Veilleux named new Mooseheads head coach
Eric Veilleux will take over behind the Halifax Mooseheads bench.
The QMJHL team announced on Thursday he will be the new head coach, replacing Jim Midgley who was let go a little more than a week ago.
“We looked at a lot of different resumes and a lot of different coaches but first of all you look at his resume as a player,” Mooseheads general manager Cam Russell said. “He played major junior and professional hockey, and he had skill and character so he understands both sides of the game, which is very important. He’s been a head coach in the AHL and (eight) years of major junior and he only had one losing season, made it to the final three times, won a Memorial Cup and was CHL coach of the year.
“There are lots of different things we liked about him and we also liked the fact that he’ll bring intensity and accountability to our team. He was also coach when Shawinigan hosted the Memorial Cup so he understands the year we’re ready to have; the process and all the obstacles that can come up along the way.” Veilleux coached the Cataractes from 2006 to 2012, winning the Memorial Cup in his final year. He then spent two years with the Baie- Comeau Drakkar, making it to the league final both years and winning CHL coach of the year in 2013-14.
Following that season, Veilleux jumped to pro hockey and spent the past two seasons as head coach of the San Antonio Rampage, the AHL affiliate for the Colorado Avalanche. They did not renew his contract at the end of the season.
“I had a few leads on pro hockey jobs and had some talks with those teams,” Veilleux said. “But pro teams usually take a little more time to make those decisions, sometimes not even until after the draft (in late June). ... So I was going into the unknown and I happened to get a call from Bobby Smith last week to see if the Mooseheads could be a possibility for me.
“He called me back on Monday and I’d had a chance to think about it and decided this could be a great opportunity. I’m not going to lie, obviously it’s Halifax, number one, and also they’re hosting the Memorial Cup next year. That made it easier to decide on shorter notice.”
Veilleux’s career record in the QMJHL is 347-208-45 and he is an intense presence on the bench who demands the same commitment from his players. He was the same way as a player as a gritty scoring centre in the QMJHL and later for eight years in the AHL and International Hockey League.
Veilleux signed a three-year contract and will move to Halifax once his kids finish school in Texas.