SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League introduced as we speak that Pascal Vincent of the Laval Rocket is the winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award because the AHL’s excellent coach for the 2024-25 season.
The award is voted on by fellow coaches and members of the media representing every of the league’s 32 cities.
A Laval native, Vincent guided his hometown Rocket to the very best document within the AHL in 2024-25, capturing the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy with a mark of 48-19-3-2 (101 factors) that represented the second-best factors proportion (.701) ever by a Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliate in addition to a 27-point enchancment over final season’s Laval membership. Vincent’s Rocket allowed 2.47 objectives per recreation, tied for the fewest within the league, and he has been instrumental within the improvement of many younger Canadiens prospects together with 9 gamers who’ve competed with Montreal this season, amongst them Owen Beck, Joshua Roy, Logan Mailloux and Jakub Dobeš.
Vincent, who additionally received the Pieri Award in 2017-18, turns into its sixth two-time recipient – becoming a member of Al MacNeil, Bob McCammon, Invoice Dineen, Robbie Ftorek and Mitch Love – and the primary to earn the distinction with two completely different organizations.
Vincent, 53, joined the Rocket on July 16, 2024, from Columbus, the place he had spent the 2023-24 as head coach of the NHL’s Blue Jackets following two seasons as their affiliate coach. He beforehand spent 10 seasons with the Winnipeg Jets group, together with 5 years (2011-16) as an NHL assistant and 5 years (2016-21) as head coach of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. He was additionally a head coach within the QMJHL for 12 seasons with Cape Breton (1999-2008) and Montreal (2008-11).
The Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award, which was first offered in 1968, honors the late Mr. Pieri, a long-time contributor to the AHL because the proprietor and normal supervisor of the Windfall Reds and a member of the American Hockey League Corridor of Fame. Earlier winners of the award embrace Frank Mathers (1969), Fred Shero (1970), Al MacNeil (1972, ’77), John Muckler (1975), Bob McCammon (1978, ’81), Jacques Demers (1983), Invoice Dineen (1985, ’86), Larry Pleau (1987), Mike Milbury (1988), John Paddock (1988), Marc Crawford (1993), Barry Trotz (1994), Robbie Ftorek (1995, ’96), Peter Laviolette (1999), Claude Julien and Geoff Ward (2003), Claude Noel (2004), Randy Cunneyworth (2005), Kevin Dineen (2006), Scott Gordon (2008), Scott Arniel (2009), John Hynes (2011), Jon Cooper (2012), Willie Desjardins (2013), Jeff Blashill (2014), Mike Stothers (2015), Rick Kowalsky (2016), Roy Sommer (2017), Mike Vellucci (2019), Karl Taylor (2020), Spencer Carbery (2021), Mitch Love (2022, ’23) and Todd Nelson (2024).
In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to function the highest improvement league for all 32 Nationwide Hockey League groups. Practically 90 p.c of all gamers competing within the NHL are AHL graduates, and thru the years the American Hockey League has been residence to greater than 100 honored members of the Hockey Corridor of Fame.
The winner of the 2024-25 Eddie Shore Award (excellent defenseman) will probably be introduced Tuesday.
