Major hiring for Kent Hughes and the Habs: 3 names have emerged favourites

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Elias Adaime
July 5, 2024 (4:15 PM)

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The announcement of Jean-François Houle's departure from his position as head coach of the Laval Rocket caused a shockwave.

Speculation quickly spread on social media about his successor.

Stéphane Leroux has new information!

Although several names have been mentioned in recent days, a new report from Stéphane Leroux reveals the path that the club's GM John Sedgwick will take. According to the journalist, three coaches will be interviewed (or have been interviewed).

"Talking about the head coach position with the #Rocket #AHL

I've heard from reliable sources that meetings will take place in Vegas and early next week in Montreal.

Among the candidates they want to meet � nothing surprising:

Sylvain Favreau
Carl Mallette
Stephane Julien"

The process seems to be underway, and it wouldn't be surprising if an announcement on this subject is made in the coming weeks.

It was recently said that a second round of interviews will take place soon, this time in the presence of Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton.

The hiring of a coach with the Rocket

Sedgwick ultimately prioritized another matter before the head coach position.

In recent days, he hired Daniel Jacob to replace Kelly Buchberger, who left his position as assistant.

Jacob, who was Joel Bouchard's assistant, left the Syracuse Crunch organization by mutual agreement. Jacob's name emerged in recent days to fill the position left vacant by Houle. He was ultimately hired for the assistant position.

Jacob would then return to the city, having assisted his loyal companion, Joel Bouchard, from 2018 to 2021 before following his friend to San Diego (2021-2022) and Syracuse (2022-2023).

While it may seem odd to hire an assistant before a head coach, this is common in the AHL. The parent team wants to place its trusted individuals to maximize the development of its prospects. Therefore, it selects its own trusted men.