Ottawa Senators Hire Martin Raymond as Assistant Coach
By Ian Smith
The Ottawa Senators are establishing a solid coaching staff, and the most recent addition is Martin Raymond.
This moves makes a lot of sense. Raymond has close ties to new head coach Guy Boucher, and now has a new opportunity to help him out.
Raymond worked with Boucher as an assistant on his staff during the 2009-2010 season with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL.
When Boucher was hired as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lighting the next season, Raymond was brought along with him. Boucher was fired from Tampa Bay in 2013, but as Boucher embarks on a new NHL endeavor, he’ll have a familiar face alongside him.
Raymond also has head coaching experience, being at the helm of the Drummondville Voltiguers from 2013-2015.
Boucher himself was the head coach of Drummondville from 2006-2009. These two are closely connected.
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Boucher is surrounding himself with a great coaching staff. Familiarity may be a plus, but Raymond is also capable of providing strategic guidance and leadership for any team he joins.
As of now, Boucher has a staff consisting of associate head coach Marc Crawford, assistant coach Rob Cookson, goaltender coach Pierre Groulx, and video coach Kristopher Young.
Crawford coming aboard is especially encouraging. He won 3 regular season championships from 2013-2016 with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League A.
As an NHL head coach, he didn’t make the playoffs in his last 5 seasons, and that stint included time with the Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings, and Dallas Stars.
Despite his recent underwhelming NHL record, Crawford won a Stanley Cup as head coach the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. Any time a team can hire an assistant with that type of accomplishment on their record, it’s a phenomenal addition.
It also sets up a potential backup option if Boucher flounders as head coach, although his past performances indicate that he’s prone to early success with any team he takes over.
Players are able to best thrive in stable environments, and this coach staff looks more than capable of getting the most out of this talented squad.
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More will be known about their cohesion once the regular season starts, but it certainly looks encouraging at this point.