Jacques Martin (ice hockey)

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Jacques Martin (born October 1, 1952) is a Canadian ice hockey coach with a long career in the NHL. He has been the head coach of the St. Louis Blues, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers, and he has also served as the Panthers’ general manager. He won two Stanley Cups as part of the Pittsburgh Penguins coaching staff and has worked as an assistant coach with Canada’s national team.

Early life and beginnings
Martin was born in Rockland, Ontario, and grew up on a family farm in Saint-Pascal-Baylon. He moved to Ottawa for high school, studied at St. Lawrence University in New York (where he played goaltender in 28 games) and at the University of Ottawa. He spent years teaching and coaching at Algonquin College and in junior hockey, and he runs a hockey school in Rigaud, Quebec. He has two daughters, Angela and Nathalee.

Junior and pro coaching rise
In the mid-1980s, Martin coached in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Peterborough Petes and then the Guelph Platers. He led the Platers to the Memorial Cup in 1986 and won the Matt Leyden Trophy as the league’s best coach. He then moved to the NHL, taking over the St. Louis Blues in 1986. After a couple of seasons, he shifted to assistant roles with the Chicago Blackhawks and later the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche organizations.

Ottawa Senators era
Martin became the Ottawa Senators’ head coach in 1996. He guided the team through several playoff runs and earned the NHL’s Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in 1999. The Senators won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2002–03 for the league’s best regular-season record. He left Ottawa in 2004 after a playoff run that year.

Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens
Martin then coached the Florida Panthers from 2004 to 2009 and also served as their general manager for a time. He moved to the Montreal Canadiens in 2009, leading them to the playoffs in 2010 and an Eastern Conference final appearance, before being fired in 2011.

Pittsburgh Penguins and later roles
Martin joined the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant coach in 2013 and later served as senior adviser to hockey operations and then as an assistant coach again. He won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins, in 2016 and 2017. His contract with Pittsburgh ended in 2020, after which he joined the New York Rangers as an assistant coach for the 2020–21 season; he was let go in 2021.

Return to Ottawa
In December 2023, the Ottawa Senators named Martin senior advisor to the coaching staff, and he was promoted to interim head coach on December 18 after the firing of D. J. Smith. The Senators went 26–26–4 in the 2023–24 season and did not qualify for the playoffs. After the season, Martin was succeeded as interim head coach and named senior advisor again.