"It Hit Home": Martin St. Louis Addresses Son's Shelter-in-Place During Brown Campus Tragedy
Ryan St. Louis, 22, was sheltering in place on the Providence, Rhode Island campus Saturday. St. Louis is a senior and forward for the Brown men's hockey team.
This article is based on the original coverage by Stu Cowan, Montreal Gazette
Hockey Legacy Meets Personal Crisis
Martin St. Louis, the Montreal Canadiens head coach and University of Vermont hockey icon, faced a parent’s worst nightmare over the weekend when his eldest son was caught in a mass shooting at Brown University.
According to the Montreal Gazette, Ryan St. Louis, 22, was sheltering in place on the Providence, Rhode Island campus Saturday while his father’s team was losing to the New York Rangers 5-4 in overtime.
The shooting, which claimed two lives and injured nine others at an engineering and physics building, occurred while the Canadiens were in New York. The gunman remained at large as of Monday morning, according to reports from the Montreal Gazette.
From UVM Star to NHL Coach
St. Louis’s connection to Vermont runs deep. He met his wife, Heather Caragol, while both were attending the University of Vermont, where St. Louis played collegiate hockey before embarking on a Hall of Fame NHL career. Now coaching the storied Montreal franchise, the 49-year-old has maintained strong ties to the region where his professional journey began.
Following the Canadiens’ 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers Sunday night at the Bell Centre, St. Louis opened his post-game news conference by addressing the Brown University tragedy. His remarks reflected both relief and sorrow.
‘It Hit Home’
“(Ryan) was sheltering during last night’s (Canadiens) game,” St. Louis told reporters. “It’s a tragedy. It hit home. I want to send my thoughts and prayers to everybody involved—the students, their families, that community. Stuff like that shouldn’t happen. He’s safe, he’s back home. It was a difficult time for everyone, so my thoughts go out to Brown and the community.”
Ryan, a senior forward at Brown, has posted 4 goals and 2 assists in 12 games this season, according to the Gazette. The family’s Connecticut home became a safe haven once campus security cleared students to leave.
A Hockey Family’s Journey
The St. Louis family has deep roots in both Vermont and the sport of hockey. Martin and Heather have three sons, all of whom have followed their father into competitive hockey. Lucas, 20, is a defenseman in his second season at Harvard University with 5 assists in 11 games. Mason, 17, plays forward at Brunswick School in Connecticut and has committed to attend Dartmouth College.
In March 2024, St. Louis left the Canadiens for four games after Mason suffered a hockey injury while playing for the U-15 Mid-Fairfield Rangers in Connecticut. When complications arose a week later requiring hospitalization, the Montreal Gazette reported that assistant coach Trevor Letowski took over head-coaching duties until Mason’s return home.
“I’d like to thank Geoff Molson, Jeff Gorton, Kent Hughes, along with Trevor Letowski, our players, coaches, and hockey operations staff for fully understanding and facilitating my need to be with my family for the past several days,” St. Louis said upon his return. “Everyone within the Canadiens organization has been very supportive of my wife, Heather, and me as we fully focused on our son Mason and his recovery from a hockey injury. As parents, nothing is more important to us than our three sons, Ryan, Lucas, and Mason.”