Canucks legend Burrows gets surprise shoutout from Canadiens coach St. Louis
The Montreal Canadiens had a secret weapon that helped them get within three wins of the Stanley Cup Final.
Even though Montreal was a heavy underdog against an unbeaten Carolina Hurricanes team in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, they stormed out of the gates in shocking fashion.
The Habs scored four goals in the first 12 minutes of the game, coasting to a 6-2 win over Carolina.
Their offensive barrage was a shock, considering that Carolina had allowed 10 goals total during their eight straight wins to open the postseason.
And, according to Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis, former Vancouver Canucks legend Alex Burrows had a lot to do with it.
A reporter asked St. Louis about how Montreal managed such a dominant showing despite having very little time to prepare for the series.
“We were able to have, obviously, our analytic people, but Alex Burrows does a lot of that grunt work for us,” St. Louis said with a smirk.
“He worked hard while we were trying to close a series against Buffalo,” St. Louis said.
Alex Burrows is still finding ways to make a Stanley Cup playoff impact in 2026. (Dennis Wierzbicki/Imagn Images)
The Canadiens bench boss mentioned that there was a delicate balancing act in terms of relaying Burrows’ scouting of the Canes to Habs players in the dressing room.
“You’ve got to be careful in giving so much information to players in a short amount of time,” He said. “You’ve got to pick a couple of things and try to address that…but we didn’t spend so much time that we took the instinct out of our players.”
“They’ve got to go out there, and you know that it’s going to be a long series, and you’re going to have to get better through the series. You don’t need to be perfect. You’ve got to find ways. I thought tonight we played through identity.”
Burrows is now in his eighth year with the Canadiens organization. He originally joined the franchise as an assistant coach in the AHL back in 2018, before joining the Habs coaching staff in 2021. Then in 2024, he chose to step back into a player development role so that he could spend more time with his family.
And, for Canucks fans hoping that Burrows might be a staff pick of the new Sedin-led regime, don’t hold your breath.
āWith a young family and being away from birthdays or just Halloween when you have young kids, you mature as a dad, and you miss those times,ā Burrows told Canadiens media in 2024 when he stepped down as an assistant coach.
“It was a tough decision. I think itās a good common ground for me to balance family life right now.”
At least, Burrows is still finding ways to contribute, as the Habs aim to end Canada’s 33-year Stanley Cup drought.