Vincent known for setting high standards

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This article was published 09/01/2024 (637 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pascal Vincent left his mark on the Winnipeg Jets organization, and his fingerprints are all over the current version of the high-flying hockey club, despite the fact he’s now been gone for three years.

It’s no surprise the lineup to chat with the first-year Columbus Blue Jackets bench boss on Tuesday was a lengthy one, starting with True North chairman Mark Chipman and including numerous Jets staff, players and a few local media members.

“This building was basically my home for close to 10 years,” Vincent said as he made his first visit to Canada Life Centre as the head coach of an NHL team. “Lots of good memories, good friends, good people.”

Go up and down Winnipeg’s roster and Vincent played a role in the development a majority of the players — both as an assistant with the Jets for five seasons beginning in 2011-12 to five more years spent at the helm of the Manitoba Moose starting in 2016-17.

“Really detail-oriented, really passionate, really cares about his players,” is how Jets captain Adam Lowry described Vincent. “I was really happy to see him get the chance, he deserves it. He’s put in the time, he’s really kind of done a lot of work to get to where he is.”

Vincent spent the past two years as an assistant in Columbus, then interviewed for the top job when Brad Larsen wasn’t retained over the summer. However, the Blue Jackets opted to bring in veteran Mike Babcock, only to reverse their decision just before training camp due to allegations of unprofessional conduct. That opened the door for Vincent.

“I know it wasn’t normal circumstances,” said Vincent, who got his coaching start in the QMJHL nearly 25 years ago.

“I would say the last 10, 12 years, you wonder is it going to happen at some point. And when it does finally happen, all the doubts – because there are some dark days, too, during that period. Because you don’t know. And you wonder if it’s going to happen, and you’re finally there. But it’s just the tip of the iceberg. To get there is one thing. That was hard. To stay there, that’s a different animal. So that’s my goal now.”

Columbus entered play against Winnipeg in the basement of the Metropolitan Division with a 13-19-9 record. They’ve been ravaged by injuries which has exposed holes in one of the NHL’s youngest rosters.

“It’s a game of mistakes. The mistakes I can understand that and we can coach them and correct them. The growth has been consistent.”– Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent regarding the Blue Jackets’ youthful roster

“We’re building. We’re trying to build on the culture that was there, but improve the culture and accountability and expectations and all that,” Vincent said.

“But I’m going to tell you this. The players are all-in. And yes we have a younger group, and we make mistakes. It’s a game of mistakes. The mistakes I can understand that and we can coach them and correct them. The growth has been consistent.”

Columbus forward Jack Roslovic knows Vincent as well as anyone, having played for him with the Moose, Jets and Blue Jackets as both an assistant and head coach. The teams and roles may have changed, but it sounds like the person has not.

“The one thing you always hear about when people talk about Pazzy is first of all as a person, how good of person he is. Those are the first words, and I would agree with that,” Roslovic said Tuesday.

“Obviously the different hats that you have to wear when you’re assistant versus being a head is something I wouldn’t know how to navigate. But I think he’s navigated it well. We haven’t had the success we’ve wanted to have. But I’ve seen him have a successful head coaching career in the American League with our Moose team.”

Vincent has taken a tough love approach at times this year, including a one game healthy scratch of slumping former Jets sniper Patrik Laine (Laine is now injured) to benching the team’s highest-paid player, Johnny Gaudreau, for part of a contest.

“I believe in accountability. It starts with me,” said Vincent. “I think you can hold people accountable when you care about them. And they know that.”

Jets forward Mason Appleton sure does, even if he admits to not fully realizing it at the time. He recalled Tuesday how, in his rookie season as a professional hockey player with the Moose in 2016-17, he arrived at practise to find his name on the dressing room whiteboard in a very unfamiliar spot.

“I was on the fourth line,” Appleton said. “I had a really good year and the points were coming. But I think I had like a bad two-game skid.”

His initial instinct was to go find his coach at the time, Vincent, to give him a piece of his mind. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed.

“The biggest thing I’ve always said about Pazzy is he holds people to their standard, and he holds people accountable.”– Jets forward Mason Appleton recalling his rookie season with the Moose and Vincent

“You want to go cuss him out about this and that, but now I look back on something like that and I wasn’t playing to my standards,” said Appleton. “The biggest thing I’ve always said about Pazzy is he holds people to their standard, and he holds people accountable.”

Turns out that particular incident also left an impression with the coach.

“I remember that day like if it was yesterday,” Vincent said. “We felt as a staff Mason wasn’t playing up to his potential.”

Vincent said Appleton was the “best player on the ice, by far” at practise that day, and the rest is history. Appleton was named the Moose MVP that season and established himself as an NHL regular the following year. Tuesday’s game against Vincent’s Blue Jackets was the 287th of his big-league career.

“You see it now at the NHL level with what he’s done (scratching Laine),” said Appleton.

“To me, that’s the thing I’ve really grown to respect about him. He holds everyone to his standard and their standard. And if you’re not at that, he’s going to push your button in different ways that you might not like to try and get you back to your level of play.”

One team that doesn’t need many buttons pushed these days is the Jets, and Vincent is as thrilled as anyone to see them doing well.

“Since Day 1 Chevy (GM Kevin Cheveldayoff) said draft and develop, and he stuck to his plan. And it’s paid off,” said Vincent.

“They are really well coached. When we watched the pre-scout, they defend really well. They are dynamic offensively in the offensive zone. But they’re well structured. They know who they are, they’ve created their team identity. And when they make mistakes, because it’s a game of mistakes, they have Mr. Hellebuyck in the net who can save the day. So it’s a real good hockey team.”

In a lot of ways, the Jets today are what Vincent hopes his Blue Jackets can eventually become.

“They’re all on the same page. No systems are perfect. No games are perfect. But when your team is on the same page, it becomes closer to perfection. And that’s what I’m seeing from the Jets.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg