Alain Vigneault coached Pittsburgh Penguins forward Maxim Lapierre in the Quebec Major Junior hockey league with the Prince Edward Island Rocket (2003-05) and in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks (2010-13).
“We went through a lot of big moments together,” said Lapierre, 30, a key member of Vigneault’s 2011 Canucks team that lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. “He’s the coach who taught me everything.”
Saturday morning at the Garden, Lapierre even lauded Vigneault’s ability to earn the respect of his players.
“It’s an honest relationship,” Lapierre said the coach-to-player dynamic. “He doesn’t try to sell you something that isn’t there.