St. Louis toughens his approach amid slow start for Canadiens

BROSSARD, Que. — As the Montreal Canadiens look for wins and progress, head coach Martin St. Louis is toughening his approach.

“If we're gonna transition as a team, I have to be in transition as well. It's a big part of this season for me,” St. Louis said after practice Monday at CN Sports Complex. “We're not at the same stage as two years ago, a year ago.”

The rebuilding Canadiens entered the season with hopes of being “in the mix” for playoffs, but so far their quest to be in the post-season conversation for the first time in four years is off to a poor start.

Montreal (4-7-1) ranks last in the Atlantic Division and holds the second-worst goal-differential in the NHL at a minus-17. The Canadiens have also lost three straight — and seven of nine — with the Calgary Flames visiting town on Tuesday night.

When the Canadiens lost 6-3 to the Washington Capitals after a dismal third period last Thursday, St. Louis didn't mince words, repeatedly saying post-game that the team “threw up” all over themselves.

The following day he bag-skated the players until they were hunched over and gasping for air — a first in St. Louis’s tenure. On Monday, the coach stopped a drill five minutes into practice before raising his voice with a few expletives when it wasn't being done to his liking.

And the players get it.

"We're at the stage of trying to win a lot of games, so the patience is a little bit thinner,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said of his head coach. “But I like that mentality. He's a really competitive guy, and I like that in a coach.

“We're not at the same skill level, and the players that we have now, it was not the same two years ago. I feel like we're a lot better and we should be performing better.”

The Canadiens hired St. Louis, who had little professional coaching experience, amid a historically bad season for the franchise in February 2022.

The undrafted player who became a Hall of Famer quickly boosted the team’s morale and empowered the team’s young players — such as sharpshooter Cole Caufield — to help their development.

But now that the Canadiens have heightened expectations to win, the players can feel the coach’s shift in attitude.

“We're at the point now where there's more accountability, and obviously the team hasn't had many good results,” defenceman Kaiden Guhle said. “You talk to any team that's won the Cup or won anything in any sport, there's accountability within a group always. That's something that we're trying to do with the group. I think Marty's trying to do that too."

The Canadiens lost 8-2 to the Seattle Kraken last Tuesday before Thursday’s demoralizing defeat to the Capitals.

Montreal rebounded with a better defensive showing on Saturday in Pittsburgh but struggled to create offence in a 3-1 loss to the Penguins, a team that is leaking goals this season.

Despite adopting a harder approach, St. Louis remained confident that his group could get back on track.

“I just got to stay the course with this transition and what we're doing right now,” he said. “We're learning to win … I'm not concerned, it's a little bit of a see-saw (between focusing on offence or defence), and we gotta find that right balance.

“I know we’re in a grind, but we have to embrace that grind. It’s not an easy league … It’s part of a season. You have to embrace the grind and get to work.”

Winger Juraj Slafkovsky looked at the situation with a glass half-full, wondering if it’s a good thing for the Canadiens to face this type of adversity early in the season.

“Couple losses now in a row, so that makes us wake up,” he said. “Marty always says we have to grow up faster. So yeah, we kind of have to grow up right now.

“We have 70 games left, there's lots of hockey to play. Each and every guy in this locker room has to be better, and I feel like if we all play our best, we'll get the wins we want. But right now we're just not there."

After Tuesday’s game against Calgary, the Canadiens head on a four-game road trip with stops in New Jersey, Toronto, Buffalo and Minnesota.

Caufield put the onus on the Canadiens’ players to turn the tide with a tough stretch ahead.

“Marty gives us the best chance to win every night and we’re the ones that have to go execute that plan. It’s on us,” he said. “Just maturing as a group, holding ourselves accountable, pushing each other every day at practice.

“There’s no time to waste anymore.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.