Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey and Hamilton Bulldogs General Manager Julien BriseBois announced today the appointment of Daniel Lacroix and Martin Raymond as Assistant Coaches of the Hamilton Bulldogs.
”With Daniel (Lacroix) and Martin (Raymond) our coaching staff brings a brand new dimension that comes from the mixture of our backgrounds which are different but, at the same time, complement each other. I believe such diversity will be favorable to the development of our players and beneficial to the success of our team,” stated Head Coach Guy Boucher.
Daniel Lacroix was an assistant coach with the New York Islanders for the past three seasons (2006-2009). Before joining the Islanders, Lacroix spent four seasons with the Moncton Wildcats, from 2002-2006, as an assistant coach. During his stint with the team, the Wildcats reached the QMJHL final twice, including a berth in the 2006 Memorial Cup Tournament. Halfway through the 2004-2005 season, Lacroix took over as Moncton’s interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
From 1993-1994 to 1999-2000, Lacroix played in 188 regular season games in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers before ending his playing career in a New York Islanders uniform with a career total of 18 points (11 goals, seven assists) and 379 penalty minutes. The former left wing, who won an IHL championship, etching his name on the Turner Cup as a member of the Chicago Wolves in 2000, also played eight years in the American Hockey League earning 213 points (101 goals, 112 assists) and 1,618 penalty minutes in 352 AHL regular season games. Lacroix played the 1998-1999 season with the Bulldogs posting 22 points (13 goals, nine assists) and 260 penalty minutes in 46 regular season games and four points (three goals, one assist) and 65 penalty minutes in 11 post-season games. The 40-year-old native of Montreal, Quebec was drafted from the QMJHL’s Granby Bisons by the New York Rangers in the 2nd round, 31st overall in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft.
Martin Raymond joins the Bulldogs after serving as head coach of the McGill Redmen hockey team for the past 14 seasons. Last season, Raymond led the Redmen to an 18-8-2 record en route to an OUA East Conference title and a berth in the CIS National Championship for the second straight year. He has a lifetime record of 293-192-35 in the 520 games he has coached the Redmen including a 206-110-30 regular season mark. Raymond is a former winner of the Father George Kehoe memorial award as CIS coach of the year in men’s hockey (2006) and is a four-time OUA Eastern coach of the year recipient (2000, 2005, 2006, 2009). Over the past three seasons, Raymond led the Redmen to a pair of OUA Eastern Conference titles including the 2008 Queen’s Cup league championship for the first time since 1946.
Prior to his coaching career, the 42-year-old native of Pierrefonds, Quebec played five seasons with the Redmen finishing his career at McGill with 109 goals and 144 assists for 253 points in 154 games while earning all-conference honours three times and All-Canadian status in his final season (1991-1992). He won the Forbes Trophy in 1992 as McGill’s male athlete of the year and the Bobby Bell Trophy as Team MVP following the 1991-1992 season and was also a member of the bronze medal-winning Team Canada squad at the 1991 Spengler Cup tournament. He played one season with EA Schongau in Germany after graduating from McGill with a Physical Education degree in 1992. Raymond returned to McGill in 1993 for a masters’ degree in Physical Education, which he completed in 1996. Raymond and Bulldogs Head Coach Guy Boucher played and coached together at McGill.
