The process of hiring a new head coach to replace Patrick Roy is progressing and Quebec Remparts general manager Simon Gagné has now narrowed his list of potential candidates to three.
Back from a few days of vacation with the family, he will meet her at the end of the week.
If he didn’t want to reveal the identities of the candidates he will be interviewing, Gagné assured one thing: the hockey player who will sit behind the Remparts bench at the start of the 2023-2024 season will not be a green recruit.
“It has to be someone who has experience in the industry. The next few years will not be easy for us and our coach must have a good shell.
“The Quebec Remparts play in a big media market and besides, our next coach has to come after Patrick Roy. It’s a big challenge.”
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
names circulate
Officially appointed General Manager of Remparts on June 15, Gagné took the time to study all the applications and recognized that “at the professional level, many things have changed and that is why we have been waiting”.
Reading between the lines, we understand why several people in the circle are citing the names Éric Veilleux and Gilles Bouchard as the main candidates to succeed Patrick Roy. The two hockey men have experience — they were both just released from the Tampa Bay Lightning’s training club, the Syracuse Crunch — and have also won a championship each in the QMJHL.
Eric Veilleux Simon Clark/QMI Agency
Bouchard won the 2016 President’s Cup – now the Gilles-Courteau Trophy – with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, while Veilleux won the 2012 Memorial Cup with the Shawinigan Cataractes.
Gilles Bouchard when leading the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in March 2017. MARTIN ALARIE/AGENCY QMI
Veilleux was also recommended to the Avalanche by Patrick Roy in 2016 when the team was looking for a head coach for their then-school club, the San Antonio Rampage.
Lucky for Desrosiers
These criteria listed by Gagné somehow explain why the organization was not able to offer the head coaching position to Benoit Desrosiers, who accepted that role at the Gatineau Olympiques on Monday.
“It was a touchy subject as Ben is a friend. He agreed to stay in Quebec and was offered the title of assistant coach. I’m happy for him that Serge called [Beausoleil] happens. His goal is to become a professional coach and that’s the best thing that could have happened to him.
The Remparts coaching staff is therefore set to undergo a complete overhaul following the departures of Roy and Desrosiers, not to mention Gagné’s promotion to the second tier. The latter also realizes that the phone hasn’t rung since the announcement of Desrosier’s departure.
“Ben will be a big part to replace as he has done a lot for us not only in coaching but also in logistics and video.”
For current video coach David Rodrigue, this will likely be a chance to move up and make the leap behind the bench next season.
“I’ve already started talking to him about it. “We’ll get together soon,” Gagné revealed.