Laval Rocket

In July 2016, American Hockey League (AHL) executives announced that they had unanimously approved the relocation of the St. John's IceCaps, AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, to the Montreal suburb of Laval for the 2017–18 season.^[7] Shortly thereafter, a name-the-team contest was held with Patriots, Rapids and Rocket narrowed as the final three candidates. On September 8, the winning name of Laval Rocket was announced, a tribute to Canadiens' legend Maurice "Rocket" Richard, which got a 51% majority of fan votes.^[8] With this, Laval became the second hockey team in the Greater Montreal area to use that nickname, after the Montreal Rocket of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), from 1999 until 2003. In June 2017, the franchise named Larry Carriere as general manager^[9] and retained Sylvain Lefebvre as head coach, a position he held since 2012 when the franchise played as the Hamilton Bulldogs and St. John's IceCaps respectively.^[10]

During their inaugural campaign, Laval compiled a dismal 24–42–7–3 record, placing them last overall in league standings. As a result, Lefebvre would be relieved as head coach^[11] and replaced by Joël Bouchard, who himself had been serving as head coach and general manager of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the QMJHL.^[12]

For the 2020–21 season, the Rocket temporarily relocated to the Bell Centre in Montreal to share the facility with their parent team during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[13] The Rocket finished as Canadian Division champions and posted the second-best winning percentage across the AHL, with their opponents limited to only Canada-based teams due to the ongoing pandemic.^[14][15]

With Bouchard leaving at the end of his contract (compiling a 83–67–24 record over the course of three seasons)^[16] to become the head coach of the San Diego Gulls,^[17] the Rocket hired Jean-François Houle as their third head coach until the foregoing's departure in June 2024.^[18][19] Weeks later, on July 16, Lavallois Pascal Vincent was named as the fourth head coach in franchise history.^[20] Vincent's impact on the team was instantaneous, with the Rocket posting a franchise record seven consecutive wins to begin the 2024–25 season.^[21] The team would have their best season in franchise history, winning the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as AHL regular season champions for the first time,^[22] as well as their second divisional title.^[23]

Notes

1. The league allowed each division the choice to hold a divisional postseason. On April 29, 2021, it was announced that only the Pacific Division had elected to hold a postseason tournament to name a division champion, with the other four divisions awarding their champions via regular season records. Consequently, the league would not award the Calder Cup for a second consecutive season.^[29]
2. Beginning in 2022, the top two teams in the Atlantic, top three teams in each of the North and Central, and the first-place team in the Pacific Division received byes into the division semifinals of the Calder Cup playoffs.^[30]