The Montreal Canadians agreed to remove the interim tag on Martin St. Louis. He will now be their permanent Head Coach, agreeing to a 3-year contract.
The Montreal Canadians started the year with a high goal. They were in the Stanley Cup Final last year but lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 5 games. Montreal was anticipating an even better year. Unfortunately, they stood at 8-30-7 and fired Dominique Ducharme on February 9th, 2022.
When they let Ducharme go it was already a lost season, too many points behind to make the season up to earn a playoff spot. They turned to St. Louis as the Interim Head Coach. The Canadians went 14-19-4 under St. Louis. Montreal finished 22-49-11 for a total of 55 points, the least amount in the NHL.
The Canadians took their time to think about the future of St. Louis as Head Coach. They could have started a coaching search for their next one. Montreal decided that St. Louis should be the coach moving forward.
According to ESPN.com, Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Montreal Canadiens, Jeff Goton, said, “During his short stint behind the bench last season, Martin showed he has the required qualities to lead the Canadiens in the right direction. Despite difficult circumstances when he took over, he was able to bring a breath of fresh air to the locker room and the players benefited from it as much individually as they did collectively. Martin thinks the game at a high level, and we believe that he is the right person for this job.”
This is a perplexing move for Montreal. The Canadians played better hockey under St. Louis but it wasn’t enough to help them earn a playoff spot. St. Louis hasn’t been a Head Coach in this league except for the 37 games this past season not enough to say he should be the Head Coach moving forward. It would have been better to go out and find a Head Coach who can push this team to become a winner plus they may have more Head Coaching experience behind the bench in the NHL.
St. Louis is lucky to have this job. Montreal is hoping he can turn this team around. The ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup. Sure, Montreal was able to advance to the finals last year but lost. They haven’t won the Cup since 1993 when Patrick Roy was their goaltender and Jacques Demers led the team as Head Coach. St. Louis will have the opportunity to coach them to that. The worst case is they let him go before the end of his 3-year contract.. Hopefully, St. Louis can turn this franchise back into a winner once again. Montreal deserves to see a winning hockey team.
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