In 2014, the parent club spun off the men's team to a separate for-profit company to prepare for promotion to the country's highest level, the Ligue Magnus.

[3] The team reached second-tier finals in 2014 and 2015, losing to Lyon in the former before defeating southwest rivals Anglet—then coached by future Bordeaux skipper Olivier Dimet—thanks to a sudden death goal by Anglet-trained Thomas Decock in game four of the best-of-five series.

The 2018–19 campaign however, was both a sporting and financial disappointment, as the club was prematurely eliminated by Amiens in the quarterfinals, and assessed the first of two consecutive point penalties for overspending.

[6] Following the rebuild, the club returned to its status as a solid underdog in the Ligue Magnus behind the league's perennial big three of Rouen, Grenoble and Angers, with the city of Bordeaux considered perhaps the country's most hockey-friendly major agglomeration thanks to its affluent demographics.

They beat newcomers Marseille in the overtime of game seven, before upsetting the country's biggest-budget team Grenoble in a five-game semifinal to reach their first championship series.