by Justin Vézina | AHL On The Beat
It was an eventful summer season for the Laval Rocket. After being eradicated from playoff competition within the final weekend of the 2023-24 season, the Montreal Canadiens’ prime affiliate group needed to discover a new coach after Jean-François Houle left to pursue one other alternative.
Pascal Vincent, former coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets within the NHL and the Manitoba Moose within the AHL, was appointed head coach. Then greater than a dozen gamers, together with Alex Barré-Boulet, Tyler Wotherspoon and Adam Engström, joined the Rocket, and a wholly completely different group started the 2024-25 season.
Proof that it’s not the identical group anymore? Final season, the Rocket gained simply two of their first 10 video games. This season, it was 9 wins in that span.
What’s extra, the Laval membership has an ideal file of six wins and no losses at house, and had a franchise-best eight-game profitable streak earlier than a loss in Belleville on Saturday.
The formulation for achievement was easy, in keeping with Vincent. It began lengthy earlier than the opening recreation when the tactician started referring to a sure “wolf pack” mentality.
“It began on the Canadiens camp,” Vincent defined. “It’s one thing that, as a company, we need to do. The message right here is to guard and assist one another. We need to play in blocks of 5. We shield, assist and encourage one another. It’s an inclusive mind-set.”
This may be illustrated in concrete methods like when alternate captain Brandon Gignac, who had just one combating main in additional than 300 skilled video games, just lately dropped the gloves in protection of teammate Joshua Roy.
However this group spirit can materialize in additional refined methods. It may be so simple as ensuring your teammates are on time for group conferences.
And even when the definition of a wolf pack is broad, it’s crystal-clear within the dressing room.
“Once you come into any group setting, the mindset is that you realize you’re making an attempt to perform the identical purpose,” stated rookie ahead Owen Beck. “Everyone right here is admittedly on the identical web page and we grew to become shut fairly rapidly. That stems from hanging out with each other, doing group occasions or simply having fun with your time or discovering enjoyable issues to do across the rink. It may very well be enjoying ping pong or enjoying sewer ball or no matter.
“After which, clearly, when you have got a coach that’s preaching that mentality, we stick collectively and rise up for each other. And on the ice or out on this planet I feel that it pushes each single one in every of us.”
Ultimately, the precept that Vincent has applied in Laval is solely to be “a superb teammate.”
This leveling-up is attribute of the Rocket’s begin to the season. Now they’ll should stick with it for an additional 61 matches on the very least.
