Remparts name Gagné GM, Bouchard assistant GM after departure of Patrick Roy

Jun 15, 2023 | 12:41 PM

QUEBEC — The Quebec Remparts have started to rebuild after this week’s departures of head coach and general manager Patrick Roy and president Jacques Tanguay.

The Memorial Cup champions announced Thursday that former NHL player Simon Gagné will take over as GM, with front-office veteran Nicole Bouchard getting a promotion to assistant GM.

Gagné spent three years in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Beauport/Quebec franchise from 1996-99.

He played 14 seasons in the NHL, mostly with the Philadelphia Flyers. He had 601 points (291 goals, 310 assists) in 822 career games with Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles and Boston.

The first task for the 43-year-old from Sainte-Foy, Que., will be finding a new head coach.

Bouchard was been with the Remparts since 2002, most recently as director of team services and media relations.

She has been in the hockey business for 43 years since starting as an intern with the NHL’s Quebec Nordiques in 1980.

The team also announced that Tommy Castonguay will serve as vice-president of operations while Marc Chamard remains director of recruitment and assistant to the general manager.

Roy, a Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender and former NHL coach of the year, and Tanguay announced they were leaving the QMJHL club on Monday.

They first got involved with the Remparts as co-owners in 1995-96, Gagné’s rookie QMJHL season, and were instrumental in relocating the club from suburban Beauport to downtown Quebec City.

The Remparts are coming off a successful season that saw them win the QMJHL title and cruise to victory in the Memorial Cup, thumping the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0 in the final on June 4.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2023.

The Canadian Press