Canadiens head coach rejoins team

The Montreal Canadiens have announced that head coach Martin St-Louis has rejoined the team in Denver after taking 10 days away from the club to be with his family. 

St-Louis will be back behind the bench Tuesday night when the Canadiens take on the Colorado Avalanche. St-Louis thanked Geoff Molson, Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes along with assistant coach Trevor Letowski, who had assumed head-coaching duties in St-Louis’ absence. He also thanked the entire Canadiens organization for supporting his family.

St-Louis took time away from the Canadiens to be with his family after his youngest son Mason suffered a hockey injury while playing for U15 Mid-Fairfield in Connecticut. 

A week later, the 16-year-old reportedly suffered complications from the injury and ended up in the hospital. Since his hospitalization, Mason’s condition has thankfully stabilized, and he is now recovering at home. 

St-Louis thanked everyone for respecting the privacy of his family and asked that people focus on the team going forward for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.

St-Louis’ return could give the Canadiens a boost as they look to close out the season on a high note. The young team will miss the playoffs for the third straight season under St-Louis but is just four points shy of matching last season’s totals with 12 games left to play. 

The Canadiens have improved in each season under St-Louis and could be poised to contend for a playoff spot next season if they can make some moves this summer to address their roster deficiencies.