Canadiens assistant coach Alex Burrows seems to have caught the coaching bug

On Tuesday, Montreal Canadiens assistant coach Alexandre Burrows addressed the media for the first time since being promoted on February 24th.

Burrows told reporters that he was shocked when Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin gave him a call to replace Kirk Muller. Growing up, Burrows was a Canadiens fan, and when he was a member of the Vancouver Canucks, he would watch the Habs game before taking to the ice for his own game.

He mentioned that he left at 6am to head to Ottawa for his first day as assistant coach of the Montreal Canadiens. Burrows let his wife tell his kids, who were sleeping, that he was going to coach for Montreal, and he added that his kids were very excited.

The 39-year-old says coaching for him is as close to playing as it gets. His contract ends at the end of the 2020-21 season, and while he is very excited for the challenge ahead with Montreal, he isn't focused on his next contract.


The Pincourt, Quebec native spent parts of 13 seasons in the NHL playing for the Vancouver Canucks and the Ottawa Senators. In 913 regular season games, he had 409 points (205 G, 204 A), 1,134 penalty minutes, and was a +104. In 85 career playoff games, he tallied 39 points (19 G, 20 A), 142 penalty minutes, and is a +8.

Alex Burrows says he was really surprised and really excited when Marc Bergevin called him to replace Kirk Muller. "They were always my team." Said he watched their games even when he was playing, often before his own games in Vancouver.— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) March 9, 2021

Burrows said he left at 6am for Ottawa for his first day on the job and had to leave it to his wife to inform the kids that he had been promoted to #Habs bench. Said everyone was very excited, and that his kids are diehards.— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) March 9, 2021

Alex Burrows says coaching for him is as close as he can get to playing. His contract is up at the end of the year, but he's really happy doing what he's doing and won't get too far ahead of himself. But sounds like he has the coaching bug.— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) March 9, 2021

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