Halifax Mooseheads hire ric Veilleux as new head coach

The Halifax Mooseheads havehired ric Veilleux as the team'snew head coach.

VeilleuxreplacesJim Midgley,who was fired last week afterless than a year in the job.

The Mooseheads finished the regular season fourth in the 18-team league, but were knocked out of the second round ofplayoffs by the Charlottetown Islanders.

Veilleux, 46, most recently spenttwo seasons as the head coach of the San Antonio Rampage,the Colorado Avalanche'sAHLaffiliate, the Mooseheads said in a news release Thursday.

The native of Quebec City is a formerCanadian Hockey Leaguecoach of the year and a Memorial Cup champion, the release said.

Veilleuxis no stranger to theQuebec Major Junior Hockey League team,coachingtheShawinigan Cataractes in 2005 as a mid-season replacement. He continued as head coach of the team until2012, when the Cataractescaptured the CHL championship.

From there, he moved on to Baie-Comeau for two seasons, taking the Drakkar to the QMJHL finals both years.

He becomes the 11thhead coach in hockey team'shistory.