Huskies’ Mario Pouliot wins Janes Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies head coach Mario Pouliot led his club to a league-record 59-win season, in addition to 25 consecutive victories to tie a CHL record originally set in 1974.
In all, Rouyn-Noranda finished the 2018-19 season in first place with a 59-8-0-1 record, good for 119 points. In the playoffs, the Huskies then captured the President’s Cup for the second time in four seasons.
A native of Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., Pouliot is in his first season with the Huskies after he guided the Acadie-Bathurst Titan to the President’s Cup and the Memorial Cup in 2018. He spent four seasons with the Titan following a two-year stint as head coach of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.
Pouliot is the first QMJHL head coach to win the Janes Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award since Gillies Bouchard (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies) in 2016. Finalists this year included Marc Habscheid of the Prince Albert Raiders and Andre Tourigny of the Ottawa 67’s.