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Francois Allaire

Widely considered to be a pioneer of the goaltending coach at the NHL level, Francois Allaire was first hired by the Montreal Canadiens for the 1985-86 season. Allaire would serve as the teams goaltending coach for 11 seasons. His career took him from the Canadiens to the Anaheim Ducks, then known as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. It’s worth noting, that in one season prior to being the goaltending coach for the Montreal Canadiens, Allaire was the goaltending coach for the then Sherbrooke Canadiens of the AHL.
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Team Affiliations

Francois Allaire served as the goaltending coach of the Anaheim Ducks for 12 seasons, beginning in 1996-97 and ending at the end of the 2008-09 season. From Anaheim, he would join the Toronto Maple Leafs for 3 seasons. After working with the Leafs, Allaire would spend the next four seasons with the Colorado Avalanche (2013-2017) prior to joining the Florida Panthers.

Allaire started his tenure with the Florida Panthers during the 2020 season, having “retired” after his four seasons with the Avalanche. Allaire initially announced his retirement after Patrick Roy stepped down as coach of the Avalanche.

Francois Allaire is the brother of well known New York Rangers goalie coach Benoit Allaire. Francois describes his brother Benoit as a “happy guy” in his coaching methods.

Francois Allaire Career Achievements

Francois Allaire was a Calder Cup Champion during the 1984-85 season with the Sherbrooke Canadiens. He has been goaltending coach on three Stanley Cup Champion teams, twice with the Montreal Canadiens and once with the Anaheim Ducks.

  • 1984-1985: Calder Cup Champion serving as goalie coach for the AHL’s Sherbrooke Canadiens
  • 1985-1986: Stanley Cup Champion serving as goalie coach for the Montreal Canadiens
  • 1992-1993: Stanley Cup Champion serving as goalie coach for the Montreal Canadiens
  • 2006-2007: Stanley Cup Champion serving as goalie coach for the Anaheim Ducks

Goalies Francois Allaire Has Worked With

Largely credited with pioneering the butterfly position, Francois Allaire’s most notable goaltender is Patrick Roy. Patrick Roy is widely recognized as one of the greatest goaltenders of all time and has been well documented as a crucial influence at the beginning of his career.

Allaire would also work with Jean-Sébastien Giguère as goaltending coach of the Anaheim Ducks (then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim), when Giguère won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2003. Several seasons later, they would win the Stanley Cup together.

  • Patrick Roy: won Calder Cup and won two Stanley Cups with Montreal Canadiens (1985-86 and 1992-93).
  • Jean-Sébastien Giguère: won Stanley Cup in 2006-07 together.
  • Guy Hebert: with Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
  • Jose Theodore: with Montreal Canadiens.
  • Ilya Bryzgalov: with Anaheim Ducks.
  • Vesa Toskola: with Toronto Maple Leafs.
  • James Reimer: with Toronto Maple Leafs.
  • Semyon Varlomov: with Colorado Avalanche.
  • Sergei Bobrovsky: with Florida Panthers.
  • Spencer Knight: with Florida Panthers.

 

Required Reading

Francois Allaire’s Impact on the Butterfly Position in Goaltending

We wrote extensively about the history of the butterfly position and how Francois Allaire helped to pioneer one of the most significant changes in the history of goaltending.

Francois Allaire’s Impact on Patrick Roy

Read the Sportsnet article on how important Francois Allaire was for the career of a young Patrick Roy, who would go on to become one of the greatest goaltenders of all time.

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