The Montreal Canadiens announced today that they have hired Trevor Letowski as an assistant coach. Letowski served the past three seasons as the head coach of the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL.
The Canadiens add Trevor Letowski as assistant coach.#GoHabsGohttps://t.co/LAQbp3NCNr
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) July 21, 2021
Trevor Letowski Hired as an Assistant Coach
Trevor Letowski has coached junior hockey for the past 10 seasons. He was hired as an assistant coach by the Sarnia Sting for the 2010-11 season after retiring from professional hockey. He became the full-time head coach in 2013. As the head coach, he led the Sting from a last-place finish in his first season to a 12th place finish the following year before losing in the first round of the playoffs. He was fired afterwards and joined the Windsor Spitfires as an assistant coach and was on the bench when they won the 2017 Memorial Cup. The following season he took over as their head coach and led the Spitfires to a 91-83-24 record.
Letowski served with Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme on team Canada during the 2018 World Junior Hockey Championships. Ducharme was the head coach and Letowksi was an assistant. Canada won gold during the tournament. Letowski was also a teammate of Canadiens assistant coach Luke Richardson with the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2003-04 and 2005-06 seasons.
Trevor Letowski played 616 games in the NHL over nine seasons from 1998 to 2008. The 44-year-old was a centre, scoring 84 goals, 117 assists for 201 points. Over his playing career, Letowski played for the Blue Jackets, Arizona Coyotes, Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes and finished his career playing two seasons with Astana Barys in the KHL.
The Canadiens have yet to announce what duties Letowski will have as an assistant coach.
What This Means for the Canadiens
With Ducharme, Alexandre Burrows and Luke Richardson being on the bench, Letowksi will likely work behind the scenes. Many teams have coaches who watch from the press box. They can provide the coaching staff and players with analysis with the benefit of seeing the whole game. Letowski can have a relaxed relationship with the players since he doesn’t control ice time.
If Montreal ends up in a situation similar to the past two playoffs where they lose a coach on the bench, Letowksi can serve as a replacement. It is a much better alternative than having goaltending coach Sean Burke take over like what happened this past season when Ducharme tested positive for COVID-19.
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
