This is probably not the scenario he had imagined.
In almost three decades behind the benches of the Quebec Midget AAA League, the QMJHL, the American League and the NHL, he had undoubtedly already visualized, at least once or twice, what the day would look like when he would finally be named head coach in the best league in the world.
However, Pascal Vincent’s big promotion happened “very quickly”. In Traverse City, Mich., he was attending the Columbus Blue Jackets’ rookie camp when his phone rang. On the other end of the phone, Jarmo Kekäläinen, general manager of the club, informed him that head coach Mike Babcock would announce his resignation. In doing so, he offered to give up his role as deputy to replace his boss.
” I said yes. It happened like that. »
So it’s been some 48 hours since the Quebecer has been head coach of an NHL team. Unsurprisingly, he has “yet to take the time” to sit back and appreciate what is happening to him. The storm is almost perfect.
The organization is in embarrassment after revelations according to which Babcock, hired two months ago, had forced players to reveal the contents of their cell phones to him. He’s already gone, as the team’s training camp begins.
Fortunately, Vincent and his new deputies had worked together with Babcock to prepare the camp. “Small changes, but nothing major,” were necessary. But the train is already moving.
“The transition should be quite easy,” assured the main person concerned on Tuesday during a virtual press briefing. “If it was a new organization and nothing was prepared, it would have been more difficult. We put in a lot of hours, but we were pretty ready. »
It was probably not the scenario he had imagined, then. But Vincent will not arrive backwards for all that.
He has enough confidence in his abilities to know that he has not stolen his place. “What makes me most proud is that I never gave up,” he says.
After a less than prolific junior career on the ice, he quickly made the jump to a coaching career, with a position in the NHL in mind.
At age 27, he left the AAA Midget League for the QMJHL. He went into exile in Cape Breton without speaking a word of English. Nine years later, he returned home to manage the Montreal Juniors.
After three seasons, the first call from the NHL came, making him the assistant coach of the Winnipeg Jets. Five more years passed and he became a boss again, this time in the American League, with the Jets farm club. Five seasons later, in 2021, return to the NHL, this time in Columbus, as associate coach. Until this phone call from Kekäläinen.
In the same breath, he pays tribute to all the people he has met along his journey. Those who believed in him during the inevitable times of doubt. Those who trusted him. Those, too, with whom he has surrounded himself, who “push him to become better” and from whom he says he has learned so much. “I’ve always said: You’re only as good as the sum of the people you work with. »
At every moment of his journey, he was meticulous, patient, without trying to skip any steps. “Ten years ago, I thought I was ready to be a head coach [in the NHL]. Maybe I was, ready, but I didn’t have the confidence I have right now. »
In his new role, he will not change the “direct” style he has always had as a deputy. “The job description has changed, but my approach is the same. I remain the same person. »
At 51, Pascal Vincent is facing the biggest professional challenge of his life.
Because it is big. The Blue Jackets are coming off an absolutely atrocious season, the main thread of which was the staggering amount of injuries affecting virtually every player on the club.
The Mike Babcock episode is evacuated, he assures. The general manager provided an update with the players, and the coaching staff met with captain Boone Jenner on Tuesday. “The guys are ready for camp,” assures Vincent. They don’t look back. »
With training finally in health, he tries to clarify his “vision” on the “culture and attitude” that he expects from his club. He immediately speaks of “work and intensity”, of structure, of a “method of work unique to all”.
He is committed to deploying “a rapid team”, without getting any more specific about the nature of his workforce or the objectives to be achieved.
The rest ? “We’ll talk about it after camp. »
