Former Lightning and Rangers star Martin St. Louis Canadiens next coach

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martin st. louis
Nov 9, 2018; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Hall of Fame inductees Gary Bettman and Alexander Yakushev and Martin St. Louis and Martin Brodeur and Jayna Hefford and Willie O’Ree are honored as Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly (44) poses for a face-off against New Jersey Devils defenseman Andy Greene (6) at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Dominique Ducharme on Wednesday afternoon.

Multiple reports suggest that former Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers star Martin St. Louis is set to replace him.

St. Louis, 46, is from Laval, Quebec and currently resides in Connecticut. He’s been coaching his sons throughout their young hockey careers and is considered one of the game’s bright young minds.

What is interesting is that St. Louis has no NHL experience behind a bench.

Canadiens fire Ducharme, replacing with St. Louis

Martin St. Louis
Marty scores on Mother’s Day (Avi Gerver, Madison Square Garden)

Ducharme, 48, leaves with a 23-46-14 record that includes an 8-30-7 mark in 2021-22. The Canadiens’ 7-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night was their seventh straight and 13th in their last 14 games.

“We would like to sincerely thank Dominique for his work and contributions to the Montreal Canadiens organization,” general manager Kent Hughes said. “At this point in the season, we felt it was in the best interest of the club to make a change.”

Ducharme took over as interim coach after the firing of Claude Julien last February and was formally named the head coach in July.

The team said its assistant coaches would remain with the club. That group includes Alex Burrows, Eric Gravel, Mario Leblanc, Trevor Letowski, Eric Raymond and Luke Richardson.

The Canadiens plan to announce their next head coach later Wednesday.

Martin St. Louis has had a strong relationship with Jeff Gorton and was considered for a coaching position with the Rangers back in 2015.

Update: Hiring made official

The Canadiens have officially announced Martin St. Louis as interim head coach.

“We are very happy to welcome Martin to the Canadiens organization,” said Hughes. “Not only are we adding an excellent hockey man, but with Martin we are bringing in a proven winner and a man whose competitive qualities are recognized by all who have crossed his path.”

Montreal Canadiens
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–Field Level Media contributed to this report

By Anthony Scultore

Anthony Scultore is the founder of Forever Blueshirts and has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL... More about Anthony Scultore

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