Martin St. Louis Is Developing Into A Top Notch Coach

Sure, St. Louis doesn’t have the experience of some of the best coaches in the league, but he does have an advantage when it comes to communication, as he seems to be able to connect with his players as someone who retired from the NHL not so long ago. He hasn’t played in the NHL for a little over a decade, but it’s recent enough for him to be able to relate to some of the players he is coaching in Montreal. 

It also helps that, because the 5’8 St. Louis had a Hall of Fame career against all odds despite being called too small and getting cut on numerous occasions before he finally got his chance to shine with the Tampa Bay Lightning. When a player with that much experience and ability to overcome adversity to become a star player starts talking and giving advice, it’s natural for other younger and less experienced hockey players to take in what he has to say. This is why he has such an easy time getting his point across to his players.

It has also been mentioned by his players that they would run through a wall for their coach. Oftentimes, when a team is struggling to win, things with the coach could get difficult, but it seemed like the team as a whole understood that it was going to be a process, and it allowed everyone to develop themselves, whether they were a coach or a player. 

This is why earlier in his tenure, St. Louis gave his players longer leashes to make mistakes during the years when the Habs were a developing bottom-feeder for the first 2.5 years of his employment with the Habs. However, he has started to turn the page over the last year or so, where he will now hold players accountable more often if they are struggling or not working hard enough by benching these guys. 

A good example that Pierre McGuire mentioned on Monday night’s episode of the Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro regarding St. Louis not being afraid to sit players who aren’t performing to par was when he gave Bolduc less ice time on Monday night against the Buffalo Sabres, considering he hasn’t been playing very well lately. Bolduc started the season on a 3-game goal streak and has been very quiet ever since then. 

St. Louis has also become really good at drawing up plays for his team, as during a timeout he called in overtime during the Canadiens’ home opener, he drew up a play that Nick Suzuki, Lane Hutson and Cole Caufield were able to execute to perfection to win the game. It’s little plays like that that can help a team win games that coaches deserve a lot of credit for. 

It shouldn’t go unmentioned, but St. Louis was nominated for the Jack Adams last year as both he and his players took a big jump together in getting to the playoffs. Just like his players, he learned how the playoffs are a totally different game even behind the bench, and he will only continue to learn on the job in hopes of one day helping the Canadiens to their 25th Stanley Cup.

Do you think St. Louis can be the coach that leads the Habs to their next Stanley Cup?