A slip from Martin St-Louis at the end of Monday’s post-game press briefing panicked many Canadiens supporters. By saying “if I come back next year,” the interim head coach seemed to hint at some uncertainty regarding his future.
Yet, hadn’t Kent Hughes said when he met the media at the trade deadline that St-Louis, whom he had hired a month and a half earlier, had not been hired to simply camp the role of “substitute teacher”?
In the hours preceding the confrontation once morest the Blue Jackets, the 46-year-old Laval resident wanted to put the pendulum back somewhat when an English-speaking colleague once more challenged him regarding his future.
“I was brought here to finish the season. That’s what I’m going to focus on first,” he replied.
“Is it my goal to come back next year? Absolutely. I don’t see a lot of things that would make me not come back. When I project myself into the future, in six or seven months, I see myself behind the bench. But you never know,” he continued.
One thing at a time
Adept of the leitmotif “you control what you can control” and of the “present moment”, St-Louis may not want to take anything for granted. The hockey world being a rapidly changing one, he may not want to look too far ahead.
Or maybe he doesn’t want to get distracted by contract negotiations?
“After the season, we will sit down and we will discuss”, he also mentioned.
Note that there are exactly two weeks and eight games left on the regular schedule.
One would think that family reasons make him hesitate. St-Louis left his wife and the two youngest of his three sons in Connecticut before coming to Montreal. His oldest, Ryan, wears the colors of Northeastern University in Boston, in the NCAA.
However, in an interview with representatives of the Journala week following his hiring, St-Louis said he felt his sons were off to a good enough start in life to walk away without worrying too much.
“I wanted to have a big influence on their development, both on a human level and as hockey players. The only way to get there is to be there every day, he said. Today, I feel comfortable making that decision. I know the foundation is solid. They are in the right place mentally and physically. »
With St-Louis as pilot, the Canadian maintained a record of 12-13-4 for a total of 28 points. Which places him 23rd in the league in terms of percentage of points acquired since February 10.
At first sight, we are far from a reversal of the situation. However, considering the state of the Habs at the time of the arrival of St. Louis, we can certainly speak of a good evolution. This is also the case when noting the individual outbreak of the youngsters of the team, Cole Caufield, Alexander Romanov and Nick Suzuki in the lead.
The shark pond
The work St-Louis has done over the past two months is certainly not going unnoticed across the NHL. In this pond of sharks, Hughes and Jeff Gorton had better not leave this file lying around.
Because it is not the offers that will be lacking when the waltz of the dismissals of coaches will begin at the end of the campaign.
