Martin St-Louis had to learn to be more serene with the media

Before he arrived in Montreal as head coach of the Canadiens, we didn’t know much about Martin St-Louis.

Sure, we knew he’d had a successful NHL career…

But we didn’t necessarily know the man behind the hockey player.

Now we’ve got to know him, and I think you’ll agree that he’s a passionate guy, but also a relatively calm coach.

We agree that there have already been a few moments when we’ve seen him frustrated for reason X, but hey. That’s to be expected.

That said, Martin St-Louis wasn’t always like that in his playing career.

He wasn’t the nicest guy with the media at times when he was playing in the NHL, and he had to change his approach in order to be more serene in front of the cameras and reporters.

For example?

Éric Leblanc (RDS) told an anecdote about one of his colleagues who interviewed St-Louis when he was in Montreal as a player a few years ago:

After St-Louis’ press briefing, he (colleague) wanted to continue the conversation with the striker in order to establish contact with him. Then, after a few moments, St-Louis looked at him with his piercing eyes, uttering a curt phrase like “I can go now, the interview’s over”. Enough to make you want to melt into the concrete floor of the Bell Centre… – Éric Leblanc

In the article , we also read that Chantal Machabée must have warned St-Louis when he arrived, telling him to “attack your tuque”, because the Habs coach has to deal with interviews or press briefings practically every day.

Clearly, Martin St-Louis followed Chantal Machabée’s advice to the letter: