St. Louis Blues Fill Vacancy, Hire Marc Savard As Assistant Coach
By Jason Martin
The St. Louis Blues finalized their coaching staff on Wednesday afternoon after announcing that former Stanley Cup Champion Marc Savard has been hired as an assistant coach.
The St. Louis Blues went without an assistant coach for the majority of the season after Mike Yeo was fired. Now, they have brought in Marc Savard to help run the team’s powerplay for the upcoming year.
Not only will Savard help with the team’s power play, but he will also bring a unique perspective similar to what Steve Ott brings to the table as a Blues assistant.
Savard called it quits in 2011 after winning the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins. Savard had a 13-year playing career, playing with four different organizations.
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He spent five seasons with Boston, four with the Calgary Flames, three with the Atlanta Thrashers, and his final two with the New York Rangers.
The 13-year vet played in 807 games, and recorded 207 goals and netted 706 career points.
His insight to the Blues staff will be primarily on the power play, but having played his last season in 2011, he should be able to bring a voice that resonates with the current club.
Savard is 42 years old, while the oldest Blue Jay Bouwmeester is 35. Given that the new assistant is not approaching his upper-50s is a sign that he will most likely be able to communicate with the team.
He will have plenty of tools at his disposal when trying to figure out the Blues’ power play. The team ranked in the top 10 in power play percentage last season, connecting on 21.1% of their opportunities.
Not to mention the firepower on the team with players like Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Brayden Schenn, and Vince Dunn, just to name a few.
With talent like that, Savard should have the easiest job in the league designing ways the Blues can capitalize with the man advantage. However, we have seen in year’s past that even with the skill level, the team still struggles at times.
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The lack of an assistant was not incredibly noticeable last season, but with the new addition of Savard, we can only expect great things from the St. Louis Blues in their Cup defense next season.