The Montreal Canadiens had a new interim head coach on Thursday morning in Martin St. Louis. He did not run the team’s optional morning skate. That was done by the assistant coaches.
Because it was an optional skate, we didn’t necessarily get a glimpse of how the Canadiens would line up. Any immediate changes may have to wait until the team’s warmup. St. Louis will make his head coaching debut when the Canadiens play the Washington Capitals at the Bell Centre on Thursday night.
After practice, St. Louis met with the media alongside executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton and general manager Kent Hughes.
Martin St. Louis started the press conference with a statement in French and then English before taking questions.
Jeff Gorton thanked Dominique Ducharme for his work with the organization prior to the group taking questions.
“This is something I’ve been preparing for for about 10 years.”–Martin St. Louis.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) February 10, 2022
Martin St. Louis thanks his wife for allowing him to chase another dream as head coach of #habs #HabsIO
— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) February 10, 2022
“It was always a matter of when, not if I would be an NHL head coach” – Martin St. Louis
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) February 10, 2022
“I don’t care about the terms of the contract. This is all about the opportunity. Give me a chance, and I’ll show you what I can do with it.”–Martin St. Louis.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) February 10, 2022
“He’s representative of the culture we want in Montreal.” – Kent Hughes
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) February 10, 2022
“I think I’m going to be a very demanding coach, but a fair one. Not just physically demanding, but mentally demanding.”–Martin St. Louis.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) February 10, 2022
“I know I’m inexperienced behind the bench but I’m experienced on the bench, in the room […] There’s not one guy that I can’t relate to.” – Martin St. Louis
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) February 10, 2022
“I didn’t even ask what the contract terms were. I just said yes.” – Martin St. Louis
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) February 10, 2022
“I love challenges. I’ve always loved challenges… I eat hockey. Why would I do this? 1) It’s the Montreal Canadiens. 2) I’m the head coach. Those are good reasons to the do this.”–Martin St. Louis.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) February 10, 2022
“If you only want things that are easy, you don’t grow as a human being.” – Martin St. Louis, when asked about the direction of the Canadiens. Says he loves challenges, and this is definitely one.
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) February 10, 2022
“There will be changes. This is the first of several.” – Kent Hughes
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) February 10, 2022
“If anything this team needs right now, it’s to have fun. When these guys were in pee-wee they had fun, so I’m probably the most qualified guy right now.” – Martin St. Louis
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) February 10, 2022
“When I came here the intention was for Dom to finish the season but […] the way we were playing was deteriorating. We have 37 games to go and there’s a lot of development that has to go on. We felt it was time to make a change and move it forward” – Jeff Gorton
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) February 10, 2022
Gorton also added that the team decided that Ducharme wouldn’t be back next season a while ago.
#Habs Martin St. Louis with a breath of fresh air answer: “systems box players in…I hated that the most as a player”
— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) February 10, 2022
“You have to convince players why they are doing something, not simply tell them to do it” – Martin St. Louis
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) February 10, 2022
#Habs GM Kent Hughes on Martin St. Louis: “a lot of people have bet against him but I for one have chosen to bet on him, not against him and I’m sure he’ll make the doubters revisit it in time.”
— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) February 10, 2022
“I’m not here to be a substitute teacher” – Martin St. Louis
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) February 10, 2022
“We understand we’re not going to make the playoffs this season but we’re not going to roll over.” – Kent Hughes
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) February 10, 2022
“The game of hockey is played without the puck…my philosophy is I coach much more without the puck than the guy who has the puck.” – Martin St. Louis.
Says players with less talent can play well without the puck so they touch the puck more, and thereby become more talented.
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) February 10, 2022
If you were in the room when (St. Louis) addressed the players, you would have had goosebumps.
– Jeff Gorton— Marc Antoine Godin (@MAGodin) February 10, 2022
