Canadiens: About That A

With Mike Matheson and Nick Suzuki out of the lineup on Tuesday night, Montreal Canadiens’ coach Martin St-Louis had a couple of alternate captain As to distribute. On the team’s latest road trip the bench boss explained how he approached choosing the player who will wear an A:

When you lose your captain, and you need someone to wear a letter, it gives me an opportunity to reward the players who drive our culture…I’ve been here for a while, and I think he’s a guy who drives the culture. Jake does that; he’s been here for a long time, and Cole, since I’ve been here, I’ve seen him drive the culture. He’s focused on always becoming the best version of himself, and that’s not necessarily just about being a better goal scorer. It’s about how he plays defensively, the details, and what he brings every single day. So it gives me the opportunity to do that, and I’m trying to distribute these moments of recognition around a little bit. The guys are proud to wear a letter on their jersey, so it’s a great opportunity for me.

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The main criterion, therefore, appears to be players who drive the team’s culture. With all due respect to Juraj Slafkovsky, I was surprised to see him wear an A last night. Of course, he’s an important part of the team, but to me, the guys who drive the culture are the ones whose effort never diminishes and who are always willing to give their best on every shift. We’ve not seen that from Slafkovsky this season.

The big Slovak knows exactly how he needs to play to be the best version of himself and he eventually did it last season, but this year, it feels like he’s somewhat back to square one. The no-look back passes, the lack of pace on the forecheck, those are not issues brought on by Suzuki’s absence, those are Slafkovsky issues. Issues he’s the only one who can fix.

This is Slafkovsky’s fifth season and there comes a time where the “oh he always has a slow start” gets old. Being a leader and heling the team build culture means always being ready to give you 100%. It’s not about being perfect, as St-Louis often says; perfection doesn’t exists, but it’s about always trying to be, striving for perfection.

Yes Suzuki has 11 points (four of which came on the power play) in 15 games which is not that bad, production wise you’ll say but it’s not all about the points. There’s more to playing hockey than pumping up your own stats. There are times this season where he has looked like he doesn’t belong on the top six, but given the fact that the other lines were working and building chemistry, it was also impossible to put him on another unit. Instead of keeping him accountable, the coach decided to put an A on his jersey. Perhaps they’ve decided to use position reinforcements like teachers do these days at school. You want a kid to do something? Promise him a reward of better yet, give him the reward right away.

Soon, the coaching staff will need to take a harder line with Slafkovsky; once everyone’s back from injuries and there’s plenty of lineup depth, it may be time to send him a message. No complaints whatsoever about Kaiden Guhle wearing the other A on Tuesday night; he never gives less than 100% effort on the ice and is a great example for the young players to follow.

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