Canadiens Lineup

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Joel Armia

Paul Byron – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson

Rem Pitlick – Jake Evans – Mike Hoffman

Jesse Ylonen – Laurent Dauphin – Tyler Pitlick

Alexander Romanov – David Savard

Joel Edmundson – Justin Barron

Corey Schueneman – Chris Wideman

Jake Allen – Sam Montembeault

William Lagesson, Mathieu Perreault

Michael Pezzetta (upper-body), Jeff Petry (lower-body), Jonathan Drouin (upper-body), Ryan Poehling (upper-body), Brendan Gallagher (lower-body), Kale Clague (upper-body), Carey Price (knee), Shea Weber (multiple injuries)

Luke Richardson

Game Report

In the past eight weeks, we have come to know Martin St. Louis and his approach to being an interim head coach with the Montreal Canadiens. St. Louis was green, really green, taking the collosal leap from a brief stint coaching children to elite hockey players playing in the best league on the planet.

While he had no experience, St. Louis wasn’t short on opinions. We learned that he despised systems and preferred his players to react naturally on the ice, each only limited by the range of his own talents. And in support, St. Louis brought barrels of emotion and enthusiasm. 

Hockey is fun again in Montreal. And St. Louis boosted the spirits of his team only too happy to ditch the overly-complicated maze of decision points detailed by Dominique Ducharme. The Canadiens, once freed of their shackles, brought a whole new attitude and spirit to the rink.

They even won a few games. Excitement and hope for the future was restored among Habs fans.

But the test was always how this new ‘anti-system’ gameplan would work against some of the NHL’s best? Setting aside the Devils, the Canadiens have played Boston, Florida, Toronto and Carolina, each team ranking in the top eight in the NHL.

Typically, when a bottom-feeder takes on a Cup contender, the strategy is to clog things up and slow down the game in an effort to take away some of the skill of their opponent. But not St. Louis. In a ‘damn-the-torpedoes’ approach, the interim coach tried to go toe-to-toe with some of the NHL’s heavyweights.

And the experiment failed miserably. In a total of five games in the last 11 days with Boston, Florida, Toronto and Carolina, the Canadiens yielded on average 44 shots per game. Montreal’s record over that span was 1-4-0.

Carolina Control

Against the Hurricanes, the Canadiens were pummeled for the first two periods. Shots were 42-18 after 40 minutes for Carolina. Their forwards entered the Habs zone on almost every shift and controlled the puck with ease. And even when Montreal was granted a power-play, the Hurricanes conducted a master class on the penalty-kill.

Coach Rod Brind’Amour has done a masterful job with the Hurricanes. Some have tried to compare St. Louis to the Carolina head coach. Sure, they both can be emotional behind the bench and inspirational in the dressing room.

The difference is that Brind’Amour has a dozen years of coaching experience. He spent eight years as an assistant learning the role before getting his first head coaching gig. There are few, if any, shortcuts in the ultra competitive world of pro sports.

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