With the calendar page already turning to November, the Milano Cortina Olympics are getting closer, and as expected, there’s a lot of chatter about projected lineups. Unsurprisingly, Montreal Canadiens’ forward Cole Caufield is often mentioned in those conversations despite having been left out of the 4 Nations Face-Off roster.
Not only is the sniper dominating the league in goals scored (at the time of writing) with 9, but his game has evolved significantly over the years. Asked if Caufield’s evolution made him more aware of what brings him success and how he scores his goals most, Martin St-Louis explained:
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Cole plays the game. He has understood that the game demands certain things on the ice and that, from time to time, the game will give you what you like to do. We don’t know when that is, but if you respect the demands of the game at both ends, you’ll get many more of those moments where it gives you what you like to do on the ice. I think that gradually, he worked on that, and he’s in a place now where he understands that, and he plays the game.-
In other words, Caufield has become a much more complete player. It took some time, but he got there. St-Louis readily admits that he didn’t start making Caufield a complete player right away; the squad’s mood was much too low. The coach felt he needed to bring more happiness, so he spoke to his players about attacking more, because he knew that’s the side of the game players like to talk about —the fun part of the game. And then:
When we got Cole mentally in a good place, he scored a lot of goals, and at that point, we knew he was ready to embark on the next chapter. When someone’s mentally in a good mood, I feel that’s when you can do the most teaching. For me, it was building the relationship, left spirits, and then the team.-
The coach also added that, while he’s a small player, he plays bigger than he is, and that’s something they discussed. He now gets involved physically, and that’s how you can come away with the puck.
There’s no doubt that St-Louis is one of Caufield’s biggest admirers, and if Team USA is trying to decide whether to bring him to Italy, they should give St-Louis a call.
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