Georges Laraque, the former Canadiens winger turned radio commentator, shared an interesting tidbit this week.
He reported that a friend in Toronto had spotted Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes and head coach Martin St. Louis meeting with Gerard Gallant in a café. The implication was that Montreal might be considering adding Gallant, a former Canadiens assistant who has coached four NHL teams, to their coaching staff or, at the very least, that Hughes and St. Louis were seeking his advice on the team’s struggles.
However, the rumor quickly fizzled out when both Hughes and Gallant denied the meeting. While it’s not uncommon for people in sports to misrepresent the truth—let’s call it what it is: lying—it’s likely Gallant is content to stay with the $5 million left on his contract with the New York Rangers.
Still, the rumor raises a valid question: Why hasn’t the Canadiens organization added more experience to what is arguably the most inexperienced coaching staff in the NHL? Much was made of St. Louis’s jump from coaching a midget team in Connecticut, but his assistants—Trevor Letowski and Stéphane Robidas—also came to Montreal without any NHL coaching experience.
An opening was created when Alex Burrows moved to a development role, yet St. Louis chose not to replace him. The Canadiens did hire Roger Grillo as a coaching consultant, but he has no professional coaching experience, despite being a hockey lifer.
Across the league, 12 former head coaches are serving as assistant coaches, and three of them are paired with first-time NHL head coaches. For example, Jacques Martin, who has coached in Montreal and several other cities, is assisting Drew Bannister in St. Louis; Kirk Muller is working with Spencer Carbery in Washington, and Derek King is with Luke Richardson in Chicago.
A veteran coach could potentially provide valuable perspective, especially after Montreal’s recent rollercoaster performance—winning in Buffalo on Monday, only to fall 3-0 in Minnesota on Thursday night.
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