Stanley Cup winning coach announces sudden retirement!

A legendary National Hockey League coach is officially calling it a career.

According to a report from Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times, long-time NHL goaltending coach Francois Allaire has decided to step away from the NHL, a move that has caught a great many fans completely by surprise. 

While among casual fans Allaire may not be a household name, for hardcore hockey fans he is known as the man who popularized the "butterfly" style in the NHL and as the mentor of another NHL legend, Patrick Roy. While certainly Roy deserves a great deal of credit for his own success, there has never been any doubt that Allaire also played a huge role, eventually winning two cups during his time with the Canadiens.

Allaire was the very first goaltending coach in the history of the Montreal Canadiens and even after leaving that franchise continued to have great success as a mentor for Jean-Sebastien Giguere of the Anaheim Ducks, winning a Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007.

Allaire also spent time with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Colorado Avalanche, and it was revealed earlier this summer that he would not be returning as a goaltending coach with Colorado. While we will likely never know, one has to wonder if the toxic situation with the Avalanche last season played a role in his decision to walk away from the game.