Montreal announced on Wednesday that the organization is dropping the interim tag for Martin St. Louis and giving him a three-year contract extension that begins in 2022-2023 and will run through the 2024-25 season.
The deal makes the 46-year-old the 32nd head coach in franchise history.
“We are happy to officially appoint Martin as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens,” said general manager Kent Hughes in the team’s press release. “Martin is a proven leader, a great communicator with a deep understanding of and passion for the game of hockey. His arrival brought a renewed energy to our group, and we look forward to him returning behind the bench to continue guiding our team for the foreseeable future.”
St. Louis took over as the interim head coach on the Canadiens bench on Feb. 9 after the team decided to fire Dominique Ducharme. At the time of St. Louis’ hiring, the Canadiens were 8-30-7, sitting with the worst record in the NHL.
“During his short stint behind the bench last season, Martin showed he has the required qualities to lead the Canadiens in the right direction,” said vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton. “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.”
The former NHL star knows that despite the success he had during his short time with Montreal this past season, that he needs to prove he belongs at the NHL level.
“I have to prove I’m a good coach,” St. Louis said after the extension. “I think I have the qualities to be a good coach, but I have to prove it.”
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Martin St. Louis coaching record
When St. Louis was named as the interim head coach, the highest level he had coached before was youth hockey for his kids, making the hiring a bit of a surprise.
However, the Canadiens were able to turn their season around a bit once St. Louis arrived on the bench. While the team lost his first three games, Montreal went on a five-game winning streak to end the month of February under St. Louis.
After winning just eight games with Ducharme, the team ended the year with a record of 22-49-11. While it was an improvement, they finished with the worst record in the league.
St. Louis joked with the media that the Canadiens did have some competition from other teams interested in the coach. Just not at the NHL level.
Most notably was the improvement in production from young forward Cole Caufield. The rookie had a rough start to the season, recording just one assist through the first month of the season and getting sent down to the AHL. He was recalled in late November again, but had just one goal up until the coaching change.
Caufield immediately scored a goal in the first game with St. Louis at the helm, and had four in his first four games with the interim head coach. He finished the year with 23 goals and 20 assists, good for 43 points in 67 games with 35 of those points coming under St. Louis.
