Laval Rocket
American Hockey League team in Laval, Quebec From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Laval Rocket (French: Rocket de Laval) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Laval, Quebec. The team began play for the 2017–18 season, with home games held at Place Bell. They are affiliated with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) and Trois-Rivières Lions of the ECHL.
| Laval Rocket Rocket de Laval | |
|---|---|
| |
| City | Laval, Quebec |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | North |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Home arena | Place Bell (capacity: 10,062) |
| Colours | Red, white and blue |
| Owner(s) | Molson family (majority owner) (Geoff Molson, chairman[1]) |
| General manager | John Sedgwick |
| Head coach | Pascal Vincent[2] |
| Captain | Lucas Condotta[3] |
| Media | English: AHL.TV (Internet) TSN 690 French: RDS 91.9 Sports |
| Affiliates | Montreal Canadiens (NHL) Trois-Rivières Lions (ECHL)[4] |
| Website | rocketlaval.com |
| Franchise history | |
| 1969–1971 | Montreal Voyageurs |
| 1971–1984 | Nova Scotia Voyageurs |
| 1984–1990 | Sherbrooke Canadiens |
| 1990–1999 | Fredericton Canadiens |
| 1999–2002 | Quebec Citadelles |
| 2002–2015 | Hamilton Bulldogs |
| 2015–2017 | St. John's IceCaps |
| 2017–present | Laval Rocket |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 1: (2024–25) |
| Division titles | 2: (2020–21, 2024–25) |
 Current season | |
History
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In July 2016, American Hockey League (AHL) executives announced that they had unanimously approved the relocation of the St. John's IceCaps, AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, to the Montreal suburb of Laval for the 2017–18 season.[5] Shortly thereafter, a name-the-team contest was held with Patriots, Rapids and Rocket narrowed as the final three candidates. On September 8, the winning name of Laval Rocket was announced, a tribute to Canadiens' legend Maurice "Rocket" Richard, which got a 51% majority of fan votes.[6] With this, Laval became the second hockey team in the Greater Montreal area to use that nickname, after the Montreal Rocket of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), from 1999 until 2003. In June 2017, the franchise named Larry Carriere as general manager[7] and retained Sylvain Lefebvre as head coach, a position he held since 2012 when the franchise played as the Hamilton Bulldogs and St. John's IceCaps respectively.[8]
During their inaugural campaign, Laval compiled a dismal 24–42–7–3 record, placing them last overall in league standings. As a result, Lefebvre would be relieved as head coach[9] and replaced by Joël Bouchard, who himself had been serving as head coach and general manager of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the QMJHL.[10]
For the 2020–21 season, the Rocket temporarily relocated to the Bell Centre in Montreal to share the facility with their parent team during the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] The Rocket finished as Canadian Division champions and posted the second-best winning percentage across the AHL, with their opponents limited to only Canada-based teams due to the ongoing pandemic.[12][13]
With Bouchard leaving at the end of his contract (compiling a 83–67–24 record over the course of three seasons)[14] to become the head coach of the San Diego Gulls,[15] the Rocket hired Jean-Francois Houle as their third head coach until the foregoing's departure in June 2024.[16][17] Weeks later, on July 16, Lavallois Pascal Vincent was named as the fourth head coach in franchise history.[18] Vincent's impact on the team was instantaneous, with the Rocket posting a franchise record seven consecutive wins to begin the 2024–25 season.[19] The team would have the best season in franchise history to date, winning the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as AHL regular season champions for the first time,[20] as well as their second divisional title.[21]
Team information
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Logos and uniforms
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On January 31, 2017, the team revealed the logo and jersey design that would be worn during their inaugural season.[22] The colours consist of red, white, and blue and were chosen to mirror those of their parent-club, the Montreal Canadiens.[23] As a further tribute to Richard's "Rocket" moniker, each sleeve has a shield patch with 'Le Rocket' inscribed therein. Similarly, patches with the number 9 and a stylized flame appear on each sleeve whereas the latter can also be found below the player's number on the backside of the jersey as well as their hockey socks.[24] Laval, being the name of the city in which the Rocket play out of, is displayed on each shoulder as well as in the neck tie region of the jersey.
The main logo is a large blue 'R' that is outlined and highlighted in white. The word 'Rocket' runs along the inside of the 'R' in white. While all other logos and patches alternate colours depending on the home or away jersey, the main logo remains blue on both the red and white jerseys.[25]
In January 2025, the team introduced a retro jersey concept which pays homage to former Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH) franchise the Laval Chiefs, as well as past iterations of major junior teams in the area, namely the National, who rebranded as the Voisins and Titan between 1979–85.[26]
Season-by-season results
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| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Won | Lost | OTL | SOL | Points | PCT | Goals for |
Goals against |
Standing | Year | Prelims | 1st round |
2nd round |
3rd round |
Finals |
| 2017–18 | 76 | 24 | 42 | 7 | 3 | 58 | .382 | 206 | 281 | 7th, North | 2018 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2018–19 | 76 | 30 | 34 | 6 | 6 | 72 | .474 | 195 | 231 | 7th, North | 2019 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2019–20 | 62 | 30 | 24 | 5 | 3 | 68 | .548 | 183 | 182 | 6th, North | 2020 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||
| 2020–21 | 36 | 23 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 50 | .694 | 113 | 87 | 1st, Canadian | 2021 | No playoffs held1 | ||||
| 2021–22 | 72 | 39 | 26 | 5 | 2 | 85 | .590 | 246 | 231 | 3rd, North | 2022 | BYE2 | W, 3–2, SYR | W, 3–0, ROC | L, 3–4, SPR | — |
| 2022–23 | 72 | 33 | 29 | 7 | 3 | 76 | .528 | 258 | 247 | 5th, North | 2023 | L, 0–2, UTI | — | — | — | — |
| 2023–24 | 72 | 33 | 31 | 6 | 2 | 74 | .514 | 235 | 242 | 7th, North | 2024 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2024–25 | 72 | 48 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 101 | .701 | 229 | 178 | 1st, North | 2025 | BYE2 | TBD, 0–0, CLE | |||
Notes
- The league allowed each division the choice to hold a divisional postseason. On April 29, 2021, it was announced that only the Pacific Division had elected to hold a postseason tournament to name a division champion, with the other four divisions awarding their champions via regular season records. Consequently, the league would not award the Calder Cup for a second consecutive season.[27]
- Beginning in 2022, the top two teams in the Atlantic, top three teams in each of the North and Central, and the first-place team in the Pacific Division received byes into the division semifinals of the Calder Cup playoffs.[28]
Players and personnel
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Current roster
Updated April 28, 2025.[29]
Team captains
- Byron Froese, 2017–19
- Xavier Ouellet, 2019–22
- Alex Belzile, 2022–23
- Gabriel Bourque, 2023–24
- Lucas Condotta, 2024–present
Head coaches
- Sylvain Lefebvre, 2017–18
- Joël Bouchard, 2018–21
- Jean-François Houle, 2021–24
- Pascal Vincent, 2024–present
Notable alumni
The following players have played both 100 games with Laval and 100 games in the National Hockey League:
References
External links
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