Canucks name Vigneault new head coach

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 20 (UPI) -- The Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday named 45-year-old Alain Vigneault as their new head coach.

Vigneault, former head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, spent last season coaching Vancouver's AHL team, the Manitoba Moose, in Winnipeg. Vigneault was nominated for the Jack Adams award as NHL Coach of the Year after the 1999-2000 season.

Manitoba finished in third place in the AHL's North Division with 100 points and advanced to the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs.

Vigneault has a career record of 109-118-35-4. He will replace Marc Crawford, who was fired in April after the Canucks missed the playoffs for the first time since 2000.

Besides piloting the Canadiens from 1997-2001, Vigneault was an assistant with the Ottawa Senators and a head coach in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.