The departure of Jean-François Houle to Clarkson University surprises everyone and leaves the position of head coach of the Laval Rocket vacant.

This is Rocket CEO John Sedgwick’s next mission this summer. TVASports.ca offers him five candidates.

Pascal Vincent

This is the most obvious possibility. Vincent will not return to the helm of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 52-year-old pilot, former mentor of Joël Bouchard and Dominique Ducharme at the Montreal Juniors, managed the Winnipeg Jets’ farm club, the Manitoba Moose, for five years, from 2016 to 2021. He therefore has a lot of experience in the American League.

Louis Robitaille

When CH launched a recruitment process to replace Joël Bouchard, Robitaille was given an interview. It is believed that he will get another one, even though the Marc Bergevin regime is no longer in power.

Robitaille just led the Cape Breton Eagles to the QMJHL semifinals. At 42, he has been head coach in several cities for the Quebec junior team and also held the dual role of general manager and head coach in Gatineau. He has also been on the bench for Team Canada at various tournaments, mostly as an assistant, with the U17 and U20 teams.

Sylvain Favreau

Favreau reached the finals in his last two years as head coach in the QMJHL: last year, at the helm of the Halifax Mooseheads, he lost to the Quebec Remparts in six games and this season won major honours with the Drummondville Voltigeurs, who defeated the Baie-League’s Comeau Drakkar.

He also won gold with Team Canada at the Hlinka-Gretzky Tournament as an assistant.

In short, Favreau’s rating is rising.

Stephane Julien

The man who served for a long time as general manager and head coach of the Sherbrooke Phoenix made the jump to the American League last year and became an assistant with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the farm club of the Detroit Red Wings.

He also served as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2023 World Junior Championships.

Julien led a renowned program in Sherbrooke and was a key player in the development of CH prospect Joshua Roy, and has made a key addition to his bow this season by transitioning into the AHL.

Serge Aubin

This is a little-known name mentioned by TVA Sports analyst Maxim Lapierre. A native of Val-d’Or, Aubin mentored the former Montreal Canadiens forward in Berlin, Germany.

“He works a lot with Lukas Reichel and the young guys,” Lapierre said on X.

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