Francis Bouillon would be a good candidate to support Martin St-Louis

Although the team has yet to officially announce the news, we now know with almost certainty that Luke Richardson will become the next head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Obviously, this is a huge loss for the Habs. Richardson was a man highly respected by the players and did a solid job with the Canadiens defenders he had been coaching for four years. It was he who took over from Dominique Ducharme when the latter fell in battle against Covid during last year’s playoffs.

This testimonial from multi-year veteran Corey Perry says it all:

Therefore, his departure creates a huge void in Montreal. Especially since he was by far the most experienced coach behind the team’s bench. Richardson had been training for 12 years in the professional ranks, while the three – Martin St-Louis, Alex Burrows and Trevor Letowski – only have six.

In the coming weeks, this position will surely have to be filled. Several names have already emerged, such as Rick Bowness, Dan Boyle or Jacques Martin.

Maxim Lapierre has launched a rather interesting idea. He offers the Habs to place his former partner, Francis Bouillon, in this position.

The former defender has been a player development coach with the Canadiens for several years. Therefore, he is already very familiar with the organization and with several of the players that he would manage.

There is also talk of a person who, despite his smaller stature, played 776 games in the NHL. Bouillon has always been recognized as a hard worker and it would certainly bring positive things if he were placed in the position of assistant coach.

If that’s what you want, you definitely deserve to be given that opportunity.

However, if he is picked to replace Richardson and no one else is hired, there would be a glaring lack of experience behind CH’s bench next year.

Yes, it is a group that would have lived a lot as players, but that has its limits. You also need guys who have NHL coaching experience.

That’s why it’s critical that St-Louis hire at least one person to play the role of wise old man. Because of his ties to the Canadiens’ head coach, Rick Bowness is the kind of candidate who fits this mold perfectly.

But with the power play struggling for several seasons, it would also be interesting to hire someone who can help with this facet of special teams.

Remember that as my colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois mentioned yesterday, the assistant position in St-Louis would be highly coveted.

A lot of

– There are several interesting candidates this year.

– Very cool!

– It would be great for the avalanche.

– Considering the difficulties you have experienced in recent years, this is quite an achievement.

– It feels like 2021 (or 2020).

Not the best situation for Charlotte FC! 😮https://t.co/2VZa726s5H #CFMTL

— TVA Sports (@TVASports) June 25, 2022