The Winnipeg Jets are bidding adieu to a good one following Friday morning’s official announcement that Manitoba Moose head coach Pascal Vincent is leaving the organization to join the Columbus Blue Jackets staff as an associate coach to recently named bench boss Brad Larsen.
Vincent originally joined the Jets prior to the start of the 2011-12 season as an assistant to Claude Noel. The 49-year-old Laval, Que., native served in that capacity for five years until he succeeded Keith McCambridge as head coach of the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose in time for the 2015-16 campaign.
Under Vincent, the Moose compiled a record of 155-139-18-13 in the 325 games he served as head coach of the Jets AHL affiliate. Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and Jets head coach Paul Maurice often lauded the efforts of Vincent and his staff to develop players who were able to step into the NHL team’s lineup and not miss a beat.
Vincent’s most successful season — at least statistically — came in 2017-18 when the Moose went 42-26-4-4 and advanced to the Central Division Final of the Calder Cup playoffs that spring. Vincent was named the American Hockey League Coach of the Year and was also behind the bench of the Central Division All-Stars at the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic Weekend in Utica, N.Y.
Some of the players Vincent had a direct hand in developing during his half-decade with the Moose include Kyle Connor, Andrew Copp, Mason Appleton, Jack Roslovic (who he’ll be re-united with in Columbus), Logan Stanley, Tucker Poolman, Jansen Harkins, Kristian Vesalainen, Sami Niku, and most recently Ville Heinola, Dylan Samberg and Cole Perfetti.
Before joining the professional ranks, Pascal Vincent enjoyed a very successful decade of coaching in the Quebec Major Junior League: the first seven seasons with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, followed by a three-year run with the Montreal Juniors.
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