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Montreal Canadiens: ECHL Affiliate Finds New Head Coach

By Ken MacMillan

Nov 1, 2005; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New Jersey Devils center Pascal Rheaume (21) on the ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Continental Airlines Arena. Credit: Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY NETWORK
Nov 1, 2005; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New Jersey Devils center Pascal Rheaume (21) on the ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Continental Airlines Arena. Credit: Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY NETWORK /
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The Montreal Canadiens are committed to their head coach, Martin St. Louis, and recently signed center Sean Monahan was singing his praises just yesterday.

However, their minor league affiliate in the ECHL was looking for a shakeup. This afternoon, the Trois-Rivieres Lions announced a major change behind in the team’s management structure. Previous head coach Marc Andre Bergeron was also the team’s vice president but he is leaving the organization.

Bergeron, a former member of the Montreal Canadiens, scored 13 goals and 34 points in 60 games for the Habs in 2009-10. He was the Lions general manager and vice president since its inaugural season in 2020-21 and took over as head coach in November. The team finished with a 29-40-3 record and will now move on from Bergeron.

In his place, Pascal Rheaume has been hired as the team’s new head coach and general manager. Rheaume was the Lions assistant coach for the past two seasons. He worked his way up from an assistant coach in the QMJHL to a head coaching role before he joined the Lions organization in 2020.

Rheaume had a lengthy playing career of his own. He suited up for 318 NHL games with the St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and Phoenix Coyotes. He scored a total of 39 goals and 91 points in his career than spanned from 1993 to 2010 and included many stops in AHL cities as well.

The native of Quebec City is well travelled and has been coaching at the QMJHL or ECHL level for over a decade. He clearly has the experience required to take over the Trois-Rivieres Lions and will hopefully be able to bring them some playoff success, which is something that has eluded Canadiens affiliates for much of the past decade.

The Lions feature a lot of local talent and will likely be in the market for plenty of Quebec born players who are aging out of Junior and the college level in the coming weeks.

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