"So 3 more years of tanking?" "Best news of the day!" - NHL fans have mixed response as Habs extend Martin St-Louis' contract for two more seasons

The Montreal Canadiens announced on Wednesday that they picked up head coach Martin St-Louis' two-year contract extension option, keeping him behind the bench through the 2026-27 season.

The news elicited mixed reactions from Habs fans on social media.

"So 3 more years of tanking? Awesome" commented one fan, alluding to the team's struggles this season as they finished last in the Atlantic Division with a record of 30-36-16.

However, other fans saw the extension as a positive step forward.

"Best news of the day! And it’s not even noon!"

Here are some more fan reactions:

"Well deserved," One fan wrote on X.

"Le’Missing the playoffs the next two years," another fan wrote.

"Well duh, I would have been mad if they didn’t," a fan wrote.

"Cant wait to see him behind the bench for the next 3 years," a user wrote.

"Wow... they don't see the picture," One fan commented.

"Everyone here loves Marty. He’s the man," another fan wrote on X.

Martin St-Louis was brought in as interim head coach in February 2022 after Dominique Ducharme was fired. The Canadiens icon had the interim tag removed in June 2022 when he was officially named the 32nd head coach in franchise history.

In his first full season, Montreal limped to a disappointing 31-45-6 record under Martin St-Louis.

Nonetheless, general manager Kent Hughes expressed optimism about the team's trajectory and desire to keep Martin St-Louis in place for the long haul.

As a player, the Laval native enjoyed great success including winning the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004. The Hall of Famer amassed 391-642–1033 totals over his 16-year NHL career.

The Montreal Canadiens lost their last game of the regular season 5-4 to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

Martin St-Louis’s Canadiens lost 5-4 to the Red Wings

Alex Newhook opened the scoring for Montreal in the first period, finishing a 2-on-1 feed from Brendan Gallagher. The Red Wings tied it up late in the first when Moritz Seider blasted a shot past Cayden Primeau after intercepting the puck.

The Canadiens retook the lead in the second on another 2-on-1 rush, with Joel Armia’s shot trickling through Ville Husso's five-hole and Gallagher tapping in the rebound.

Cole Caufield extended Montreal's lead to 3-1 by stuffing home a rebound off a Juraj Slafkovsky shot. But Detroit answered right back 36 seconds later with a Joe Veleno goal on a delayed penalty call, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

Early in the third period, Daniel Sprong banked a shot off Primeau from below the goal line to tie the game 3-3. Juraj Slafkovsky tipped in a Lane Hutson wrister to put the Canadiens back in front 4-3 with just over seven minutes left.

However, with only five seconds remaining, David Perron blasted a shot through traffic to tie it 4-4, forcing overtime.

In the shootout, Patrick Kane scored the lone goal to complete Detroit's comeback 5-4 victory.