Vancouver Canucks senior vice president and general manager Dave Nonis announced today that Alain Vigneault has been named head coach of the Vancouver Canucks.
"We are excited to be making this announcement today," said Nonis. "Alain has enjoyed success at many levels and has proven that he can thrive in a great hockey market like Vancouver. His familiarity with the players and our organization will undoubtedly be an asset as we build towards the future."
Vigneault, 45, becomes the 16th head coach in club history. He joins Vancouver from the club’s AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, where he led the team to within one game of the Western Conference finals this spring. In the 2005-06 season, his first season with the Moose, Vigneault guided the club to a 44-24-7-5 record, good for 100 points.
He previously served in the NHL as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens from 1997-2001, where he compiled a record of 109-118-35-4, reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals during his first season behind the bench and was nominated for the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year following the 1999-2000 season.
Vigneault, a member of the Maine Mariners’ Calder Cup championship team in 1984, is the third AHL head coach to be promoted to the NHL in recent weeks, following new Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Paul Maurice (Toronto Marlies) and new Philadelphia Flyers assistant John Stevens (Philadelphia Phantoms).
