According to a club announcement, the Canadiens have named Pascal Vincent as the next head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket. Vincent’s appointment comes nearly a month after he was fired as head coach of the Blue Jackets.
Vincent, 52, returns to a minor-league head coaching role after spending the last three seasons behind the Columbus bench. After being brought on as an associate coach ahead of the 2021-22 season, he was promoted to head coach shortly before the 2023-24 season due to Mike Babcock’s abrupt resignation following an NHLPA investigation. Under Vincent, the Blue Jackets remained rather hapless, limping to a 27-43-12 record and their second straight season with fewer than 30 wins.
But Vincent has a more comfortable track record of success in the AHL, where he served as head coach of the Jets’ affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, from 2016-17 to 2020-21. With the Moose, Vincent took home the AHL’s Coach of the Year Award in 2017-18 after guiding them to a 42-26-8 record, their third-best in franchise history.
Vincent is no stranger to the Montreal/Laval market. He was born in Laval and served as the general manager and head coach of the QMJHL’s Montreal Juniors from 2008-09 to 2010-11. The Canadiens were on the hunt for a new head coach for the Rocket after Jean-François Houle, who they signed to a multi-year extension in May, left the club to take over as head coach of Clarkson University.
Good hire…someone with a solid pedigree in AHL and NHL head coaching experience…doesn’t hurt he is French as well
Was hoping for Kevin Owens.
“hapless” – excellent use
Jiricek in the NHL and Vincent in the AHL, finally things in order.