in several older players for a run at the league championship, the Mooseheads iced a less experienced team for the 2003–04 season. Among players the team lost was the team's then-offensive leader, Brandon Benedict, who retired with a record of 303 points in 343 games played for the Mooseheads. Outscored 194–274 on the season, the team did not qualify for of the playoffs