Montreal Canadiens’ Head Coach Martin St-Louis Takes Indefinite Leave for Family Reasons

Montreal Canadiens‘ head coach, Martin St-Louis, has announced he will be taking an indefinite leave from the team due to family reasons. This decision was revealed by the Canadiens, with assistant coach Trevor Letowski stepping in to lead the team during St-Louis’ absence.

The duration of St-Louis’ leave remains unspecified at this time according to the team’s statement. The Canadiens, accompanied by their players, arrived in Calgary on Friday afternoon for their upcoming matches.

The team was scheduled to have a training session upon arrival, but it was abruptly canceled on Friday morning. There is no confirmation on whether this cancellation was related to the coach’s circumstances.

Despite no morning practice scheduled for Saturday, St-Louis and some players were expected to engage with the media at the team hotel. However, it was assistant Stéphane Robidas who faced the media instead of St-Louis, without a given reason.

The Montreal Canadiens are set to play against the Flames in Calgary on Saturday night, commencing the first game of a series of five matches on the western continent. The players were observed carrying out their pre-game rituals an hour before the game, engaging in activities such as soccer and juggling exercises.

Martin St-Louis officially took on the head coaching role on February 9th, initially on an interim basis to close the season. He signed a three-year contract extension on June 1st, 2022, and is currently in the second year of his contract.

Regarding St-Louis’ contract extension, the team’s general manager, Kent Hughes, expressed satisfaction with St-Louis’ work and their strong relationship. Hughes hinted at a possible contract extension for St-Louis in the future during a press conference on March 8th.

All three assistant coaches under St-Louis are serving as NHL head coaches for the first time. However, by naming Letowski as the replacement, the Canadiens have entrusted the most experienced candidate among the three.

Letowski, who has been a coach since 2010, served as head coach for five full seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), including stints in Sarnia from 2013 to 2015 and Windsor from 2017 to 2020.

Joining the Canadiens in the 2021-2022 season, Letowski was hired by then head coach Dominique Ducharme. The team will now rely on Letowski’s coaching experience in St-Louis’ absence.