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Jean-François Houle isn’t going anywhere.

Laval Rocket general manager John Sedgwick announced Wednesday that the team has agreed to terms on a multi-year contract with the head coach. Assistant coach Martin Laperrière, goaltending coach Marco Marciano and video coach Charles Juneau have also agreed to multi-year extensions.

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Earlier this month, the Rocket announced that assistant coach Kelly Buchberger was leaving the team after three seasons handling the defencemen. The former NHL player will become head coach and GM of the Devon Xtreme, a new team next season in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Buchberger, a Saskatchewan native, played 17 seasons in the NHL, including 12 with the Edmonton Oilers.

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“Jean-François Houle has done an excellent job as the head coach of the Laval Rocket since being hired in 2021,” Sedgwick said in a news release. “He and his staff have demonstrated the ability to balance team performance with player development, establishing both a competitive culture and an ideal environment for the growth and maturation of our young players.”

The Rocket, with a very young roster, failed to make the playoffs this season, finishing last in the North Division with a 33-31-8 record.

“His teams have made two playoff appearances in three years, including a Calder Cup semifinal appearance in 2021-22, and Jean-François and his staff have done a commendable job preparing numerous players for the jump to the National Hockey League over that time,” Sedgwick said. “His strong values, attention to detail and dedication to his craft, combined with over 20 years of coaching experience in four different leagues, make Houle the ideal fit for the Laval Rocket and Montreal Canadiens. The AHL represents a critical step in the development of many future NHL players, and we are confident that Jean-François is the right person to continue to oversee that process.”

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As a player, Houle was part of the Lac St. Louis Lions team that won the Air Canada Cup national midget championship in 1992 before going to Northwood School in Lake Placid, N.Y. He was selected by the Canadiens in the fourth round of the 1993 NHL Draft and then spent four seasons at Clarkson University. After that, he bounced around the minor leagues for five years, including one full season with the AHL’s Fredericton Canadiens, before getting into coaching.

Houle spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Clarkson, followed by two seasons as head coach of the QMJHL’s Lewiston MAINEiacs and three seasons as head coach of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. After posting a 40-22-6 record in his first season with the Armada in 2011-12, Houle won the Ron Lapointe Trophy as the QMJHL’s top coach.

Houle then spent one season as head coach of the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors, followed by six seasons as an assistant coach with the Condors after they moved up to the AHL and became the Edmonton Oilers’ farm team. He left the Condors to become head coach of the Rocket in 2021.

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