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| Vincent Ethier/QMJHL |
At a press conference, Patrick Roy, head coach and general manager of the Quebec Remparts, announced that he is stepping down from the his duties with the club. It was an expected move given that Roy, who has led Quebec to a Gilles-Courteau Trophy championship and two Memorial Cup titles, has nothing left to prove in the junior ranks.
Long-time Remparts president Jacques Tanguay also stepped down on Tuesday, truly signalling the end of an era for the Remparts franchise. Both Tanguay and Roy have been involved with the Remparts since purchasing the Beauport Harfangs franchise and relocating to Quebec City in 1997.
A very BIG thank you to both Patrick Roy and Jacques Tanguay! 🙏 #QMJHL | @quebec_remparts pic.twitter.com/C3TosLi4fB
— QMJHL (@QMJHL) June 13, 2023
This was Roy's second stint as head coach and general manager of the Remparts. After working in the NHL for a few seasons, Roy returned to the role in 2018-19.
While there has been speculation that Roy could return behind an NHL bench in the fall, that's looking more and more unlikely. The New York Rangers hired Peter Laviolette on Tuesday and the Columbus Blue Jackets are expected to name Mike Babcock their new head coach in July.
There is perhaps a chance that Roy ends up with the Ottawa Senators, which was purchased by popular Hamilton Bulldogs owner Michael Andlauer earlier in the day. Roy told media that he and Andlauer, who is also part owner of the Montreal Canadiens, know each other quite well.
Tuesday's announcement leaves another head coaching vacancy in the QMJHL. Quebec's situation may be solved quite easily, however, as it has long been believed that assistant coach Simon Gagne would replace Roy when the time came.
The Cape Breton Eagles, Gatineau Olympiques, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, Drummondville Voltigeurs and Rimouski Oceanic all went without head coaches at this past weekend's QMJHL Entry Draft. It's odd to see this amount of vacancies at this time of the off-season.
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