Canadiens: Kent Hughes To Get Behind The Bench As Coach

Before he was hired as the 18th General Manager in Montreal Canadiens history, Kent Hughes was also, as we all know, a player agent. What many do not know however, is that he was also a coach. For the Boston Junior Eagles of the AAA U16 league to be more precise.

Hughes was Boston’s coach for 4 seasons before joining the Canadiens management team. He led the team to two state championship appearances. He was mainly responsible for players born in 2005 and 2006.

Hughes made his mark with the team gaining a tremendous amount of respect as a person and was more often than not called a great mentor. When he left the team, it was announced that Hall of Fame defenceman Brian Leetch will be joining the team next season as the new coach.

Hughes made a promise when he left the team that if they were to qualify for the Chipotle U16 Tournament in Detroit, that he would come back and coach them one last time for the tournament. A promise that he is holding.

This is an absolutely fantastic story in every sense. It further shows Hughe’s generosity as a person and the kids get their old coach back, who they admire so much, and not to mention that they will be able to have immediate insight of life in the NHL. They will have that twofold next season when Brian Leetch takes the helm.

Fun fact: Kent Hughes coached Jordan Harris when the latter was playing elite Pee-Wee in the Boston area. Hughes not only has many connections with current players through his experience as an agent, but it seems as time goes we are discovering that he had an impact on many current prospects as well during his time as a coach.

It’s becoming more clear as to why Kent Hughes was a favorite for the GM job to begin with.

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