Canadiens Name New Interim Head Coach

The Montreal Canadiens have named Hockey Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis as their interim head coach.

The Canadiens have named Martin St. Louis interim head coach.#GoHabsGo https://t.co/L4K3X65tsS
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 9, 2022

The Canadiens fired head coach Dominique Ducharme on Wednesday afternoon. It is understandable that Montreal has decided to make a change behind the bench, as they have struggled immensely this season. At this point of the campaign, they have an 8-30-7 record. Perhaps having a new leader behind the bench could give the Canadiens more of a spark during the second half of the season. They obviously won't be anything close to a playoff team, but it would be nice to see them be a bit more competitive from here.

St. Louis being hired so suddenly certainly can be described as shocking. He has not been a coach at the NHL level before and instead was coaching his sons' hockey teams in Connecticut. However, he did work as a Special Teams Consultant with the Columbus Blue Jackets previously. Still, though, this is a huge step up from that position, so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts.

As a player, St. Louis comes with a marvelous resume. In 1,134 career games between the Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning, and New York Rangers, he had 391 goals, 642 assists, and 1,033 points. With that, he won a Stanley Cup, Hart Memorial Trophy, Art Ross Trophy twice, Lady Byng Memorial Trophy three times, and Lester B. Pearson Award.

Well, Canadien fans, you have your new head coach!