Montreal Canadiens sign head coach Martin St. Louis to three-year contract extension

The Montreal Canadiens are sticking with Martin St. Louis as their head coach.

The team announced on Wednesday that St. Louis, who was named interim head coach in February after Dominique Ducharme was fired, has agreed to a three-year contract extension.

“We are happy to officially appoint Martin as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens,” said Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes. “Martin is a proven leader, a great communicator with a deep understanding of and passion for the game of hockey. His arrival brought a renewed energy to our group, and we look forward to him returning behind the bench to continue guiding our team for the foreseeable future.”

The Habs fired Ducharme on February 9 after the team got off to a putrid 8-30-7 start to the season. Under St. Louis’ leadership, Montreal went 14-19-4 the rest of the way.

St. Louis, a native of Laval, Quebec, signed with the Calgary Flames as an undrafted free agent after playing four NCAA seasons with the University of Vermont. St. Louis broke out as a star player in the NHL after he joined the Tampa Bay Lightning in his mid-20s.

He won the Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy in 2003-04 and helped the Lightning to their first-ever Stanley Cup, beating the Flames in seven games. All told, St. Louis scored 391 goals and 1,033 points over the course of 1,134 games in the NHL.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.