St. Louis Blues reportedly hire David Alexander as goalie coach
The Blues hired Jake Allen‘s personal goalie coach to fill the role vacated by Jim Corsi last February.
The St. Louis Blues haven’t had a full-time goaltending coach since February 1 of this year, when they fired Jim Corsi along with head coach Ken Hitchcock. Assistant GM Martin Brodeur stepped downstairs on a temporary basis, helping Jake Allen to work out of a slump and sticking around as his mentor for the rest of the season.
But Brodeur’s plan was always to stay in a front office role, so the Blues had a vacancy at the goaltending coach position–one of many, as Mike Yeo’s coaching staff was gutted following the end of the 2016-17 campaign. They filled that vacancy on Wednesday, according to InGoal Magazine:
Won’t help heartbreak of losing last night but consolation for Syracuse G coach David Alexander, who will be new St. Louis Blues G coach
— InGoal Magazine (@InGoalMedia) June 14, 2017
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Jeremy Rutherford also affirmed the report:
Also hearing former Syracuse Crunch and University of Maine coach David Alexander is set to be named #stlblues goalie coach. https://t.co/DKvoSjBNxj
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) June 14, 2017
Alexander, who began coaching goalies before he even graduated college, had served a dual role as the goalie/video coach for the Syracuse Crunch, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s AHL affiliate, since the 2013-14 season.
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There, he coached Lightning first-rounder Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has gone on to become a dependable option in Tampa. Prior to that, he coached goalies for five seasons at the University of Maine while also working with Hockey New Brunswick.
More significantly, Alexander served as the director of goaltending development at Alexander Goaltending, his family’s private coaching firm. In that position, he’s tutored Allen, who is a fellow native of New Brunswick.
While Brodeur got a lot of credit for “fixing” Allen after taking over as the interim goalie coach, it’s hard to imagine a guy who could be a better fit to work with the 26-year-old goaltender than the personal coach that he works with during the offseason. The only real question is whether Alexander will be as good at tutoring backup Carter Hutton and the Blues’ young prospects during the offseason and preseason as Corsi was for the last several years.
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Alexander apparently edged out former Blues goalie Fred Brathwaite, who coached goalies at Blues prospect camp last summer and was rumored to be a finalist for the position. With Alexander’s hiring, the Blues likely only have one more coaching position they’ll need to fill–that of a top assistant, a spot that is expected to be filled by veteran coach Craig Berube.