Former UVM Star St. Louis Named Montreal Head Coach

Former NHL star forward Martin St. Louis (Vermont) has been named the new interim coach of the Montreal Canadiens. He succeeds former UVM teammate Dominique Ducharme, who guided the Canadiens to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final but could only coax the Habs to eight wins in the 2021-22 campaign to date.

St. Louis, 46, played 16 NHL seasons with Calgary, Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers before retiring following the 2014-15 campaign. He tallied 391 goals and 642 assists for 1,033 points in 1,134 career regular-season NHL outings, and added 42-48—90 points in 107 Stanley Cup Playoff contests. He was also a member of Tampa Bay's first Stanley Cup championship team in 2005, a five time NHL All-Star selection, and won an Olympic gold medal with Canada in 2014.

A native of Laval, Quebec, St. Louis played at UVM from 1993 to 1997, recording 90-175--265 points in 138 games overall while also leading the Catamounts to the 1996 NCAA Frozen Four in Cincinnati. He was also a three-team First Team All-America selection, and a three-time finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the nation's best player.

His previous coaching experience includes both head and assistant positions with the Mid-Fairfield (Conn.) Jr. Rangers organization. Professionally, he also served as a special teams consultant with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2018-19.

St. Louis, Rangers Strike Back

The drought is over for Martin St. Louis (Vermont), and the New York Rangers are right back in the NHL's Eastern Conference Final.

 

St. Louis scored his first goal of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Rangers defeated the host Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1, at Amalie Arena on Friday evening in Florida. The best-of-seven series is now tied at two games apiece.

 

After the Rangers had taken a 1-0 first-period lead and Tampa Bay came back to tie it in the middle frame, Chris Kreider (Boston College) put home a loose puck late in the second stanza for the game-winner, his team-leading seventh goal of the postseason, before New York added another goal less than two minutes later.

 

The Rangers then tacked on two more goals in the third, including St. Louis’ first playoff goal since Game Four of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final against Los Angeles. Kevin Hayes (Boston College) had two assists for New York, while Carl Hagelin (Michigan) and Dan Boyle (Miami) finished with one apiece.

 

Ben Bishop (Maine) finished with 19 saves and fell to 10-7 this spring for the Lightning, which outshot New York, 39-24. The Rangers again scored two power-play goals in four attempts, while Tampa Bay, which got an assist from Alex Killorn (Harvard) on its lone goal, was blanked in four man-advantage opportunities.

 

It was the first playoff win by the Rangers by more than one goal since last year’s Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens. It also marked the second straight contest this year that New York tallied five goals, including a 6-5 overtime loss in Game Three on Wednesday. 

 

Game Five will be played Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, while the winner of that outing will look to close out the series in Game Six on Tuesday evening in Tampa.