McGill grad Raymond joins NHL coaching ranks in Tampa

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McGill grad Raymond joins NHL coaching ranks in Tampa

Published: 20 July 2010

(PHOTO CAPTION: Guy Boucher (left) and Martin Raymond (right) coaching behind the Hamilton bench at the Bell Centre last December. PHOTO BY: Andrew Dobrowolskyj)

MONTREAL -- Martin Raymond, who played and served 14 seasons as head coach of the 香蕉视频 men's hockey team, has been appointed as an assistant coach with the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning. He was named, along with Daniel Lacroix, as assistants to head coach Guy Boucher, another McGill grad.

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Raymond becomes the sixth former McGill hockey player to make the move up to the NHL coaching ranks, joining previous McGillians Guy Boucher (Tampa Bay), Mike Babcock (Detroit, Anaheim), George Burnett (Edmonton, Anaheim) and Lester Patrick (New York), along with Jamie Kompon, currently an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Kings.

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Raymond, a 43-year-old native of Pierrefonds, Que., and current resident of St-Basile-le-Grand, Que., will be reunited with Boucher for the third time. The twosome worked together behind the bench of the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs last year and Boucher served as an assistant to Raymond at McGill in 1996-97. They also played together for one season with the McGill Redmen.

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"Daniel and Martin are two very smart and hard-working coaches," said Boucher in a release issued by the Lightning. "They are an excellent complement to me and are outstanding one-on-one coaches. I have total confidence in them and they know how I work, what I do, my philosophy and my values. Because they know me and the way I work, we already have a head start in terms of chemistry."

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Boucher indicated that Lacroix will be behind the bench and handle the defence, while Raymond will mostly be in the press box as an eye in the sky. A third assistant, yet to be named, will be primarily behind the bench and handle the penalty-kill, while splitting in-game duties with Raymond.

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But Boucher noted that the entire staff will be involved in all aspects of the team.

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"That's the way I like my staff. I don't like anybody being pegged down as the guy taking care of this or that," he told the media.

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Raymond was the most successful coach in McGill hockey history. He posted a 293-192-35 record in 520 games overall with the Redmen, including a stellar 206-110-30 regular-season mark (.638) since he took over the coaching duties from Jean Pronovost midway through the 1994-95 season.

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Over his last three seasons at McGill, Raymond guided the Redmen to a pair of Ontario University Athletics eastern conference titles, including the 2008 Queen's Cup league championship, the team's first since 1946. He produced 28 players who have gone on to playing careers in pro hockey, including one who reached the NHL (Mathieu Darche) and five in the AHL (Darche, plus Greg Davis, Pierre Gendron, Dan Jacob and David Urquhart).

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Raymond won OUA East coach-of-the-year honours four times and in 2005-06, became the first McGill bench boss to win the Father George Kehoe memorial award as CIS coach of the year in men's hockey.

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Raymond graduated from McGill in 1990 with a physical education degree and played professional hockey in Germany (with EA Schongau) for one season before returning to McGill in 1993 to work on a master's degree in physical education, which he completed in 1996.

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Prior to serving as head coach of the Redmen in 1996, Raymond served for three years as an assistant coach with the team after a stellar five-year playing career at McGill. He also served one season as an assistant to Terry Bangen, who guided the Redmen in 1995-96, before moving on to accept an assistant coaching position with the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.

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Raymond also coached the Quebec provincial team to a bronze medal at the 2004 under-17 world hockey championships in St. John's, Nfld. At the pro level, he directed the Montreal Canadiens rookie camp in 1997.

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As a player, Raymond earned all-conference honours three times and All-Canadian status in his final season (1991-92) when he served as team captain. He became McGill's all-time assist leader with 144 (currently ranked second) and is still third in career points (253 in 154 games) and third in career goals (109). Raymond was also a member of the bronze medal-winning Team Canada squad at the 1991 Spengler Cup tournament in Davos, Switzerland. He received the Forbes Trophy in 1992 as McGill's male athlete of the year, and the Bobby Bell Trophy as Team MVP in 1991-92.

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FORMER McGILL HOCKEY PLAYERS WHO HAVE COACHED IN THE NHL

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Lester Patrick (New York, head coach, 1926-39)

George Burnett (Edmonton, head coach, 1994-95; Anaheim, asst. coach, 1998-99)

Mike Babcock (Anaheim, head coach, 2000-02; Detroit, head coach, 2002-present)

Jamie Kompon (St. Louis, asst. coach, 1998-05; Los Angeles, asst. coach, 2005-present)

Guy Boucher (Tampa Bay, head coach, 2010-present)

Martin Raymond (Tampa Bay, asst. coach, 2010-present)

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