Pascal Vincent was fired as coach of Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. No replacement was named.
The 52-year-old went 27-43-12 in his only season as head coach after being promoted to replace Mike Babcock on Sept. 17, 2023. He previously coached 11 seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with Cape Breton (1998-2008) and Montreal (2008-11) prior to joining the NHL as an assistant with the Winnipeg Jets for five seasons (2011-16). He coached Winnipeg's American Hockey League affiliate in Manitoba from 2016-21 before joining the Blue Jackets as an associate under then-coach Brad Larsen.
"As I spent time with Pascal over the past few weeks, I found him to be an outstanding person and smart hockey coach who worked very hard last year under trying circumstances, but I believe a change behind the bench is in our team's best interest," Blue Jackets president of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell said. "On behalf of the organization, I want to thank Pascal for his work ethic, professionalism and contributions during his three seasons with the Blue Jackets."
The Blue Jackets hired Waddell on May 28 after he stepped down from the same position with the Carolina Hurricanes four days earlier.
"I only know him as a coach watching this team. It's the first time I ever actually met him, so I need some time with him and the staff to figure out," Waddell said the next day. "You don't walk into a new place where people sit here and make changes without having a reason to change, so until we do that, I'm not going to lay a timetable out on it."
