| Last updated at 12:31 AM on 07/10/09 |
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Guy Chouinard is shown behind the P.E.I. Rocket bench during a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game at the Civic Centre. (Guardian photo) |
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Au revoir, Guy 
Serge Savard Jr. cites change of direction needed for P.E.I. Rocket as reason to let head coach Guy Chouinard go
CHARLES REID
The Guardian
The Guy Chouinard era is over for the P.E.I. Rocket after team president and governor Serge Savard Jr. fired him Monday night.
Chouinard, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s all-time winningest coach, guided the Rocket to a 5-3-0-2 record, good for second in the Atlantic Division, in his second full season behind the bench.
Savard hired the 52-year-old Chouinard in late October 2007 to replace the fired Yanick Jean, 33, now head coach in Victoriaville.
This time Savard said last week’s awful road trip through Quebec, where the team was outshot 140-64 and lost two of three games, was the tipping point. Assistant coach Corrado Micalef remains with the team.
“The reason we made this move was the way the team was playing as a group. I really think we needed a change or direction,” Savard said Tuesday. “(Almost 50) shots a night is not reasonable. We needed a wake-up call and soon.”
In 2007, Chouinard returned from a five-year major junior absence and took over a 7-7-1 team, guiding it to a 30-36-2-2 mark and a first-round playoff exit.
He became the team’s director of hockey operations last year and traded for, among other moves, current Rocket stalwarts Jarrad Struthers and Joël Champagne, and drafted captain Jean-Philippe Mathieu and Ben Duffy — talented players intended to get the Rocket into the second round or further in the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
Last season, the Rocket wasn’t much better (26-32-5-5) and included calls by fans to oust Chouinard even before another first- round playoff defeat.
This year, the early buzz around the team grew loud with experienced 19-year-olds Chris Doyle and Jordon Southorn set to take the the Rocket helm, burgeoning underclassmen Jordan Escott, Duffy and Mathieu and strong additions Samson Mahbod and goalie Marco Cousineau.
But the noise quieted with Southorn’s pre-season suspension from the team for breaking club rules, Doyle missing four games for tripping an official and recent assault charges filed against him in provincial court, and the less-than stellar road trip.
Savard, who met with the players Tuesday morning, said he warned his squad lousy play won’t be tolerated in a year when the Rocket needs to win and bolster its sagging attendance. But it’s hard to fire players and someone had to go. That someone was Chouinard.
Savard also said he and Chouinard didn’t differ on the punishment doled out to Southorn or keeping Doyle in the Rocket lineup until his plea hearing on Oct. 22.
“There was no conflict. Guy and I never had any friction,” he said.
Chouinard had been around junior hockey for 22 years — three as Quebec Remparts forward, tallying 359 points in 179 games, and 19 as a coach.
After racking up 575 points in 578 games with NHL teams in Atlanta, Calgary and St. Louis, Chouinard began coaching in the QMJHL with the Longueuil Chevaliers in 1985, which became Victoriaville in 1987.
Along the way were stints with Verdun, Trois-Rivieres (now the Lewiston Maineiacs) and Laval (now Acadie-Bathurst). His 569 regular season wins is tops all-time. In the playoffs, he’s reached four President’s Cup finals and won a championship with Longueuil in 1987.
When asked if the game had passed Chouinard by, Savard answered this way: “It wasn’t easy for Guy. He had been out of junior for five years. It takes time to adjust,” said Savard. “He’s proven in the past he’s a good coach. But up to date in 2009? I’m not sure.”
So now Savard’s search begins for P.E.I.’s third head coach in five seasons.
A source inside the Rocket said Eric Lavigne, former Val-d’Or general manager and head coach fired last year after three and a half seasons with the Foreurs, is a strong candidate. Lavigne led Val-d’Or to the league finals in 2007.
If that’s the case, it could be expensive. Lavigne is still under contract with Val-d’Or, which Savard would have to buy out, and he’s paying out Chouinard’s remaining year of his three-year deal signed in 2007.
Savard said he and Chouinard hadn’t talked about his returning next season.
The team is expected to announce the new head coach Thursday. Micalef will run the practice today (9:30 a.m.).
P.E.I.’s next game is Saturday versus Rouyn-Noranda. Game time is 7 p.m.
(creid@theguardian.pe.ca)
*****
Guy Chouinard’s career with the P.E.I. Rocket:
Regular Season
October 2007-08: 23-29-1-2, 49 points in 55 games.
2008-09: 26-32-5-5, 62 points in 68 games.
2009-10: 5-3-0-2, 12 points in 10 games.
Total: 54-64-6-9.
Playoffs
2008: lost best-of-seven, first-round series 4-0 to Saint John.
2009: lost best-of-seven, first-round series 4-1 to Moncton.
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