Moose’s Vincent heading to Columbus

Photo: Lindsay Mogle/AHL

The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that Pascal Vincent has joined new head coach Brad Larsen’s staff as associate coach, signing a three-year contract.

Vincent, 49, joins the Blue Jackets after spending the past 10 years as a member of the Winnipeg Jets organization, including five as head coach of the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose from 2016-21. He compiled a 155-139-31 record in 325 career games as the head coach with Manitoba after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant coach with the Jets under head coaches Claude Noel and Paul Maurice.

Vincent won the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding coach in 2017-18, when he guided the club to a 42-26-4-4 record and a run to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. He also served as the Central Division’s coach at the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic.

“Pascal is very highly thought of within the coaching community and a guy I identified right away as someone I thought would be a great addition to our club, so I’m excited to have him join our staff,” said Larsen. “He is very smart, experienced and passionate about the game and beyond that, is just a tremendous person, and I’m really looking forward to working with him every day.”