News

McGill grads Boucher & Raymond, earn first NHL win

Published: 10 October 2010

 

(PHOTO BY ANDREW DOBROWOLSKYJ)

 

TAMPA, Fla. - Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist to help a couple of McGill University graduates win their first official game as coaches in the National Hockey League, a 5-3 victory for Tampa over the visiting Atlanta Thrashers, Saturday.

It was the NHL debut for new Tampa Bay head coach Guy Boucher and assistant coach Martin Raymond, both former captains and coaches with the McGill Redmen.

"Guy's intense but he still (found) a way to motivate us in between periods," said Stamkos. "The guys were really fired up to go out and prove that we can win the game and that's what makes him so good. It was a good first game for him."

Boucher was hired as the Lightning's seventh head coach June 10 and Raymond was appointed to his coaching staff on July 20. The two coached together in Hamilton, the AHL farm team of the Montreal Canadiens last season, going 52-17-11 en route to reaching the Western Conference finals. The dynamic duo will be in Montreal on Oct. 13, when Tampa plays the Montreal Canadiens in their home opener.

"Yes it does ... it feels good," Boucher said of his inaugural conquest in his post-game press conference. "(Although it's) not the way we would've liked the game to progress in the second period. We were doing outstanding (leading 4-0) until we gave them life with a bunch of penalties."

Boucher and Raymond are among a half-dozen former McGill players that have coached in the NHL, including Mike Babcock (Detroit, Anaheim), George Burnett (Edmonton, Anaheim) and Lester Patrick (New York), along with current assistant coach Jamie Kompon of the Los Angeles Kings.

Babcock has 328 NHL regular season wins (including two this season) notched under his proverbial McGill necktie, followed by Patrick (25 wins), Burnett (12) and Boucher (1).

Boucher, 39, was born at Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Que., and raised in the Montreal suburb of Roxboro. He possesses arts (BA history & environmental biology; 1995) and science (BSc AgrEng; 1996) degrees from McGill, where he played four seasons at centre for the Redmen, from 1991 to 1995, recording 71 goals and 183 points in 141 games. He earned his coaching stripes as an assistant to Raymond at McGill for one season before moving on to stints in the Quebec midget Triple-A league and the QMJHL.

Raymond, a 43-year-old native of Pierrefonds, Que., who makes his off-season home in St-Basile-le-Grand, Que., 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. 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 goals (109). Raymond was the most successful coach in McGill hockey history, posting a 293-192-35 record in 520 games overall with the Redmen, including a stellar 206-110-30 regular-season mark (.638).

 

FORMER McGILL HOCKEY PLAYERS WHO HAVE COACHED IN THE NHL

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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SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

Communications Officer

Athletics & Recreation

McGill University

514-398-7012 (Tel.)

 

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