Today is a good day for the Laval Rocket. Head coach Pascal Vincent was the recipient of the Louis A. R. Piero Memorial Award. Winning the coach of the year award is well deserved. On the flip side of that, some NHL teams might want to interview him but that’s a discussion for the end of their season or at least a few months from now is the hope.

The award is voted on by my media and fellow coaches representing the league’s 32 cities. That’s an impressive honor. Spencer Carbery won this award in 2021, so that puts things into perspective and it’s a real honor.

The Rocket are tied for the lowest goals against average with a 2.47. They had the best record in the AHL with 101 points and they had key players get NHL time this season and those considerations made Vincent an excellent choice. 

Vincent is from Laval, played for Laval and has had a terrific coaching career including one season as the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

Laval has a great chance to win it all. They have a great roster, a great coach, and now they have a chance to put an exclamation point on this season. The fact that the Canadiens have their AHL and NHL teams in the playoffs is noteworthy and a good sign regarding organizational player development too.