Heading Home

I missed the news earlier this week, but it seems that former Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent is heading home as he's accepted the head coaching position with the AHL's Laval Rocket! Vincent got his professional start as an assistant coach with the Winnipeg Jets before moving to the head coaching spot behind the bench of the AHL's Manitoba Moose. Following those jobs, he joined the the Columbus Blue Jackets as an assistant coach before being thrust into the head coaching position after the Mike Babcock debacle. He was relieved of that job after the organizational changes in Columbus, but the 52-year-old is back in Quebec doing what he does best after being hired by the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.

If you're looking at Pascal Vincent's record with the Blue Jackets in trying to figure out if he'll fit with the Rocket, stop looking because that entire Columbus franchise was a gong show last season. Instead, look back to his time with the Moose where he was effective as a head coach thanks to a solid roster. Vincent was 155-139-18-13 in his time as the Moose head coach, and he was recognized as the AHL's top coach in 2017-18 while serving as the head coach of the Central Division in the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic. He's a good communicator with younger players, and he should fit nicely in Laval with the Rocket's impressive roster of young talent.

For Vincent, the homecoming is a return to a city with which he's very familiar as he spent eleven seasons as a head coach in the QMJHL where he learned his trade, and three of those seasons were with the Montreal Juniors. 13 years after bouncing around the NHL and AHL, he'll stand behind the bench for the Rocket, just a stone's throw from the team he grew up watching in the Montreal Canadiens.

"The Montreal Canadiens are the Montreal Canadiens," Vincent said in his introductory press conference on Tuesday. "It runs through your blood when you're from the province of Quebec. It's quite a prestigious organization and you find that out even more when you're away from Montreal. When you work for another organization and you come to the Bell Centre and you play against the Habs, you can see the intensity and the passion of the fans, yes, but you can also sense how special it is for opponents to come to Montreal. So I knew it from a guy that grew up in Laval and being a big Habs fan. But when you experience that aspect from an opponent's side of view, I really realized how prestigious this organization is as of today. I'm really happy to be part of the family now."

The Rocket enter the season having missed the playoffs by six points in 2023-24 with a 33-31-8 record, and discipline might be the first thing that Vincent begins to preach after the Rocket amassed the second-most penalty minutes in the AHL. Laval's 19-13-4 record at home proves that they can play good hockey, but their 14-18-4 record on the road was the worst in their division. Only nine teams had a worse power-play efficiency this past season so improvements can certainly be made with the extra player, and only five teams were worse while down a player so Vincent can work on special teams play if he wants to see some quick improvements to the Rocket's place in the standings.

Montreal finished in the bottom-third of the NHL for both the power-play and penalty-killing efficiencies so improvement at the AHL level may help some of those young players get a longer look from the Canadiens, and it sounds like Vincent has a clear vision for his players after speaking to Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis.

"We want to be able to evaluate our players at the American league level but also when they're being called up we don't want them to think too much," Vincent said. "We want them to play and to showcase themselves. And if they have to learn a new system it doesn't do them any favours."

There's clearly more of a development effort at the AHL level, but winning still matters to the players and coaches. I imagine that Pascal Vincent will set up a culture where guys won't lose the vision of moving up to the NHL level, but will allow them to compete hard every night while skating with the Rocket. That ultimately should help both clubs find success.

“At the end of the day," he told Patrick Williams of the AHL, "the goal is how can we create an environment where the players will benefit from it. I think the relationship between the two teams, I see it as one big coaching staff, the Montreal Canadiens and the Laval Rocket. Making sure we’re on the same page. Push each other. Obviously ask questions. But at the end of the day, they make the decisions, and our job is to execute the plan, and I'm on board 100 percent."

I don't have a crystal ball to say whether this was a good hire by the Canadiens or not, but the initial prognosis is that the Laval Rocket should be better with Pascal Vincent behind the bench. He has a clear track record of developing talent for the Jets, he's worked at the highest levels in the game and with some excellent hockey minds, and he's going home to help the team he grew up cheering for and idolizing.

I'm not saying that Pascal Vincent will change the course of the Montreal Canadiens' overall plan, but he's saying all the right things when it comes to being a team guy. In that regard, welcome home, Pascal Vincent, and here's hoping you're as effective for the Canadiens as some of your boyhood heroes were!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!