Montreal Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens]’ coach Martin St-Louis is normally pretty even-keeled, but on Monday night, after his young Habs eliminated the Buffalo Sabres [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres] in overtime, the former NHLer was visibly emotive. When Alex Newhook scored the game-winning goal, the coach, after shaking hands with his assistants and the rest of the Canadiens’ staff behind the bench, headed on the ice and walked over towards the opponent’s net slowly. Looking to the heavens, the coach looked like he was soaking in the moment. After shaking hands with the Sabres at center ice and celebrating the win with his players in the room, the man in charge headed to the podium to speak to the media. After a few routine questions, RDS Francois Gagnon asked St-Louis what that moment was about, and the coach said with watery eyes and a voice that was cracking: I spoke to my mother a lot during overtime…That’s really what it was. Newhook’s Big Goal Sends Canadiens Through To Third Round [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/newhook-s-big-goal-sends-canadiens-through-to-third-round] Canadiens: The Pressure Is On St-Louis [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-the-pressure-is-on-st-louis] Canadiens: A Fairytale Worthy Experience Despite The Nightmarish Ending [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-a-fairytale-worthy-experience-despite-the-nightmarish-ending] The coach lost his mother during the 2013-14 playoffs, to a heart attack, a sudden death that nobody saw coming at the age of 63. Back then, he was still a player and his team, the New York Rangers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers], was playing against the Pittsburgh Penguins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins] in the second round of the playoffs. The Blueshirts moved on to the third round, where they faced the Habs. That allowed him and his team to attend the funeral, just like the Canadiens also did back then. The Rangers then eliminated the Sainte-Flanelle to move on to the Stanley Cup Final, but in Game 4 of that series against the Habs, the man who would later coach them scored an overtime game-winner. If his late mother had a hand in the Habs’ elimination back in 2014, she made up for it on Monday night when she helped her son through a stressful overtime win. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Karine on X @KarineHains [https://x.com/KarineHains] Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/karinehains.bsky.social] and Threads @karinehains [https://www.threads.net/@karinehains]. Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/] for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens. Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] on The Hockey News. Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I].
