We had to wait a while, but the Canadian confirmed on Wednesday that Jean-François Houle will further increase his hopes with the Laval Rocket.

• Also read: Jean-François Houle must continue his work

Houle, who will begin his fourth season at the helm of the Rockets in a few months, signed a three-year contract.

“I felt like I had the trust of the organization,” he said during a video conference on Wednesday afternoon. “I’m very grateful and very happy to have the opportunity to continue working with young people.”

It took more than five weeks for Houle’s return to be confirmed, as the team’s evaluation occurred on April 21. Since then, Houle has spoken at length with general manager John Sedgwick.

“I’m not really surprised [que ça ait pris du temps]”John and I have been in talks for several weeks. I was confident the matter would be resolved, we spoke every two days.”

Evaluation

These discussions allowed the duo to take a good inventory of the existing personnel and players being considered to join the team.

Following the announcement of Houle’s return, the Canadian organization also confirmed the return of assistants Martin Laperrière, Marco Marciano and Charles Juneau.

However, Houle must find a replacement for Kelly Buchberger, who has decided to accept the position of head coach of a Junior A team in Alberta to be closer to her family.

“We will replace him,” Houle said. We will find someone who fits our values, we are not in a hurry, we have the summer to find a candidate.

Supporting young people

Jean-François Houle will continue his mandate to promote the organization’s young talents.

“We have a good stock of young people with the drafts of the last few years. They are good young people who hope to move up to the National League [de hockey]” Houle said when talking about maintaining a positive environment.

Last season, several of the team’s young players got their chance with the Canadian, including Jayden Struble and Joshua Roy, who stayed longer than the others.

“It’s great for a coach to work with young players and see their progress,” Houle noted.

Manage the moments

The Rockets narrowly missed the playoffs last season, and one might think that things would have turned out differently if the team had had a better start to the season.

“It’s a lesson for us, all games are important, even at the beginning of the year,” said Houle. We are running out of time, so it’s important to seriously evaluate each game from the start.

“With a young group there are many ups and downs. The American league [de hockey] The difference is that when you lose players, you lose your best players.”

Among the players he will have to develop will be many defensemen. We can assume that Struble will start the season in Montreal and that Logan Mailloux will have every chance to do so as well, but what will happen to Lane Hutson, who played two games in Montreal at the end of the season, and David Reinbacher, who finished the season in Laval?

“We have several good defenders and the more years go by, the less space there is for them. It is very important to learn to play well defensively. Defenders who are higher up are often good offensively and the funnel becomes smaller when you reach the pros.

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