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Habs hire Martin St-Louis as their 28th Head Coach


alfredoh2009

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That's the problem with coaching scared.  Will Caufield make rookie mistakes? sure, everyone does.  But when you don't recognize the fact that he will make more good plays than mistakes and he's still an asset that can help you win... and you are so paranoid about those mistakes that you reduce his ice time instead of letting him play and do those good things.  Its cowardly (and bad) coaching.

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2 hours ago, tomh009 said:

In Friday's article (on Cole Caufield) in the Athletic, there was a comment posted with some excellent perspective on the coaching change and the "St Louis effect". Not that St Louis isn't a breath of fresh air, or that he's not having an impact, or that Ducharme wasn't struggling -- but it's not entirely an apples-to-apples comparison.

 

Am posting the comment in its entirety since it's not an actual Athletic article but a reader contribution so I figure it's OK. 🙂

 

 

 

I think that's a really good article.  Was Ducharme under a lot of pressure to win?  Yes    Was Ducharme dealt a terrible hand because of all the injuries ?  Yes

 

Was Ducharme able to make the best of a bad situation?  No and it affected the confidence and energy levels of some of the young players especially Caulfield.    

 

Thus Hugo realized a change had to be made. St. Louis came in with far less pressure than Ducharme was under and brought the approach that was needed at the time.  So far HuGo have made only good decisions (I think). I hope it continues.  I am optimistic about the future. 

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I think it's a mistake to say that Marty StL had no pressure when he started coaching the Montreal Canadiens. Is that ever possible?? All eyes were on him to see what he would do.

 

For example, if he did not handle the players correctly and give them the freedom to make reads while still being accountable and if he did not help the defensemen "clean things up a bit", so that even Petry commented that now they understand what they should be doing, we would still be in the same mess. It was his choice to play the young guys and give them a chance. What he changed worked and the players, to a man it seems, are playing better and they say they now enjoy coming to the rink and practicing again. 

 

There's lots more but if he had not done those things and made those changes and we were still losing and being dominated, I don't think there's any question he would slowly be getting roasted by the fans and media. 

 

He's done extremely well and that's why the pressure has lifted off the coach. He had pressure. He just coached and handled his players so well that they responded and now they are winning, some, and are fun to watch again. 

 

It's been a short period of time, granted, but in that small window he is my favourite coach by far, of anyone we've had since.......???? Scotty?? 

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40 minutes ago, REV-G said:

It's been a short period of time, granted, but in that small window he is my favourite coach by far, of anyone we've had since.......???? Scotty?? 

This bit I agree with and absolutely zero pressure to WIN, so i wouldnt read too much into how this season finishes off.

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"Zero pressure to win". Thats the part I don't agree with.

 

This team is so high profile and important to the city and province that I think if he had not changed the culture and made it fun again for the players and fun for us to watch, he would be facing pressure about not being the right man for the job, simply a pee wee coach.  

 

He perhaps isn't under a pressure to win so much as pressure to change things which he has done.  If he hadn't and things had remained as they were, he would be feeling the pressure by now. That's what I think. 

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4 hours ago, REV-G said:

"Zero pressure to win". Thats the part I don't agree with ...

 

1 hour ago, Commandant said:

I agree with Rev.  There was pressure on him.  He wouldnt be the coach going forward if he failed.

 

There may have been pressure on MSL but when I, and I expect many others, have said there is no pressure I meant on the players ... it was a foregone conclusion that the team was out of the playoffs and the chains of DD's systems were removed ... players were free to enjoy the game and their performance shows it.

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5 hours ago, REV-G said:

"Zero pressure to win". Thats the part I don't agree with.

 

This team is so high profile and important to the city and province that I think if he had not changed the culture and made it fun again for the players and fun for us to watch, he would be facing pressure about not being the right man for the job, simply a pee wee coach.  

 

He perhaps isn't under a pressure to win so much as pressure to change things which he has done.  If he hadn't and things had remained as they were, he would be feeling the pressure by now. That's what I think. 

 

I don't think anybody said there was "zero pressure to win" unless I missed that.  There is always some pressure but when the team is already out of a playoff spot with no hope of making it there is certainly less pressure.  I think Marty being the competitor that he is always puts some pressure on himself. 

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Maybe it was discussed in the previous pages, but I didn't read it all.

 

After a complete turnaround with Caufield, I'm curious to see what MSL could have done with KK.
We'll never know.

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23 minutes ago, JoeLassister said:

Maybe it was discussed in the previous pages, but I didn't read it all.

 

After a complete turnaround with Caufield, I'm curious to see what MSL could have done with KK.
We'll never know.

either similar results to Caufield or similar results to Poehling

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KK's not an elite talent like Caufield.  What was he actually great at? Skating, shooting, passing, physicality? Nothing stood out. Contrast that to CC who had elite puck skills from day one. KK would do well to live up to his 4.8M price tag at this point. Not saying it's impossible - he could easily become a 40-50 point two way C - but he's not there or particularly close yet.

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After a more respectable start, he scored one goal in December, two in January and two in February -- and none in March. Averaging 11 minutes TOI in March.

 

I'm glad we did not match that offer sheet.

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  • 1 month later...

They title of this thread appears to be inaccurate.

 

Anyway, I expected him to flop and be moved to a front office role this off-season. I’ll be curious to see how the team performs and develops with him as coach, even if I don’t necessarily expect a large quantity of wins.

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12 minutes ago, huzer said:

... Anyway, I expected him to flop and be moved to a front office role this off-season. I’ll be curious to see how the team performs and develops with him as coach, even if I don’t necessarily expect a large quantity of wins.

 

I didn't necessarily expect him to flop but thought he might prefer the relative security of a front office job, perhaps even  being the de facto GM in training, over the "what have you done for me lately" profession of coaching ... I am more interested in seeing development than wins (i.e., don't prioritize wins in the short-term over development for the long-term).

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12 minutes ago, huzer said:

They title of this thread appears to be inaccurate ...

Depends on whether you are counting by the coaches themselves, or by terms as coach ... four had two stints as coach:
Ruel: 1968-70; 1979-81

Therrien: 2000-03; 2012-17

Julien: 2003-06; 2017-21

Gainey: 2006; 2009

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23 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

3 years is the right length ...

Agreed ... the Habs do not know whether he will prove to be a good coach and MSL doesn't yet know if he really wants to be an NHL coach given the various demands.

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4 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

I didn't necessarily expect him to flop but thought he might prefer the relative security of a front office job, perhaps even  being the de facto GM in training, over the "what have you done for me lately" profession of coaching ... I am more interested in seeing development than wins (i.e., don't prioritize wins in the short-term over development for the long-term).


This is absolutely true. 
 

Our top priority is the development of our youth. Our future depends on it but Marty isn’t alone in this development. We now have a department to help

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Caufield seems to enjoy him running things, fans seem happy with him also. so i got no complaints at all. Hope is a start of a 10-15 year successful tenure.:pray:

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I thought it was a crazy hire, but events proved me wrong. He could still flame out and his weaknesses be exposed given a little more time, of course, but he really did seem like a breath of fresh air: not just compared to the completely hapless DD, but compared to the NHL’s generally stultifying coaching culture as a whole. It seems as though he will make Montreal a fun, rewarding place to play, especially for talented young players. That’s perfect for a rebuild. I’m sure he’ll be thrown onto the scrap heap 3-4 years from now, when the team is hopefully moving toward contention; but such is the fate of all coaches. Seems like the right man for the right moment.

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1 hour ago, GHT120 said:

Depends on whether you are counting by the coaches themselves, or by terms as coach ... four had two stints as coach:
Ruel: 1968-70; 1979-81

Therrien: 2000-03; 2012-17

Julien: 2003-06; 2017-21

Gainey: 2006; 2009

 

Terms. Which is how it seems the Habs (and most folks) define it.

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