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Montreal Canadiens: Grading Martin St. Louis a Year Later

By Ryan Praught

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JULY 07: Head coach Martin St. Louis of the Montreal Canadiens on stage during Round One of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 07, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JULY 07: Head coach Martin St. Louis of the Montreal Canadiens on stage during Round One of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 07, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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MONTREAL, CANADA - JANUARY 17: Head coach for the Montreal Canadiens Martin St-Louis, handles bench duties during the second period against the Winnipeg Jets at Centre Bell on January 17, 2023 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, CANADA – JANUARY 17: Head coach for the Montreal Canadiens Martin St-Louis, handles bench duties during the second period against the Winnipeg Jets at Centre Bell on January 17, 2023 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Martin St. Louis vs Dominique Ducharme:

Dom Ducharme was head coach of the Montreal Canadiens during one of the more exciting times in recent Canadiens history, helping lead them to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1993. But, unfortunately, Ducharme was also behind the bench for most of last season, perhaps the worst single season in franchise history. It was so bad that Kent Hughes had no choice but to relieve Ducharme of his duties in hopes of a spark that could rejuvenate the locker room.

Ducharme coached 86 games as head coach of the Canadiens, not including the postseason, and in those games, the Canadiens went 23-49-14. In 88 games behind the Habs bench, St. Louis has gone 34-46-8, a slightly better record with arguably worse talent. More on that in a second. But the best comparison between the two takes place simply by evaluating last season’s stats when both men coached the same roster. Ducharme went 8-33-7, while St. Louis went 14-19-4. So not only did the Habs have a better record, but they improved statistically pretty much all across the board, an impressive feat.

As for Ducharme, aside from a magical playoff run, he wasn’t particularly impressive behind the bench in the 2021 season either. With a much more talented roster than either of the last two seasons, Ducharme went just 15-16-7 after taking over for Claude Julien. This is with a roster that included Shea Weber, Carey Price (Although he did miss some time from injuries), and Phillip Danault. St. Louis hasn’t been perfect as head coach of the Canadiens, but for a guy with no prior coaching experience at a level higher than bantam, he’s been a welcomed improvement. St. Louis boasts a 20-27-4 record this season despite several injuries and a roster that ranks toward the bottom of the league in talent.

While it isn’t the only thing that matters, an improvement from one coach to the next is important, and I think it’s clear that St. Louis was an upgrade. The Canadiens intend on winning even more games than they currently have, but as has been a trend in my articles for the last little while, that will take time as more talent is introduced to the roster.

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