| Laval Rocket Rocket de Laval | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Laval, Quebec |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | North |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Home arena | Place Bell (capacity: 10,062) |
| Colours | Blue, white and red |
| Mascot | Cosmo[1] |
| Owner(s) | Molson family(majority owner) (Geoff Molson, chairman[2]) |
| General manager | John Sedgwick[3] |
| Head coach | Pascal Vincent[4] |
| Captain | Lucas Condotta[5] |
| Media | English: AHL.TV (Internet) TSN 690 French: RDS 91.9 Sports |
| Affiliates | Montreal Canadiens (NHL) Trois-Rivières Lions (ECHL)[6] |
| Website | rocketlaval.com |
| Franchise history | |
| 1969–1971 | Montreal Voyageurs |
| 1971–1984 | Nova Scotia Voyageurs |
| 1984–1990 | Sherbrooke Canadiens |
| 1990–1999 | Fredericton Canadiens |
| 1999–2002 | Quebec Citadelles |
| 2002–2015 | Hamilton Bulldogs |
| 2015–2017 | St. John's IceCaps |
| 2017–present | Laval Rocket |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 1: (2024–25) |
| Division titles | 2: (2020–21,2024–25) |
 Current season | |
TheLaval Rocket (French:Rocket de Laval) are a professionalice hockey team based inLaval, Quebec. They are theAmerican Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of theMontreal Canadiens of theNational Hockey League (NHL) andTrois-Rivières Lions of theECHL. The Rocket play their home games atPlace Bell.
In July 2016,American Hockey League (AHL) executives announced that they had unanimously approved the relocation of theSt. John's IceCaps, AHL affiliate of theMontreal Canadiens, to theMontreal suburb ofLaval for the2017–18 season.[7] Shortly thereafter, a name-the-team contest was held with Patriots, Rapids and Rocket narrowed as the final three candidates. On September 8, the winning name ofLaval Rocket was announced, a tribute to Canadiens' legendMaurice "Rocket" Richard, which got a 51% majority of fan votes.[8] With this, Laval became the second hockey team in theGreater Montreal area to use that nickname, after theMontreal Rocket of theQuebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), from 1999 until 2003. In June 2017, the franchise namedLarry Carriere as general manager[9] and retainedSylvain Lefebvre as head coach, a position he held since 2012 when the franchise played as theHamilton Bulldogs and St. John's IceCaps respectively.[10]
During their inaugural campaign, Laval compiled a dismal 24–42–7–3 record, placing them last overall in league standings. As a result, Lefebvre would be relieved as head coach[11] and replaced byJoël Bouchard, who himself had been serving as head coach and general manager of theBlainville-Boisbriand Armada in the QMJHL.[12]
For the2020–21 season, the Rocket temporarily relocated to theBell Centre in Montreal to share the facility with their parent team during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[13] The Rocket finished as Canadian Division champions and posted the second-best winning percentage across the AHL, with their opponents limited to only Canada-based teams due to the ongoing pandemic.[14][15]
With Bouchard leaving at the end of his contract (compiling a 83–67–24 record over the course of three seasons)[16] to become the head coach of theSan Diego Gulls,[17] the Rocket hiredJean-François Houle as their third head coach until the foregoing's departure in June 2024.[18][19] Weeks later, on July 16, LavalloisPascal Vincent was named as the fourth head coach in franchise history.[20] Vincent's impact on the team was instantaneous, with the Rocket posting a franchise record seven consecutive wins to begin the2024–25 season.[21] The team would have their best season in franchise history, winning theMacgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as AHL regular season champions for the first time,[22] as well as their second divisional title.[23]
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On January 31, 2017, the team revealed the logo and jersey design that would be worn during their inaugural season.[24] The colours consist of blue, white, and red and were chosen to mirror those of their parent-club, the Montreal Canadiens.[25] As a further tribute to Richard's "Rocket"moniker, each sleeve has a shield patch with 'Le Rocket' inscribed therein. Similarly, patches with the number 9 and a stylized flame appear on each sleeve whereas the latter can also be found below theplayer's number on the backside of the jersey as well as theirhockey socks.[26] Laval, being the name of the city in which the Rocket play out of, is displayed on each shoulder as well as in the neck tie region of the jersey.
The main logo is a large blue 'R' that is outlined and highlighted in white. The word 'Rocket' runs along the inside of the 'R' in white. While all other logos and patches alternate colours depending on the home or away jersey, the main logo remains blue on both the red and white jerseys.[27]
In January 2025, the team introduced a retro jersey concept which pays homage to formerLigue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH) franchise theLaval Chiefs, as well aspast iterations of major junior teams in the area, namely theNational, who rebranded as the Voisins and Titan between 1979–85.[28]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Won | Lost | OTL | SOL | Points | PCT | Goals for | Goals against | Standing | Year | Prelims | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | Finals |
| 2017–18 | 76 | 24 | 42 | 7 | 3 | 58 | .382 | 206 | 281 | 7th, North | 2018 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2018–19 | 76 | 30 | 34 | 6 | 6 | 72 | .474 | 195 | 231 | 7th, North | 2019 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2019–20 | 62 | 30 | 24 | 5 | 3 | 68 | .548 | 183 | 182 | 6th, North | 2020 | Season cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic | ||||
| 2020–21 | 36 | 23 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 50 | .694 | 113 | 87 | 1st, Canadian | 2021 | No playoffs held1 | ||||
| 2021–22 | 72 | 39 | 26 | 5 | 2 | 85 | .590 | 246 | 231 | 3rd, North | 2022 | BYE2 | W, 3–2,SYR | W, 3–0,ROC | L, 3–4,SPR | — |
| 2022–23 | 72 | 33 | 29 | 7 | 3 | 76 | .528 | 258 | 247 | 5th, North | 2023 | L, 0–2,UTI | — | — | — | — |
| 2023–24 | 72 | 33 | 31 | 6 | 2 | 74 | .514 | 235 | 242 | 7th, North | 2024 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2024–25 | 72 | 48 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 101 | .701 | 229 | 178 | 1st, North | 2025 | BYE2 | W, 3–1,CLE | W, 3–2,ROC | L, 0–4,CHA | — |
Notes
Updated November 22, 2025[31][32]
The following players have played both 100 games with Laval and 100 games in theNational Hockey League:
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