World junior-winning coach Benoit Groulx leaving Gatineau Olympiques — report

When a coach has success with Canada in the pressure cooker that is the world junior championship, doors tend to open at the next level. So it has the air of inevitabiltity to learn that Benoît Groulx, who kept 22 teenagers at that optimal jaunty/focused point during one of the most intensely scrutinized WJCs of all time, is moving on from the Gatineau Olympiques.

Following the Olympiques' ouster from the Quebec League playoffs with a 4-1 loss to the Rimouski Océanic that sealed a five-game quarter-final loss, RDS reported that Groulx is moving on to another opportunity. The 47-year-old was behind the bench of the 'Piques for 13 seasons and three President's Cup championships, sandwiched around a two-year run with the Buffalo Sabres' AHL farm team from 2008-10.

Groulx will reportedly have a hand in selecting his successor.

From Stéphane Leroux (@StephRDSJunior):

Wherever Groulx ends up, it adds to a string of successful coaches from the QMJHL who have left for opportunities in the bigger leagues over the past three years, such as Gerald Gallant (assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens, now head coach the Florida Panthers), Patrick Roy (head coach, Colorado Avalanche), André Tourigny (assistant, Colorado) and Éric Veilleux (head coach, Norfolk Admirals). It's a remarkable run for a league that doesn't always receive the same regard as the other two major junior circuits.

Gatineau hasn't been as much of a force in recent years as it was its mid-aughties heyday when they won three championships in six seasons and Groulx famously helped Claude Giroux progress from being undrafted in his native Ontario to becoming a NHL first-round pick and eventual star with the Philadelphia Flyers (who come to think of it, are having a front-office shakeup). In playoffs, though, his teams often punched above their weight.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.