Claude Bouchard returns behind the Cataractes bench
Less than 24 hours after the announcement that Martin Bernard had been relieved of his head coaching duties with the Cataractes, his successor, Claude Bouchard, made his official arrival in the Center Gervais Auto for a 10:30am press conference this morning.
Even though he arrives in Shawinigan with a little more than 30 days and 13 games left in the regular season, Claude Bouchard sees this new experiment as a great challenge.
“It is a great challenge and we will work extremely hard, so that the team is ready for the playoffs. It is a new season which starts today”, the new head coach said.
After having gained the Presidents Cup and having lost finally in the Memorial Cup in 2001 with the Val-d’Or Foreurs, and having reached the Presidents Cup final twice more with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in 2013 and 2014, the new Cataractes bench boss believes he has the necessary experience in order to bring this team as deep into the post-season as possible.
“Playoff games, I’ve coached many of them. I know what it takes to win in the playoffs in this league. It is necessary to put in work as of now making sure that we will be in good form to be able to compete when the playoffs begin because it is really there that the important games are played”, he said.
According to Claude Bouchard, the emphasis has to be put on the process, and that the commitment of all the players is paramount: “We must work extremely hard. It is necessary that all the players of the team work and buy into what we have here. Over the years, I learned that to gain, it is necessary that the 25 players play as a group and as a team.”
“My message is clear. In my head, there is a way of playing and if you do not work, you do not sacrifice yourself and you do not want to pay the price, it does not matter the name on the back of your jersey, we will not win. My goal is to ensure that the message is well understood and that it is applied as soon as possible”, Bouchard indicated, who will meet his players for the first time a little later today.
Even if he regards himself as a demanding coach, Claude Bouchard acknowledges that over the years, he has gained maturity and experience.
“I am very demanding towards myself at the base, therefore I believe that when we are demanding towards ourself, we are demanding towards the others”, Bouchard affirms, who acknowledges to be privileged to have worked with Éric Veilleux and Yanick Jean in last the years.
Claude Bouchard will make his experience profitable for the group of assistant coaches which remains intact, consisting of Steve Larouche, Joël Duguay and Mario Richer.
Before joining the Cataractes, Claude Bouchard was head coach of Marquis de Jonquière in the North-American Hockey League (NAHL). Besides his job with the Marquis, Bouchard worked with Yanick Jean with Saguenéens de Chicoutimi as assistant coach.
The new coach spent five seasons at the helm of the Val-d’Or Foreurs from 2000 to 2005 winning the Presidents Cup in 2001. That season in 2001, the team had came very close to raising the Memorial Cup but lost in overtime against Red Deer Rebels. Since, he has been assistant of Benoît Groulx with the Gatineau Olympiques, as well as an assistant to Éric Veilleux with in Baie-Comeau where they where Presidents Cup finalists. He also spent time in the Quebec Midget AAA Hockey League with the Elites of Jonquière from 2009 to 2012.
It is also a return to where it started for Claude Bouchard, him who had his beginnings in junior hockey in the late 1990s, as an assistant coach under Denis Francoeur with the Cataractes.
