Stéphane Julien wins the second Ron-Lapointe Trophy of his career

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has recognized the tremendous work of Stéphane Julien behind the Sherbrooke Phoenix bench by awarding him the 2022-23 Ron-Lapointe Trophy. Julien, who has spent his entire eight-year QMJHL career at the head of the Phoenix, also won the prestigious trophy in 2019-20.

Named after the late Ron Lapointe, the trophy is presented yearly to the league’s top head coach. Lapointe had notably won a regular season championship with the Shawinigan Cataractes in 1984-85, before moving on to the NHL to coach the Quebec Nordiques. Previous winners of the award include current NHL head coaches Gerard Gallant, of the New York Rangers, and André Tourigny, of the Arizona Coyotes.

Julien led the Phoenix to a 105-point finish, including 50 wins, securing the top seed in the Western Conference and a third-place finish in the overall standings. Under Julien’s guidance, the Phoenix also had the number one ranked special teams this year, finishing first on both the powerplay and the penalty kill.

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Along with Julien, Sylvain Favreau of the Halifax Mooseheads and Carl Mallette of the Victoriaville Tigres round out the nominees.