Mario Pouliot

He also led the Gaulois to the finals of the 2003 Air Canada Cup for the Canadian national Midget AAA championship.

He was also named the Canadian Hockey League Coach of the Year, and led the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies to a 2019 Memorial Cup championship.

Retiring from the QMJHL after a heart attack in 2021, Pouliot was investigated for alleged "inappropriate behavior" with colleagues, but no charges were filed against him.

Pouliot stated that his team's strengths were its speed, puck movement, and transition game from offence to defence.

[15] The Gaulois finished the round-robin portion of the tournament undefeated, and won the semifinal game over the St. John's Maple Leafs midget team by a 3–2 score in overtime.

[17] In 2009, Pouliot quit his job in a laboratory in Saint-Hyacinthe, and accepted an assistant coaching position with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

[19] Pouliot began the next season with Rouyn-Noranda, but resigned in October when he was offered a head coaching position for another team in the QMJHL.

Pouliot felt that Team Quebec was solid defensively, would be able to play a fast and physical game, and maintain puck possession.

[29] Pouliot was reunited with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the 2012–13 QMJHL season, returning to his role as an assistant coach to Tourigny.

[34] In the 2015–16 QMJHL season, Pouliot improved the team record to 60 points and finished fifth in the Maritimes division, and 14th overall in the league.

[36] His former colleague André Tourigny who was coaching the Halifax Mooseheads at the time, remarked that the Titan were a difficult team to beat, despite their young age.

[38] The Titan qualified for the 2018 Memorial Cup to determine the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) champion, hosted in Regina, Saskatchewan.

[40] Prior to the Titan's third game, Pouliot and his general manager Sylvain Couturier planned for the possibility of a three-way tie for first place in the round-robin.

They determined that if the situation arose, the team would defend a one-goal deficit to retain a tie-breaking advantage over Hamilton and Regina.

[43] On July 5, 2018, Pouliot was announced the new head coach and general manager for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, and was signed to a four-year contract.

[44][45] Pouliot and the Huskies went into the 2018–19 QMJHL season with three returning players from the 2016 Memorial Cup team including, the league's top scorer Peter Abbandonato, Jacob Neveu and Samuel Harvey.

Pouliot made three trades during the season to bring in National Hockey League prospects Noah Dobson, Joël Teasdale and Louis-Filip Côté.

Pouliot led his team to a 6–4 victory in the semifinals over the Guelph Storm, and won the championship game by a 4–2 score over Halifax.

[50] The victory was the first Memorial Cup title won by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, and after the game Pouliot said "all of our players grew up together and for me it's an amazing group.

According to Radio-Canada, he had a history of difficult relationships when his actions were perceived as "intimidation" and "bullying", that resolutions were handled internally by his team.

[56][57] Huskies' team owner Jacques Blais defended Pouliot, whom he described as "a great coach" and "an intense man"; and that "this commitment and attention to detail have enabled him to reach the highest peaks in Canadian junior hockey".

[64] Not originally interested in a return to coaching, he accepted the position as a favour to Flynn who resigned due to a family situation.

[69] Pouliot led HC Sierre to a fifth-place finish in the standings, but they lost four games to two versus the GCK Lions in the first round of playoffs.

Pouliot considers it a privilege to be one the sixty head coaches in the CHL, and it is committed to working many hours during the long bus rides for games in the QMJHL.

He watches many in-game videos on the busses, and talks at length with players to instill a hard work ethic and not having regrets.

For us it's really important to take care of the people we are drafting, making sure we give them the tools to develop and build a good team".

[1][11][47] Pouliot was one of two nominees put forth by Hockey Québec, for the Sport Quebec coach of the year award in the 2018–19 season.

[80] He accepted the opportunity to coach in Switzerland to be closer to his grandchildren, and daughter who was married to HC Sierre player Éric Castonguay.

Raphaël later played in the QMJHL from 2009 to 2012 with the Shawinigan Cataractes, Montreal Juniors and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada; which coincided with his father's coaching tenures in Rouyn-Noranda and Baie-Comeau.

[81] Raphaël later served as the head scout for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies from 2014 to 2016, and drafted many of the players which his father coached in the 2018–19 season.