This year the fate of the Laval Rocket has been taken over by a new individual, that is Jean-Francois Houle. This one came in relief of Joël Bouchard, who was the head coach of the Montreal AHL club for three seasons. Bouchard left the Canadiens organization to join the San Diego Gulls, the Anaheim Ducks' AHL club.
In Joël Bouchard, the Rocket had a pilot who was very demanding of his players. For him, each player had to give a maximum effort, which often led to positive results. One can easily think of the fact that the Rocket finished first in the AHL last year. He had great success at the junior level with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, where he led the team to the finals twice.
Under Jean-François Houle, the Rocket will be prepared differently. The new coach is much more focused on the physical and mental preparation of his players during the summer. It is too early to tell if this method will work for Houle, but the players seem to like his system a lot.
Houle will have some very big decisions to make very soon, as the Laval Rocket camp started today. He is aware that a lot of quality players will be with the Trois-Rivières Lions in the ECHL, so he will keep an eye on them.
