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Guy Boucher: an ideal candidate to support Martin St-Louis

 Matthew Garcia
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Guy Boucher: an ideal candidate to support Martin St-Louis
Credit: Getty Images
In the last few days, Alex Burrows has left his position as assistant coach to Martin St-Louis. For family reasons, Burrows has chosen to become a consultant with the club, thus taking on a more manageable position to give time to his family.

The fact that the Île-aux-Travaux bridge is under eternal construction (I’m from the same area, and frankly, that bridge is hell these days) hasn’t helped his cause at all. And Kent Hughes needs to understand that…

Did I say Île-aux-Travaux bridge? Of course, I meant to say the pont de l’île-aux-Tourtes. My mistake.

So the Habs keep a man who’s been there for years on their organizational chart. He’s worked with both the Rocket and the Habs, and he’ll be able to bridge the gap between the Montreal and Laval coaching staffs, once the Habs and Rocket bosses have appointed the right people in place.

I really hope you enjoyed my bridge joke.

Whoever thinks the bridge will be repaired one day (it’s a good one, really) will be able to pass on to the next Rocket coach the vision of Martin St-Louis, with whom he’s been working since 2022.

He’s a great asset.

But in the meantime, this means that the Habs not only have to hire a head coach and assistant in Laval (only Martin Laperrière is under contract behind the Rocket bench), they also have to replace Alex Burrows.

In fact, we’ll see if Martin St-Louis wants to replace him. But I expect he’ll want to replace him.

That’s potentially three positions to fill. We can potentially expect Sylvain Favreau, whom the Habs seem to hold in high esteem, to become a candidate for either the Montreal or Laval positions.

Recently, on the Sick Podcast, Tony Marinaro said that Favreau was considered one of the good hockey heads in Quebec not working for the Habs organization. Going after him to develop him and the youngsters might be a good idea.

Even if I see him in Montreal, one wonders if the way to optimize his potential addition would be to put him in charge of youth development with the Rocket.

Plus, it would leave the position next to Martin St-Louis open for a veteran.

Because, in fact, the names that started circulating following Jean-François Houle’s departure (and that were the talk of the town before he signed his contract extension) are still coming up… but some may be more suitable for the assistant position in Montreal.

The subject came up again on Monday evening, when Eric Engels appeared on Tony Marinaro’s Sick Podcast.

Pascal Vincent’s name must come up, of course. But what about, specifically for the Montreal assistant position, Guy Boucher’s candidacy to roll the numerical advantage?

Inevitably, he’d tick a lot of boxes.

  • He’d bring experience behind the bench
  • He knows Martin St-Louis well #TampaBay
  • He’s a power play specialist
  • He’s a French-speaking Quebecer

The man who was, rightly or wrongly, rumored to replace Dominique Ducharme in February 2022 just returned to the NHL a year ago, as an assistant with the Maple Leafs. However, he’s currently unemployed, having sought the position of head coach in the Queen City.

Did Craig Berube want to bring his men? Or had Brendan Shanahan, who brought him in, lost the arguments to convince his colleagues to keep him, following the power play’s setbacks in the playoffs?

If so, it’s worth remembering that Boucher was highly touted in the regular season. Is the true value of his power play to be found between what he did in the season and what he did in the playoffs? Possibly, yes.

In any case, as Eric Engels said, Martin St-Louis oversees everything. He’s the club’s chief pilot and has the final say, regardless of who’s in charge of the power play in 2024-2025.

In all this, you also have to wonder whether Gerard Gallant might not be an option for the Flanelle. We know he’s obviously keen to get back to the NHL after being on a forced break this year.

Will he make it? To be seen.

Unless he gets the job in Columbus (he’s not really in the rumour mill), his best chance of returning is to do what Claude Julien did in St. Louis: accept an assistant coaching position somewhere.

A few weeks ago, Elliotte Friedman seemed to think he’d been talking to a few teams. But of course, a lot has changed in the NHL since then.

We know he’s already been an assistant in Montreal, and even though he doesn’t speak French, people seem to really like him. I wonder how far he’ll get on Martin St-Louis’ list for the job?

All of which is to say that, yes, the position is the talk of the town. It remains to be seen whether it will be filled…


Overtime

– Now that’s experience.

– Beckett Sennecke: a good fit in Anaheim. [BPM Sports]

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