Montreal Canadiens: Kevin Poulin Announces Retirement

The Montreal Canadiens goaltending situation is a bit of a crowded mess at the moment, and the same could be said for the Laval Rocket right now.

The Habs have Sam Montembeault, Jake Allen and Casey DeSmith under contract and will only want to keep two of them on the NHL roster. Cayden Primeau and Jakub Dobes will be on the Laval Rocket roster and Strauss Mann will be hoping to earn some playing time there as well.

One player that will not be back with the organization is Kevin Poulin.

The veteran goaltender announced his retirement from hockey with a statement released on twitter last night.

Poulin is a 33 year old from Montreal who played the past two seasons with the Laval Rocket. He was actually brought in to join the ECHL’s Trois-Rivieres Lions in 2021-22, but was simply too good and was called up to join the Rocket where he continued to play well.

He would end up with a 2.34 GAA and a .920 SV% in 30 games for the Rocket that season. He suited up for 28 games with the Rocket last season posting a 3.18 GAA and a .890 SV%.

Poulin started his pro career in 2010 following a great QMJHL career and played six seasons in the AHL. He then began a world tour with stops in Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden before returning to North America to play for the Rocket.

Poulin played a total of 50 NHL games in his career, all with the New York Islanders who drafted him in the 5th round of the 2008 NHL Draft. He also went to the Ivan Hlinka Under-18 tournament, an Olympics in 2014 and the Spengler Cup to represent Canada.