Stéphane Julien is Quebec’s youngest coach to be promoted to the pros, becoming an assistant coach with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Will there be more and if so, when?
The Journal conducted an internal survey in recent days that interviewed six people: three general managers of the QMJHL, two agents who work with the players who play there and a member of the Cecchini Circuit staff. The basic question was very simple: Who are the five coaches from Quebec who are currently working in the Cecchini circle and who have the qualities and profile to make the leap to the professional level in the short term?
Since the survey was conducted anonymously, we are not disclosing the names of the stakeholders surveyed.
New wave
It was difficult for some to respond to our survey as the QMJHL is currently in a transition period with its coaches.
A total of nine teams have a different coach than last year, four of which have opted for rookie coaches: the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (Mathieu Turcotte), the Gatineau Matériaux (Benoit Desrosiers), the Rimouski Océanic (Joël Perrault). and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (Martin Dagenais).
But that’s not a bad thing as the names of some of them have been mentioned as hockey players to keep an eye on in the coming years. Turcotte and Perrault’s have returned to the discussion, but are currently not enough to be in the top five.
“I am convinced that Joël Perrault will make it to the pros one day,” an agent told us. He is a new generation coach whose style is based on attack. It’s okay to make players work and want them to defend, but today you have to be able to do that with attacking players and Joël does that well.
Networking
During our conversations with these speakers, they focused on what makes it so difficult for local coaches to not only advance from the QMJHL to professional hockey, but to continue climbing the career ladder afterward. .
However, a veteran general manager of the QMJHL assures that the biggest challenge for coaches in Quebec is the network of contacts.
“I experience situations that confirm to me that professional ice hockey is a more insular environment than you think. It’s all about networking and if you don’t have the necessary contacts it will be difficult. I don’t think it’s because we speak French, because we have several good graduates.
“On the other hand, when you see that not even Patrick Roy is being considered and Benoit Groulx has been waiting for his chance for several years, where do you want to go with that? However, we have shown in recent years that we are not that bad,” he added, pointing to the QMJHL’s four consecutive Memorial Cup championships.
Hockey Canada
While the path to the pros isn’t easy for coaches here, Hockey Canada is one of the key networking tools that coaches looking to make the jump have used in recent years.
Stéphane Julien had used this route before his promotion to the American Hockey League, and Louis Robitaille, Carl Mallette, Sylvain Favreau and others recently did the same.
“Hockey Canada definitely helps expand your network of contacts. It helped André Tourigny, among others. For those who are not former players, it is even more difficult because the NHL is also a world of networking with former teammates,” adds the same GM.
For one QMJHL employee interviewed, the fact of “not having played the game” is another obstacle for coaches, and not just from here.
“We hear the famous ‘He played the game’ all the time. Do you know what will normalize this? The arrival of more women in the NHL. It is not true that they have all played the game, but they will show that it is not a prerequisite for competence.”
The survey conducted by The newspaper was quite revealing when four names emerged from the fray. Here are the five that received the most attention from their peers.
Carl Mallette, Victoriaville Tigers
Carl Mallette Photo provided by the Victoriaville Tigers
The name of the Victoriaville Tigres head coach was mentioned by five of our six speakers.
“He’s doing an incredible job with the Tigers,” the QMJHL official told us. He played the game, is perfectly bilingual and won the cup as a player and then as a coach. He’s also not the type of guy who makes headlines for the wrong reasons.”
Mallette is in his seventh season in Victoriaville, his fourth as the team’s head coach. In his first season at the helm, he led the Tigres to the President’s Cup title, now known as the Gilles-Courteau Trophy. He has also spent the past three seasons with Hockey Canada’s U17 program.
Sylvain Favreau, Drummondville Voltigeurs
Sylvain Favreau Photo provided by Ghyslain Bergeron/Voltigeurs de Drummondville
Like Mallette, Favreau’s name was almost unanimous, with five of our six speakers ranking him in their top five.
“Sylvain Favreau has to be at the top of that list. Nowadays you have to be on the same page with your players and have an attacking mentality. Sylvain fits in there,” says a player agent interviewed.
Favreau, 45, is in only his third season as a head coach in the QMJHL, but led the Halifax Mooseheads to the QMJHL Grand Final last season. He left Halifax in the summer to join the Drummondville Voltigeurs. Favreau has also joined the Hockey Canada program, with whom he has worked for the past three seasons, most notably as an assistant coach of the U18 team at the recent Hlinka-Gretzky Cup.
Gilles Bouchard, Sherbrooke Phoenix
Gilles Bouchard Photo provided by Vincent L.-Rousseau/Phoenix de Sherbrooke
The name Gilles Bouchard has also been mentioned several times and the connection between him and professional ice hockey is easy to make: he has just returned there after spending the last four seasons as an assistant to Benoit Groulx at the Crunch. Syracuse spent.
“Gilles has experience in the American Hockey League and it is quite surprising what he is doing with the Sherbrooke Phoenix this year,” noted one general manager.
In fact, the Phoenix’s record, which many considered to be at the bottom of the standings, was 12-6-2 at the time of the poll.
Another common denominator: Bouchard is also involved with Hockey Canada, as he will be Alan Letang’s assistant coach with Team Canada at the next World Junior Hockey Championships.
Eric Veilleux, Quebec Remparts
Éric Veilleux archive photo, Stevens LeBlanc
For the same reasons as Bouchard, the name Veilleux also appeared several times. Veilleux spent eight of his last 10 seasons behind an AHL or ECHL bench. The two exceptions were his return to the QMJHL with the Halifax Mooseheads in the 2018-19 season and the current season when he replaced Patrick Roy with the Quebec Remparts.
However, during his recruiting conference with the Remparts, Veilleux assured that his return to the QMJHL did not necessarily involve him quitting at the first offer.
“That’s not in my plan. I don’t want to say yes or no, but here I am. We talked about a five-year plan and I bought it.”
Louis Robitaille, Cape Breton Eagles
Louis Robitaille when he directed the Gatineau Olympics last season. Archive photo, Didier Debusschere
While the first four on the list were named in a majority, the rest were more divided and Robitaille was the only one to receive two votes. His name was mentioned often last season among Quebec’s next coaches to enter the pro ranks, but the way things ended last season with the Gatineau Olympics cooled some stakeholders.
The fact remains that whoever is now with the Cape Breton Eagles has nine seasons of experience behind a QMJHL bench, is a former player, has a good network of contacts and has worked with Hockey Canada.
“He has many of the tools needed to lead professionals,” notes an agent consulted.
note : Although we limited our list to Quebec men’s hockey, it’s important to note that Charlottetown Islanders head coach Jim Hulton was mentioned in five of the six conversations we had with our speakers. “He is the most passionate and professional we have in our league,” said another general manager.