Paul Byron behind the Rocket bench: Anthony Marcotte wouldn’t be surprised

The Jean-François Houle issue is the talk of Laval. Will the coach, whose contract expires in the next few weeks, be back with the Habs’ club-school or not?

On the one hand, the man who wasn’t hired by Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton failed to get his club into the playoffs. But on the other, he had a young squad on hand and development is going well.

From what we can see, he probably deserves another chance. But you know as well as I do that with a coach at the end of his contract, things can still move quickly. Remember the Joël Bouchard situation in 2021…

All that to say that at the moment, we’re in a bit of a limbo.

On this subject, Anthony Marcotte was on Tony Marinaro’s Sick Podcast last night. And what the voice of the Rocket had to say was that we should expect some changes behind the bench.

That doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be JF Houle (it could be Kelly Buchberger and/or Martin Laperrière), but Marcotte is expecting a change.

And he wouldn’t be surprised to see Paul Byron get an assistant coaching job in Laval.

“It wouldn’t surprise me one bit that Paul Byron gets hired as an assistant coach in Laval next year”@anthonymarcotte joins @TonyMarinaro to discuss the future in Laval

Full pod
Watch: https://t.co/HsSB01Y9yT
Listen: https://t.co/82jWS5E5jh#GoHabsGo #thesickpodcast pic.twitter.com/ZRtNJfBixa

– The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) April 24, 2024

For the past year, Byron has been part of the player development department. He’s close to Habs management and seems to be a great role model/teacher for the organization’s youngsters.

Would he be interested in such a challenge? If Anthony Marcotte “wouldn’t be surprised” if it happened, we have to assume he’s speaking from experience about Byron’s professional intentions.

Let’s not forget that such a position isn’t for everyone. Francis Bouillon, for example, was not interested in a position behind the Laval bench in recent years.

In bursts

– Salt Lake City is popular right now.

– Speaking of Joël Bouchard.

– We can build around the Flanelle’s first line. [TSN 690]

– Of note.