Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis brought a new approach to the team when he joined the organization in 2022.

Every coach has their style.

Some allow their players the freedom to rely on their instincts, while others choose to have a strict system that everyone must follow.

As a former player, I know that too much coaching and structure, and not enough freedom, can force you to grip your stick too tight and worry about not making a mistake rather than playing “your game.” It can also make it much harder to generate offence because there is not enough room for creativity.

What does it mean to rely on instincts?

It means processing the game as it comes rather than having a set plan before the play develops.

Playing off of instincts relies on a player’s hockey IQ, where they can make the right split-second decision. Hockey happens so fast that the best players are not even thinking about the game; instead, they allow their experience, instincts, and ability to dictate what they do on the ice.

How does playing with too much structure affect a player?

It can negatively affect players because they become stripped of their ability to process the game. Instead of reacting, they focus on the X’s and O’s of a structure, which can make them always behind the play and playing on their heels.

Coaches preach playing on your toes, which means reacting and being aggressive. When there is too much structure, a player is stuck on their heels, slow, late to the play development, and too cautious.

NHL players are at the highest level for a reason.

They are world-class talents who made it to the pinnacle of their sport thanks to their skill and hockey IQ. It is up to their coaches to implement a system where they can succeed by allowing them to do what they have done their whole careers that got them to this point.

Forechecking, neutral zone structure, and defensive zone structure are the three major systems implemented into every hockey team’s game. Within these systems, some coaches allow for creativity and the use of instinct, while others do not.

Overcoaching With The Montreal Canadiens

The term “overcoaching” refers to teams that do not have the freedom to react to plays as they happen but instead have specific rules on how to play the game in every possible situation.

There’s a perfect example of such a phenomenon in recent Montreal Canadiens history.

Under coach Dominique Ducharme, the Habs suffered from being overcoached and stripped of their originality, which led to a lack of offence. The effects of overcoaching were apparent in the struggles Cole Caufield endured in the 2021-2022 season under Ducharme.

Veterans such as Jeff Petry spoke up, stating there were simply too many instructions at play to make sense of the situation.