The 2018-19 season for the Laval Rocket will go down in history as a necessary evil. After years of Sylvain Lefebvre and limited success — both on the ice, and in player development — Marc Bergevin made a change and hired Joël Bouchard to lead the Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliate.
The optimism surrounding Bouchard and the team quickly faded as a myriad of injuries, call ups, and just bad luck led to the realization that while the culture change was underway, the results would not improve tangibly and it led to another season without a playoff appearance.