We all know that when Tampa Bay fired head coach Guy Boucher, a lot of shifting within the organization happened. Jon Cooper, who up until then was working in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch, was promoted and sssumed the head coaching duties of the Lightning. Cooper’s assistant coach in Syracuse at the time was Rob Zettler. Zettler assumed head coaching duties after Cooper left, guiding the Crunch to the Calder Cup finals for the first time in franchise history.
But what may have been a little lost in this story was the move of then-Lightning assistant coach Martin Raymond. Boucher’s removal this past season set the stage for Raymond to join Syracuse. This allowed new Lightning head coach Cooper to start his own era with his own people. Raymond assisted Zettler from March until the end of the playoffs.
As Raw Charge reported a few a weeks ago, it was rumored that Raymond was searching for a new start in a new organization for a bit now. Those rumors evolved into fact Monday, with a report from the CBC that Raymond would soon be accepting the head coaching job of the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs. That was made official Tuesday afternoon witha press conference in Drummondville.
Ironically, Mario Duhamel, the former Drummondville coach, was hired by the Volts in 2009. This was to replace departing head coach Guy Boucher, who had left the club to take a job with the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs. It was during Boucher’s tenure with Hamilton that he hired and worked with Raymond, and then took Raymond with him to Tampa Bay when Boucher was hired as head coach.
There has not been any news yet as to who will replace Raymond in Syracuse.
