Pascal Vincent is the new head coach of the Laval Rocket. He is the fourth man to hold this title, after Sylvain Lefebvre, Joël Bouchard and Jean-François Houle.
It had to be an interesting challenge for a guy to accept a move from NHL pilot to the lower echelon. But because it’s at home and he’d rather be chief pilot, he said yes.
The challenge will be interesting in terms of prospects, but also in terms of working with Martin St-Louis. They know each other more by reputation than anything else at the moment.
Even if they’ve chatted over the last few days, they still have a lot of work to do to create a chemistry that will allow Laval’s hopes to rise as easily in the NHL as they did in the JF Houle era.
After all, Vincent’s goal will be to create an environment that will help the youngsters.
He wants to do everything he can to serve the Canadiens in his own role. And right now, he’s not thinking about replacing Martin St-Louis: he’s thinking more about supporting him.
St-Louis, who will be working with a coach other than Jean-François Houle at Laval for the first time, will be supported by an experienced coach downstairs.
And what’s interesting, speaking of the two men, is that a few months ago, following a clash between the Blue Jackets and the Canadiens, Martin St-Louis launched into an explanation of Vincent’s playing system.
Without knowing it, he gave us our first glimpse of his future counterpart’s system in Laval.
After the Habs’ 3-0 victory on March 12, 2024, Martin St-Louis talked about how Vincent’s club had played. And although the Habs won, it was Cayden Primeau who came away with the win with 41 saves.
It was this performance that made him say that “it was only the beginning” after the game.
But hey. All this to say that Martin St-Louis had noted that his hybrid defense had been tested by Columbus’ style of play, a club always in action on the ice.
St-Louis also noted, after the game, that the Blue Jackets’ defenders were very active and would often receive the puck when their forwards were in trouble.
