Chris Kreider's arrival was the big story at the Montreal Canadiens' golf tournament, but he certainly wasn't the only one. The extension Martin St-Louis signed and the coach's performance also drew plenty of discussion.
If the Montreal Canadiens had a quiet offseason, that certainly didn’t hold in the last couple of days. After announcing they had signed Chris Kreider as a free agent and Zachary Bolduc’s new contract on Sunday, on Monday morning, before the first swing of their annual golf tournament was taken, they announced that Martin St-Louis had signed a multi-year contract extension.
The announcement was hardly a surprise; St-Louis has done wonders with this group and fully deserved to be kept on, but it was still interesting to hear all the positive comments from both his bosses and his players about him and his performance. Everyone sang his praises, with owner Geoff Molson singing the first verse:
We’re very happy that Martin signed a long-term contract. I thoroughly appreciate him, as do the players and the other coaches. Everyone appreciates him; I think you do too. We’re lucky to have him, and as I was saying, he’s going to keep building a good team. He might have made some adjustments here and there, but it’s the person that we love. And that person hasn’t changed.
Jeff Gorton explained that the team had ripped up the last year of the coach’s existing contract and signed him to a four-year pact starting this season. For the president of hockey operations, keeping the coach long-term was important:
We’re comfortable together; you guys all see that. I think that hopefully, the players can feel that and, you know, the continuity of it all. It helps; we all know each other, we’re friendly, we can say anything to each other, and that really helps move us forward. We’re happy we’re all together moving forward.
What is it about St-Louis that convinced the Habs brass that he could lead the Canadiens for such a long time in a business in which we often hear that coaches have an expiration date? Gorton had a lot to say about that:
Well, there’s a lot to that question; it’s not just one thing. I think his experience as a player, everything he overcame to be what he is, the way he works at it every day. He’s never somebody who has all the answers. You’re not going to walk in a room with Marty, and he’s going to shut everybody down. He has that thirst to get better all the time, and that’s difficult. I mean, in the NHL there’s a lot of egos. You’re dealing with players making a lot of money that have a lot of experience, a lot of success, to be able to walk in front of a team every day and have the success and capture the room and still make it exciting and have them want to come, that’s a special talent, and he has that. I feel there’s so much there. I wish I could have more time to answer that about Marty, but he has it. You can tell when a guy stands in front of a room with NHL players, and he has that, and we’re excited he’s with us.
There’s no arguing about that. Whenever you speak to someone who has attended a development camp, whether as a player or a guest coach, they are always very vocal about how powerful St-Louis’ speeches are and how well he captures the players' attention.
For GM Kent Hughes, St-Louis’ number one quality is his leadership, but that’s not the only quality that makes him a good coach:
I think everybody, and you too; you speak to him every day, it’s his leadership more than anything else. We often hear him say that as a coach, you have to be a good seller; the players have to buy into what you’re asking from them, and his communication is exceptional. I think since he’s arrived here, we’ve seen him evolve as a coach. We’re happy and proud to have him with us. I think everyone should evolve- me, Jeff, Martin, the players- and that comes with the experience you get on the job and in every aspect: on the bench, managing a staff, communicating with the players. Those are just things you learn as you go. I imagine even the most experienced coaches keep on learning. But Martin is a brilliant man, so he may learn faster.
When St-Louis was first hired, many believed that he wouldn’t last, that he would be the GM's eyes and ears in the room, but he proved them wrong and shed his interim tag in months. Then they said he would be the right man to develop the Canadiens’ young players, but that by the time they were ready to win, he would be gone. That statement is also well on its way to being proven wrong. As for why the Canadiens’ GM believes he’s the right man for the job now that it’s time to take yet another step up, he explained:
There’s nothing that he’s shown us that he’s incapable of doing that. We progressed every year; we made the playoffs when we were at extreme odds to do so two years ago at one point in the year. Then last year, he manoeuvred the team to the conference final. He hasn’t given us any reason to doubt him. We hired him not just for player development; we thought he could become an excellent coach. He’s a very bright guy with a very analytical mind, and I believe Marty and our group will continue to get better.
As for St-Louis himself, he was pleased to have a new deal in hand and remain the Canadiens’ coach, even though he knows nothing is ever guaranteed:
It’s flattering, but it’s not something I think about. I love what I do, and if I get a vote of confidence- “Marty, you’re the man” I’ll keep going, but if I’m not the guy, that’s alright. I’m humble enough to know that the fact that you put all the effort into something doesn’t mean you’ll always succeed. My heart is in the right place, and I love being the Canadiens’ coach.
There’s no denying that St-Louis has changed and evolved as a coach since he joined the Canadiens, even though he believes the main change has been what he actually coaches as the team improved:
Every year, every opportunity is a chance to learn and grow. I’m comfortable where I am today, and I wouldn’t be here today without all the steps that this club has taken. I didn’t come in here trying to be a certain way; I came here just being myself, helping the group along the way. I can’t say that I haven’t changed how I coach just because we’re better, but I probably changed a little bit in what I coach because we’re getting better; I haven’t changed how I coach. So I'm glad I stayed true to myself.
This year, St-Louis will have a new challenge. Coaching a player that was once his linemate:
Chris [Kreider] will be the first player I coach that I played with. It’s going to be about learning on the fly to know how to do that. I don’t expect that will happen often, but if it happens, I’m happy it’s with Chris, because he’s a friend, but he’s also a really good person, and he still has very good hockey in his future. I think he’s a super fit for us; we’re all happy to have him.
Speaking of Kreider, he told the media that even when St-Louis was a player, it felt like he was a player/coach at the same time, adding that he doesn’t believe he’s learned as much from anybody else as from his new coach when he was his linemate. After St-Louis retired as a player and was just coaching his boys, he called his former teammate and asked for a bit of help. St-Louis didn’t have to say yes, but he did. He looked into Kreider’s game and worked on some videos with him, something the player thoroughly appreciated. Unsurprisingly, St-Louis’ presence behind the Canadiens’ bench was part of the reason why Kreider decided to come to Montreal.
As for captain Nick Suzuki, he was happy to see the man he called his favourite coach commit long-term:
I mean it’s great. I don’t even know what his contract looks like; he’s probably my favourite coach ever, so it’s nice to have him locked in with us. I feel like he’s getting better every year; he’s pushed us every year. He’s such a hockey nerd, for lack of a better term; he wants to get better. He wants everyone on the team to get better, so it’s great to have him.
As for how St-Louis has changed over the years, Suzuki explained:
His expectations have changed. When he first came in, it was just about having fun and trying to get through that first season. It wasn’t the best spot to be in the standings, but every year, expectations have gone up and the belief that he has, even a few years ago, that we could be a really top team in the league. He saw it before a lot of other people, and the belief that he gives us to go out there every night is that we know we can beat anybody in the whole league.
From a personal standpoint, St-Louis’ press conferences have always been interesting. While some coaches will give you a short answer to your question or throw in a cliché here and there, the Canadiens’ bench boss will actually take the time to think about your question and give you a real answer. That’s the analytical mind Hughes was talking about at work there, and it’s rewarding to do this job when the person you’re questioning is really doing their best to give you a meaningful answer.
Coaches are hired to be fired, according to the old saying, but it’s hard to foresee the day when St-Louis will be shown the door by the Canadiens. Over the years, he’s not only become the coach, but he’s become part of the heart and soul of this team, one of the reasons why players now want to play in Montreal, as evidenced by Kreider’s addition.
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