Eric Veilleux Named Head Coach of Rampage
Veilleux was QMJHL Coach of the Year in 2013-14
San Antonio Rampage Media Release
The Colorado Avalanche and the San Antonio Rampage announced today that Eric Veilleux (VAY-you) has been named head coach of the Rampage.
Veilleux, 44, spent the last two seasons with the Norfolk Admirals, first as an assistant in the American Hockey League during the 2014-15 season and then as the head coach when the team moved to the ECHL for the 2015-16 campaign.
“Eric is an experienced coach and is the right person to develop our players in San Antonio,” said Avalanche Assistant General Manager Craig Billington. “After an extensive interview process, we determined he was the best candidate based on his coaching background and expertise. We are excited to have him join the Avalanche organization.”
A Quebec City native, Veilleux has spent the majority of his coaching career in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), where he accumulated 346 wins in 598 games with the Shawinigan Cataractes (2005-12) and Baie-Comeau Drakkar (2012-14), posting a .579 win percentage.
Veilleux’s teams made the playoffs in each of his nine seasons as a head coach in the QMJHL, advancing to the President’s Cup Final three times, once with Shawinigan in 2009 and twice with Baie-Comeau in 2013 and 2014. In his final season with Shawinigan in 2012, he led the Cataractes to the franchise’s first-ever Memorial Cup.
After becoming the head coach of Baie-Comeau the following season, Veilleux coached the Drakkar to two consecutive finals appearances with a 46-20 record and a .697 win percentage in 2013-14, earning the Ron Lapointe Trophy for the QMJHL’s Coach of the Year.
Prior to coaching, Veilleux played seven seasons in the AHL, a career that included three seasons with the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, the Cornwall Aces during the 1995-96 campaign and the Hershey Bears from 1996-98.
Veilleux becomes the 11th coach in Rampage history. Randy Ladouceur will remain on the San Antonio coaching staff as assistant coach.
