Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis announced that he has taken an indefinite leave of absence for family reasons.

 The club officials said yesterday  Saturday that assistant coach Trevor Letowski will manage the team during St. Louis's absence.

Montreal has lost three of four in Saturday night's game in Calgary.  The game against The Flames was the opener of a five-game trip.

 The 48-year-old St. Louis  was appointed interim coach after the Canadiens fired Dominique Ducharme in February 2022. He signed a three-year contract extension in June 2022.

 Before coaching, St. Louis had a great playing career, amassing 1033 points (391 goals, 642 assists) in 1134 regular season games with the Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning, and New York Rangers.  He won the Stanley Cup and the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP with the Lightning in 2004, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.