After carrying the interim tag for the remainder of the 2021-22 season, the Montreal Canadiens have officially announced that Martin St. Louis will be the official coach. It has been rumoured for a while now that the interim tag would be removed. And that is now official with Martin St. Louis signing a new three-year deal. The new Montreal Canadiens head coach will look to build on his strong start from last season.
OFFICIAL: Martin St-Louis is the 32nd head coach in Canadiens history#GoHabsGo https://t.co/g0lQseG2a3
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) June 1, 2022
Martin St. Louis Is Montreal Canadiens Head Coach
After the Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2021, things came crashing down fast. Dominique Ducharme got off to a dreadful start to the season. An 8-30-7 record led to the dismissal of Ducharme and in came Martin St. Louis. St. Louis was brought in on the interim tag to prove that he could be the man for the job.
Things changed quickly for the Canadiens and in a good way. Upon the arrival of Martin St. Louis behind the bench, the Canadiens started playing better hockey, and it showed with the record. In his first stint as a coach, St. Louis would finish the remainder of the season with A record of 14-19-4. Even though they finished as the last place team, significant strides were made under him.
Players under St. Louis started to find their game. Primarily young gun Cole Caufield, who looked up to his current coach growing up. Under Ducharme, from October-January Caufield had only eight points. Once St. Louis came on board Cole Caufield had 35 points in the final three months of the season. That’s huge as he is a building block on this team.
Is It Worth It?
This is a significant win for the Montreal Canadiens and the fan base. Improvements were made under St. Louis, and a fresh young mind could do wonders. This is a guy who wanted to prove himself. During In his introductory press conference, Martin St. Louis made it known his intentions coming into this job. Martin St. Louis said, “I’m not coming here to be a substitute teacher. I have every intention of being here a long time, but I’ll have to prove myself again and earn it”.
St. Louis came in and proved he is worth the game and earned himself a three-year contract. Martin St. Louis was quite the player as well. The Hall of Fame player scored 391 goals and tallied 1,033 career points. He would also win the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP player during the 2003-04 season. He would also win the Art Ross Trophy and the Lady Byng Trophy twice.
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