Montreal Canadiens: All Signs Pointing to Martin St. Louis Remaining Head Coach
The Montreal Canadiens new management team made a midseason coaching change after claiming in their introductory press conference that they would not.
Though both Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes said Dominique Ducharme would stay on as head coach for the entire season, the team’s results and effort on the ice gave them no choice but to make a switch.
So, they turned to Martin St. Louis who may have been short in NHL coaching experience, but he has a vast knowledge of how the NHL works, and what it takes to be successful as a player at the NHL’s highest level.
St. Louis would lose his first three games behind the bench, but the team had only won eight of its first 45 so we couldn’t expect a miracle turnaround. But, then there was one. For a short time at least. The Canadiens would go on a completely unexpected 9-3-3 run, winning more games in a 15 game span than they won in 45 games under Ducharme.
But it wasn’t all good news under St. Louis. The team has plenty of flaws that no one person could fix by stepping behind the bench. Though he had some early success, the team would lose nine straight in April, a stark reminder that a busy offseason lies ahead.
It sounds like one of Hughes first moves of the offseason could be to bring back St. Louis.
At his end of season media conference, the Canadiens general manager didn’t guarantee that St. Louis would be the team’s coach in 2022-23, but he did say there was “interest on both sides for St. Louis to continue coaching the team.” He continued to praise the coach’s work ethic and communication skills and ability to get the most out of his players.
That certainly doesn’t mean that a deal is done. But when both sides are interested in getting a deal done, it usually happens.
Not many people would have guesses St. Louis was going to be hired in February, but anyone who watched the Canadiens this season is on board with him coaching the team in October.
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