Halifax Mooseheads hire Éric Veilleux as new head coach
Veilleux replaces Jim Midgley, who was fired last week
The Halifax Mooseheads have hired Éric Veilleux as the team's new head coach.
Veilleux replaces Jim Midgley, who was fired last week after less than a year in the job.
The Mooseheads finished the regular season fourth in the 18-team league, but were knocked out of the second round of playoffs by the Charlottetown Islanders.
Veilleux, 46, most recently spent two seasons as the head coach of the San Antonio Rampage, the Colorado Avalanche's AHL affiliate, the Mooseheads said in a news release Thursday.
The native of Quebec City is a former Canadian Hockey League coach of the year and a Memorial Cup champion, the release said.
Veilleux is no stranger to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team, coaching the Shawinigan Cataractes in 2005 as a mid-season replacement. He continued as head coach of the team until 2012, when the Cataractes captured the CHL championship.
From there, he moved on to Baie-Comeau for two seasons, taking the Drakkar to the QMJHL finals both years.
He becomes the 11th head coach in hockey team's history.