Montreal Canadiens' coach Martin St-Louis had to make a tough decision ahead of his team's return to action, and while it was positive for one player, it was far from it for another.
We knew decision time was coming for Montreal Canadiens’ coach Martin St-Louis, but he didn’t keep us guessing for too long. Wednesday morning in Brossard, he had his men practice the power play, and the units he deployed made it clear that Alex Newhook was returning to the fold. As both units took turns getting their reps in, three players watched from the neutral zone: Patrik Laine, Joe Veleno, and Zachary Bolduc, who was on the second unit before the Olympic break.
Speaking to the media after practice, the coach confirmed that Newhook would be in against the New York Islanders tomorrow night. Still, he also acknowledged that having his team completely healthy made lineup decisions harder for him:
We’ve never been in this situation this year. For me, as a coach, it’s the first time that I have that depth, so it’s an adaptation for me as well. As a leader, you make decisions that affect players you like negatively, but it comes with the role; it’s competitive. It’s not an easy decision. I think there will be internal competition because of it.
Clearly, the coach felt for Bolduc, who’s the collateral damage from Newhook’s return:
To me, I feel like I’ve had to make decisions before. Still, they were easier decisions in terms of the talent level that we had on this team compared to now, but I feel it’s just the evolution of our team right now, and it makes my job a little bit harder, so to speak, and different in that sense, but that’s a good problem to have.
Asked if it was harder to be scratched at a young age like Bolduc, St-Louis said he didn’t think so, using himself as an example, saying that in the later stages of his own career, he wanted more ice time.
While Bolduc is now facing some adversity, the coach says any player in that situation has to remain ready when they get the call, and that’s what the youngster will hopefully take away from today’s news. There’s nothing permanent in hockey; there will be other injuries and other changes, and the winger has to be ready when the opportunity comes knocking.
Meanwhile, Newhook was all smiles and eager to get going after his lengthy ordeal:
From the initial incident, you know, you always have hope when you go down, you don’t know how severe it’s going to be… I went through something similar a couple of years ago, so I didn’t think it was going to be as bad as it was initially, when you first get off the ice with adrenaline and everything. Still, I had to go in for surgery the next day, and you know what the timeline was like and how long I’ve been away. It’s been a long few months away from the team, just rehab, a lot of credit to the staff here, they’ve been awesome, our strength guys have been great with me […] I’m excited to get back and excited to help this team down the stretch here.
The winger has high expectations for himself, and he’s not looking to take it easy in the beginning:
I’m not trying to ease back into it; I’ve done the work to get back and to get right back to where I left off.
Clearly, the coach agrees since he’s putting him on the power play right away, but Newhook hasn’t been told if he will be called upon for the penalty kill yet. Given how much time he’s missed, the fact that Phillip Danault has been acquired since then, and the Quebecer is developing chemistry with Josh Anderson, especially since they also play together at even strength, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Canadiens elected to leave it be for now.
This is the kind of moment that shows that St-Louis was made to coach this team. Even though he found the decision hard to make, he knew it had to be made, and he had everything in his toolbox to break the news to Bolduc. He’s living proof that a step back isn’t a failure after all.
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