Alain Vigneault

Alain Vigneault (b. May 14, 1961 in Quebec City, Quebec) is a Canadian hockey coach, as well as a former professional hockey defenseman. Vigneault's six seasons of professional playing career was split between the National Hockey League, Central Hockey League and American Hockey League. He has also been a coach, working primarily in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and National Hockey League. He is currently the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL. He won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach of the year for the 2006-2007 season.

Playing career

Vigneault played five seasons of major junior in the QMJHL for the Hull Olympiques and Trois Rivieres Draveurs. Showing an offensive touch, he averaged around a point-per-game in each of his final two seasons in the QMJHL, and season-by-season was consistently his team's top defensive scorer.

After his final junior season, Vigneault was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft as an eighth rounder, 167th overall. He would play two seasons with the Blues, but would play the majority of his three-season professional career in the minors with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles and Montana Magic of the CHL, as well as the Maine Mariners of the AHL.

Career statistics

				Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1977–78	Hull Olympiques	QMJHL		59	11	35	46	90		--	--	--	--	--
1978–79	Hull Olympiques	QMJHL		72	13	41	54	217		--	--	--	--	--
1979–80	Hull Olympiques	QMJHL		35	5	34	39	82		--	--	--	--	--
	Trois Rivieres Draveurs	QMJHL		28	6	19	25	93		--	--	--	--	--
1980–81	Trois Rivieres Draveurs	QMJHL		67	7	55	62	181		--	--	--	--	--
1981–82	Salt Lake Golden Eagles	CHL		64	2	10	12	266		7	1	1	2	37
	St. Louis Blues	NHL		14	1	2	3	43		--	--	--	--	--
1982–83	Salt Lake Golden Eagles	CHL		33	1	4	5	189		--	--	--	--	--
	St. Louis Blues	NHL		28	1	3	4	39		4	0	1	1	26
1983–84	Montana Magic	CHL		47	2	14	16	139		--	--	--	--	--
	Maine Mariners	AHL		11	0	1	1	46		1	0	0	0	0
QMJHL totals				261	42	184	226	663		--	--	--	--	--
CHL totals				144	5	28	33	596		7	1	1	2	37
AHL totals				11	0	1	1	46		1	0	0	0	0
NHL totals				42	2	5	7	82		4	0	1	1	26

Coaching career

Vigneault began his coaching career at a very young age, 25, just one season after his final year as a player. In his first six seasons, beginning in 1986–87, he coached in the QMJHL — one season for the Trois Rivieres Draveurs and five for the Hull Olympiques, coincidentally, the same two teams he played junior hockey for. The 1987–88 season with the Olympiques was his best overall in his QMJHL coaching career, as far as regular season record is concerned, finishing 43–23–4.

In 1992–93, Vigneault got his first break in the NHL as an assistant coach with the expansion Ottawa Senators. However, after three consecutive last-place finishes, he returned to the QMJHL half-way through the 1995–96 season to coach the Beauport Harfangs.

One and a half seasons later, Vigneault was granted another chance in the NHL, his first stint as a head coach in the league, with the Montreal Canadiens. He performed well in his first few seasons with the storied franchise, and in 2000, he was nominated for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year as his team almost made the playoffs in spite of key players lost to injury. Ironically, the season after his nomination, Montreal started poorly and he was fired.

After a third stint in the QMJHL, coaching two seasons for the Prince Edward Island Rocket, Vigneault was hired by the Vancouver Canucks organization to coach their minor-league affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. After a successful season in Manitoba, in which the Moose earned 100 points and reached the second round of the playoffs, he was chosen to replace Marc Crawford as the Canucks' coach for the 2006–07 season.

In his first season as head coach of the Canucks, he set a franchise record for wins in a single season (49), eclipsing Pat Quinn's 1992–93 campaign. As a result, on June 14, 2007, Vigneault beat out Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff to win his first Jack Adams Award, the award for which he was nominated for seven years earlier.

Awards & accomplishments

• Jack Adams Award - 2007
• nomination - 2000

Off the ice

Vigneault resides in Gatineau (Hull), Quebec during the offseason. He is divorced with two daughters, Andreane & Janie Vigneault who live with their mother in Trois Rivieres , Que,. He lives in Vancouver during the season with his girlfriend, and her daughter. He can often be found on gamedays jogging around Vancouver's Stanley Park. He is known among the Vancouver media for his sense of humour. His nickname is "A.V."

Coaching record

Team	Year	Regular Season							Post Season
		G	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	Finish	Result
MTL	1997–98	82	37	32	13	—	87	4th in Northeast	Lost in Second Round
MTL	1998–99	82	32	39	11	—	75	5th in Northeast	Missed Playoffs
MTL	1999–2000	82	35	34	9	4	83	4th in Northeast	Missed Playoffs
MTL	2000–01	20	5	13	2	0	(70)	5th in Northeast	(fired)
VAN	2006–07	82	49	26	—	7	105	1st in Northwest	Lost in Second Round
VAN	2007–08	82	39	33	—	10	88	5th in Northwest	Missed Playoffs
Total		430	197	172	35	21	Points %: 54.88 %

External links

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