2023-10-19 17:46:59
The Canadian was back in training following a day off during which Martin St-Louis probably broke out in hives while watching the day before’s game once morest the Wild.
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A match during which his troops received 10 minor penalties. At the risk of repeating myself, the Habs currently lead the NHL with 85 penalty minutes.
“This needs to change and we are working on it. We have to tighten the screw,” said the Canadian head coach, returning to the subject once more.
“I don’t think these are lazy punishments,” he was careful to clarify. We work, we try to win the puck back, but we have to be careful how we do it.”
Photo Martin Chevalier
We tend to forget it, but receiving so many penalties has a direct impact on the performance of certain players. The season is only three games old, but many are already criticizing Nick Suzuki’s play.
Until now, the Canadian captain has only collected one assist.
“Of course he has to be better. With the number of minutes he plays, he has to give us more,” insisted Martin St-Louis.
Sitting at the bench
“The number of minutes he plays.” Perhaps part of the problem lies there.
The task of eliminating penalties is better distributed among the Canadian’s attackers. However, offering more than half a dozen numerical superiorities to the opponent brings some related problems.
It can become taxing. Which is now less the case for Suzuki since the large part of the mandate now goes to Jake Evans, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Jesse Ylönen.
Conversely, sitting for long periods of time on the bench or not being able to attack because the team has to defend short of a man certainly has an impact on the statistical columns.
“Nick hasn’t forgotten how to play hockey. Sometimes it’s just a matter of trust. He’s had a lot of experience, I’m sure he’ll get back on track,” said St-Louis.
In this regard, greater effectiveness of the massive attack would not do any harm.
Work like everyone else
Coming back to penalties, what angers a coach is seeing his players take penalties in the offensive zone. However, several acts of indiscipline by the Canadian were made in this portion of the ice rink.
“These are not good punishments,” admitted Alex Newhook. This is the kind of thing that needs to be improved to avoid shooting yourself in the foot.”
Sometimes it’s as simple as doing good work.
“If, defensively, you position your body in the right way, you won’t be caught out of position and you won’t have your stick in the wrong place,” explained the forward. And that happens when you’re late to the game.”
So it doesn’t seem so rocket science.
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